Since she’s got a huge gay fan base I’m surprised there’s not more “Gaga denies song’s use to raise money for largest gay rights organization”.
Did anybody else read the title and think she’d denied Al existed? Or maybe denied ever having met him three times before a cock crowed somewhere?
Well, there’s still one douche in this story: the manager who made Al record the song just to say “no” without Gaga’s knowledge. What a douche bag.
Well, we all knew it was bound to happen sooner or later.
That kid’s father from the Twisted Sister video?
Leaving aside Al’s multiple Grammy awards, I’ve seen him and his band live - there’s no doubt that they can do pretty much anything they want musically. The lyrics of their songs are often silly, but they are serious musicians.
Plenty of Al hatin’ and lovin’ can be found in the thread from last year: Weird Al Yankovic isn’t funny.
Regarding the Coolio-thing, that was a rewrite of a Stevie Wonder song (Pastime Paradise). Why didn’t Al just ask SW?
Unclviny
Who said anything about flash in the pan? I first heard him on Dr. Demento when I was an adolescent in the early 80s. I think that Gaga will be around for a long time and she definitely hit a peak much higher that Al could ever dream of hitting.
Honestly, it’s not his best song, anyway. I guess it’s cool we get it free now and I’m sure he’ll find something to fill out the album.
Especially lame since Gangsta’s Paradise was based on a Stevie Wonder song. It’s not like Coolio had any claim to the melody.
So, what you’d call this is the rare ‘Reverse Coolio.’
As Chamillionaire said,
Check back in five years. I predict Weird Al will still be selling the amount of tickets he’s selling now and Lady Gaga will be playing county fairs.
Go back to 1983 when Weird Al released his first album. He did parodies of songs by Toni Basil, Joan Jett, The Knack, and Stevie Nicks - all of whom were huge stars at the time.
It’s twenty-eight years later. Which of these performers still has a significant career?
Serious and nimble. I see a lot of bands, probably going to see live music two or more times a week, and I don’t think I’ve seen another band that could move from pop to rap to country to polka to metal…
I think that it’s certainly a musician’s prerogative to turn down Weird Al, but I also think that any musician would be a fool to do so. If I were a musician and Al asked me, I’d agree before he had a chance to finish the sentence. It’s a win-win-win: He wins, of course, and I get more publicity from it, and the audience gets another song they like. Whatever she is, Lady Gaga is not a fool, so I suspect that what happened here was either a genuine miscommunication, or a contrived ploy as someone on the first page suggested.
As to the relative merits of the two artists, Gaga is really good at what she does, and I wouldn’t lightly rule out the possibility that she might be able to stand the test of time. Weird Al, though, has already proven that he can stand the test of time: There’s no need to even ask the question. And all those parodies might be silly and frivolous, but they’re also artistic tours de force: There are plenty of performers who can put in a really good performance in one specific genre or style of music, but Yankovich can put in a really good performance in any style or genre. That takes an awful lot of skill.
It goes further than that - Al actually splits the songwriting royalties with them. Every copy of the Weird Al parody of your song sold means an additional 50% per copy royalty, at no additional cost. I don’t have the stats, but I’m sure his parodies also boost the sales of the original songs.
I’m sure Al is just as mystified at his continued popularity as anyone. But it’s there, he loves his job, so he keeps at it. Can’t blame a guy for that.
I do still like his stuff, but not everything, and there’s only so much listing of pop cultural touchstones I can take before it gets a bit too repetitious.
Nevermind…
Well now that the matter seems to be resolved, let’s address the song itself. I like Al and all, but this parody just plain isn’t up to his usual standards.
I’m sure a video would help, but as it stands this isn’t even as good as some of the better internet parodies, like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFvE9D3zMfY&list=SL. The same premise, much better lyrics.
I know there’s been some discussion than maybe Youtube has diminished some of Al’s luster and necessity. This really adds some ammo to that argument.
Agreed.
It is a better song than the original, but the original was a pretty mediocre song. I honestly prefer Al’s original songs like Skipper Dan to his parodies.
We noticed that, too - I got the impression that you could shout any song you can think of at them and they’d just roll right into it. Also, you can’t really tell from the recordings, but Al has a much better voice than you’d expect.