# Does Weird Al get much airplay?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 2, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122 "2012-01-02T05:24:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/1 "2012-01-02T05:24:49Z")
I don’t listen to commercial radio as much as I used to in the 90’s but I get the distinct feeling that Al gets little to no airplay. Is there some law that says music can’t have a humorous side to it? I happened to stumble upon [Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCSA7kKNu2Y) on You Tube and really liked it, and not in a very different way than I like any of the other bands that I like. In some ways I liked this song more because it’s relevant to current events and I found much I could agree with in its message. I figured this song should really be getting a lot of airplay on commercial stations.
In short, many parodies can be just as entertaining (if not more so) as the thing they are making fun of. Thoughts?
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/2 "2012-01-02T05:31:59Z")
I don’t think it does on mainstream radio. At work they listen to pop/Top40 stuff and I’ve never heard any of it there. Though I don’t think his music usually makes the charts. In the '90’s I’m pretty sure he got some airplay on the alternative stations and I very clearly remember the videos being on VH1/MTV.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2012, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/3 "2012-01-02T05:48:16Z")
I’ve never heard Weird Al on the radio, except on the Dr. Demento show. And since Dr. D. is strictly internet streaming these days, that drops poor Al to ZERO radio air play.
But he still rocks, of course!
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### Author:  [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/4 "2012-01-02T06:48:11Z")
In the mid to late 90’s, I remember hearing “Amish Paradise” and later “The Saga Begins” on a Top 40 station…I also remember “White and Nerdy” got a similar small amount of airplay five or so years ago.
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### Author:  [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/5 "2012-01-03T20:06:53Z")
White and Nerdy got a bit of radio play… and probably not coincidentally was among his biggest sellers (if not the biggest).
It’s not that they’re completely opposed to humor, though. Barenaked Ladies and Offspring have some pretty silly songs that got played regularly.
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/6 "2012-01-03T20:14:33Z")
Weird Al got a lot of airplay in the late 80’s. I Lost On Jeopardy, Like A Surgeon, Fat and Eat It played so much, I got sick of them. I also remember hearing It’s All About the Pentium on “urban” radio.
Then, like the above posters say, came the '90s and less and less Weird Al on the radio.
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### Author:  [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/7 "2012-01-03T20:32:46Z")
Smells Like Nirvana got a ton of airplay on Top 40 stations whenever that came out in the early 90s… (92?).
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/8 "2012-01-03T21:16:16Z")
> [@Biggirl](#):
>
> Weird Al got a lot of airplay in the late 80’s. I Lost On Jeopardy, Like A Surgeon, Fat and Eat It played so much, I got sick of them.
The videos for those songs also got a lot of play on MTV; I don’t know which was the chicken, and which was the egg, but the importance of MTV in those days may have played a role in getting him radio airplay.
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/9 "2012-01-03T21:20:16Z")
These days 99% of artists get -zero- airplay on mainstream radio. Playlists are so thin you’d swear there are only a few dozen artists in existence if all you listened to was clearchannel.
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### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/10 "2012-01-03T21:37:39Z")
> [@Biggirl](#):
>
> Weird Al got a lot of airplay in the late 80’s. I Lost On Jeopardy, Like A Surgeon, Fat and Eat It played so much, I got sick of them. I also remember hearing It’s All About the Pentium on “urban” radio.
>
> Then, like the above posters say, came the '90s and less and less Weird Al on the radio.
Yup. I remember weird Al on mainstream radio in the 80’s.
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### Author:  [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/11 "2012-01-03T21:37:42Z")
> [@Hampshire](#):
>
> These days 99% of artists get -zero- airplay on mainstream radio. Playlists are so thin you’d swear there are only a few dozen artists in existence if all you listened to was clearchannel.
This. The thing is, there really isn’t any sort of niche on commercial radio these days for what Weird Al does. Not that parody songs ever made up a big part of radio stations’ playlists anyway, even in the days before consolidation. But he has a few big things working against him, namely that he’s old and he’s not a pop darling. It also doesn’t help that he’s a hitmaker in the traditional sense.
Not that those are necessarily bad things mind you, they’re just things that aren’t likely to ingratiate you with the corporate behemoths that rule radio nowadays.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/12 "2012-01-03T21:42:53Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#):
>
> I’ve never heard Weird Al on the radio, except on the Dr. Demento show. And since Dr. D. is strictly internet streaming these days, that drops poor Al to ZERO radio air play.
>
> But he still rocks, of course!
Same here. I don’t ever remember hearing him in the Chicago market outside of the Dr. Demento show and maybe the occasional DJ slipping him in as a humorous aside, but he was certainly on MTV and the other video music channels (I seem to remember…was it Channel 66?..that was only music videos for a good while.) I could certainly be misremembering, though.
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/13 "2012-01-03T21:45:16Z")
Maybe not airplay, but I’ve heard his songs on Laugh USA and Raw Dog Comedy, two comedy stations on Sirius/XM satellite radio. Mostly the older classics like “Eat It” and “White & Nerdy.” Also Kids Place Live (my kids listen to it) plays “Yoda” and “The Saga Begins.”
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/14 "2012-01-03T22:01:50Z")
_White and Nerdy_ is an older classic?
Now I feel downright ancient.
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/15 "2012-01-03T22:05:14Z")
Well _White & Nerdy_ was several albums ago, right? I don’t have his discography in front of me.
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/16 "2012-01-03T22:18:34Z")
> [@Biggirl](#):
>
> Weird Al got a lot of airplay in the late 80’s. I Lost On Jeopardy, Like A Surgeon, Fat and Eat It played so much, I got sick of them. I also remember hearing It’s All About the Pentium on “urban” radio.
>
> Then, like the above posters say, came the '90s and less and less Weird Al on the radio.
Was it really radio airplay or was it MTV? I remember a lot of Weird Al from the 80s also but I don’t think much of it (if any) was on the radio. It seemed to all be video format.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/17 "2012-01-03T22:23:58Z")
> [@Skammer](#):
>
> Well _White & Nerdy_ was several albums ago, right? I don’t have his discography in front of me.
I was listening to the good Dr. when he played Weird Al’s debut tape of _My Bologna_.
That was a _loooong_ time ago. 😉
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### Author:  [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/18 "2012-01-03T22:58:10Z")
> [@joebuck20](#):
>
> This. The thing is, there really isn’t any sort of niche on commercial radio these days for what Weird Al does. Not that parody songs ever made up a big part of radio stations’ playlists anyway, even in the days before consolidation. But he has a few big things working against him, namely that he’s old and he’s not a pop darling. \*\*It also doesn’t help that he’s a hitmaker in the traditional sense.
> \*\*
> Not that those are necessarily bad things mind you, they’re just things that aren’t likely to ingratiate you with the corporate behemoths that rule radio nowadays.
D’oh!, I mean to say “…_ **not** _ a hitmaker in the traditional sense.”
See what happens when you don’t read your posts before hitting the submit reply button.
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/19 "2012-01-03T23:05:53Z")
> [@Hampshire](#):
>
> Was it really radio airplay or was it MTV? I remember a lot of Weird Al from the 80s also but I don’t think much of it (if any) was on the radio. It seemed to all be video format.
Yes, I’m sure it was the radio. The afternoon DJ used to do that annoying thing of playing the real song and the Weird Al back to back. Z100 in New York played Al in heavy rotation way back when.
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### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-weird-al-get-much-airplay/608122/20 "2012-01-03T23:24:43Z")
I don’t listen to much music radio these days, but I remember them playing Al’s songs back when I did. Not very often, but every once in a while. In particular I remember his Flinstones based parody of two Red Hot Chili Peppers songs.
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