# Lady Gaga denies Weird Al **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 20, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118 "2011-04-20T18:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/201 "2011-04-22T12:19:52Z")
You’re my hero. We got They Might Be Giants TWICE (including their first post-9/11 interview) for my college radio show, but I was never able to get Al booked. Since I was essentially following in Al’s footsteps there, I think he would have been related better. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/202 "2011-04-22T19:56:29Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > 1960s: Joni Mitchell > 1970s: Stevie Nicks > 1980s: Rickie Lee Jones > 1990s: Cranberries, Natalie Merchant, Alanis Morrissette, etc… > 2000s: GA GA OH LALA, GA GA OH LA LA, GA GA OH LA LA, GA GA OH LA LA > > This is seriously how far the female singer/songwriter pop genre has fallen? If you had turned on a _mainstream_ radio station - the kind that average people, not college hipsters, listened to - in the previous decades, you’d hear the women above. Now all we have is the infantile, obnoxious, droning, repetitive, overproduced, probably cocaine-fueled garbage of Gaga. Who’s still wasting their time with mainstream radio? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/203 "2011-04-22T20:25:10Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > NOW PLAYING > > \*\* PUPPET SHOW \*\* > Lady Gaga And perhaps an Air Force Major bearing a striking resemblance to Fred Willard will address her as “Lady Goo-Goo.” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/204 "2011-04-23T03:18:57Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > 1960s: Joni Mitchell > 1970s: Stevie Nicks > 1980s: Rickie Lee Jones > 1990s: Cranberries, Natalie Merchant, Alanis Morrissette, etc… > 2000s: GA GA OH LALA, GA GA OH LA LA, GA GA OH LA LA, GA GA OH LA LA > > This is seriously how far the female singer/songwriter pop genre has fallen? If you had turned on a _mainstream_ radio station - the kind that average people, not college hipsters, listened to - in the previous decades, you’d hear the women above. Now all we have is the infantile, obnoxious, droning, repetitive, overproduced, probably cocaine-fueled garbage of Gaga. I know, right? Kids these days and their music. That’s not music, that’s just noise! ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/205 "2011-04-23T05:02:25Z")
Wow, I guess I didn’t realize Weird Al had so many fans. I’m out of the loop, I guess. I remember seeing him a few years back on an awards show doing “White and Nerdy,” which was awesome, but hadn’t heard anything of his prior to that (or since), in a long time. But I don’t listen to radio so maybe that’s why. . . All of this seems like much ado about nothing. I kinda doubt Lady Gaga is going to lose any fans over it, and neither will Weird Al. I’m leaning towards the publicity stunt theory, no such thing as bad press and all. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/206 "2011-04-23T05:10:21Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > 1960s: Joni Mitchell > 1970s: Stevie Nicks > 1980s: Rickie Lee Jones > 1990s: Cranberries, Natalie Merchant, Alanis Morrissette, etc… > 2000s: GA GA OH LALA, GA GA OH LA LA, GA GA OH LA LA, GA GA OH LA LA > > This is seriously how far the female singer/songwriter pop genre has fallen? If you had turned on a _mainstream_ radio station - the kind that average people, not college hipsters, listened to - in the previous decades, you’d hear the women above. Now all we have is the infantile, obnoxious, droning, repetitive, overproduced, probably cocaine-fueled garbage of Gaga. Selective memory much? The 90s, from what I remember, were not primarily the female led artists you mentioned. It was more like Wilson Philips, Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Ace of Base, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, etc. (many of these artists I actually like fine.) Pop music has not gotten any worse than pop of the last few decades. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/207 "2011-04-23T05:27:54Z")
I would pose any of the eighties and 90’s artists and pioneers and frankly more talented musicians/ vocalists against any of the GaGa- kasha hum ba dizneycIdolcrap.Today’s Beat without hook or talent generation (rap sucks today and it is missing serious content.They just spout retreads nowadays.). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/208 "2011-04-23T05:38:37Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > I would pose any of the eighties and 90’s artists and pioneers and frankly more talented musicians/ vocalists against any of the GaGa- kasha hum ba dizneycIdolcrap.Today’s Beat without hook or talent generation (rap sucks today and it is missing serious content.They just spout retreads nowadays.). Gaga’s a talented musician and a good vocalist. Certainly as good (and I would say better) than most of the 90s female pop stars. My main problem with her is her music, as catchy as it may be, just sounds dated to me. Most Lady Gaga songs I’ve heard I could swear I’ve heard before in the late 90s, early 00s. But I’m willing to bet that she stands the test of time. I think there’s much to be heard from this woman, yet. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/209 "2011-04-23T05:54:35Z")
That might very well be true, but it doesn’t excuse the suckitude and archaic tradition of modern music. Nothing is interesting or breaks new ground in this limited genre of rehydrated popcrapola… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/210 "2011-04-23T06:07:31Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > That might very well be true, but it doesn’t excuse the suckitude and archaic tradition of modern music. > > Nothing is interesting or breaks new ground in this limited genre of rehydrated popcrapola.. I get awfully tired of people who say there is nothing good being produced in pop music these days. There is an almost unlimited supply of great music being put out now, of all kinds. It doesn’t show up on your doorstep, though - you have to go find it, but that’s never been easier, either. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/211 "2011-04-23T06:31:26Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > He and the band are touring constantly and are playing decent-sized venues. For instance, fairly recently they played Kansas City, MO and played the Uptown Theater, [a 1700 seat venue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptown_Theater_%28Kansas_City,_Missouri%29). I can’t recall the last off the charts 80s band that played that particular location - they are usually doing casinos. Prince can still fill a small arena, but I suspect they are doing a lot of comps. Warrant recently played my small city’s Performing Arts Center, which seats a few hundred. I thought it was odd that they played there, rather than at our brand-new, 4000-something-seat arena. > [@CyclopticXander](#): > > You know we really should differentiate between levels of mainstream success. Al’s thing is popping back up every few years and salvaging what he can out of the junk pile of pop culture. There’s nothing wrong with that, but even within that narrow sphere his mainstream importance is decreasing with each album. > > He will always have his fans for sure, and I’m not denying his entertainment value, but you can’t really compare him to most of the subjects of parodies. Most of these artists have worked for less in terms of time, but most of them created something original with far more historical importance and influence that a resilient novelty act. The point is that even if Lady Gaga’s star faded tomorrow she would be viewed as much more important than Weird Al, and her subesquent radio airplay would make her much more significant in the long term. Al is “the face” of novelty/parody music, and has been for quite a number of years. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but for a while if you searched “Weird Al Yankovic” in any filesharing program, you would get a list of _hundreds_ of songs with his name attached to them, that he in fact had absolutely nothing to do with. His name is so firmly associated with the “genre” that most people automatically assume that any funny song they hear must be Weird Al. > [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Also, what musician doesn’t ‘pop up every few years’? I mean, are you expecting constant albums or something? Generally, you know, it’s release an album, tour for a few years, work on new material, release an album, tour… I think Al also realizes that his appeal would wear thin very quickly if he was constantly releasing new material, so he spaces things out to maintain the novelty of “novelty”. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I get awfully tired of people who say there is nothing good being produced in pop music these days. There is an almost unlimited supply of great music being put out now, of all kinds. It doesn’t show up on your doorstep, though - you have to go find it, but that’s never been easier, either. Yet easy as it is, the majority of people still only pay attention to what the mass media feeds them. I’ve posted over the years about a number of interesting, promising artists that I’ve stumbled upon, but those threads get very little response. Probably because none of my threads have been about Happy Rhodes 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/212 "2011-06-23T16:06:56Z")
UPDATE! The new Lady Ga Ga Approved [“Perform This Way”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss_BmTGv43M) is out! ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/213 "2011-06-23T16:46:53Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Gaga’s a talented musician and a good vocalist. Certainly as good (and I would say better) than most of the 90s female pop stars. My main problem with her is her music, as catchy as it may be, just sounds dated to me. Most Lady Gaga songs I’ve heard I could swear I’ve heard before in the late 90s, early 00s. But I’m willing to bet that she stands the test of time. I think there’s much to be heard from this woman, yet. I’ll take that bet. $50 says that she is on an episode of Celebrity Rehab within 5 years, and a “where are They now?” after 10. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/214 "2011-06-23T18:13:46Z")
Weird Al has gotten approval from Lady Ga Ga to release [“Perform This Way”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss_BmTGv43M), which will be on his soon-to-be-released album. My opinion? Al is back at the top of his game with this one. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/215 "2011-06-23T18:15:13Z")
Gaga has a great sense of humor about music, as anyone who saw the season finale of SNL would be prepared to attest. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/216 "2011-06-23T18:33:18Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > I’ll take that bet. $50 says that she is on an episode of Celebrity Rehab within 5 years, and a “where are They now?” after 10. You’re on. See you back here in ten years. Any action on whether the Dope is still here in ten? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/217 "2011-06-23T19:07:08Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > I’ll take that bet. $50 says that she is on an episode of Celebrity Rehab within 5 years, and a “where are They now?” after 10. I’ll take that bet too. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/218 "2011-06-24T00:22:57Z")
Kind of duplicate thread, but I actually find the song to be not that creative for Al. His Queen-like song on the new album is good, though. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/219 "2011-06-24T00:28:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > UPDATE! The new Lady Ga Ga Approved [“Perform This Way”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss_BmTGv43M) is out! Okay, that CGI alone out weirded Gaga. She needs to step up! ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118/220 "2011-06-24T01:32:58Z")
The uncanny valley just added to the lulz [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-gaga-denies-weird-al/579118.md?page=12)