Weird AL is probably the only one for the same reason that only certain bands of ANY stripe ever make it. For every act you hear on the radio, there’s 50 out there trying to get ahead.
I can only repeat what others have said: Weird Al takes his act seriously and works hard, has made good business decisions, etc.
BUT Wierd Al got a big boost early in his career from his parodies and their videos of songs from Michael Jackson. MTV and music videos launched quite a few regular artists, and W.A. was doing music video parodies that were actually funny, something that was even more unique at the time. Plus, the sheer popularity of M.J.'s “Thriller” and “Bad” albums guaranteed all sorts of airplay for Yankovic’s parodies. It was a great example of piggy-back marketing.
There was a whole generation of burgeoning that were acending in popularity the same time as Weird Al, but sometime in the early 80’s… Al had 'em all killed!
Yankovic shall tolerate no challenge to his parody empire!
I loved Wierd Al as a kid and teen. Now, I could take him or leave him. I will that he has had pretty funny songs. I don’t think he’s ever created a song to rival the genius of some of Tom Lehrer’s work, and, as much as he might try, I don’t think he matches Spike Jones for zaniness.
I was going to mention They Might Be Giants as well, but I was thinking specifically of “Cage and Aquarium”, a ripoff of “Age of Aquarius”. Not as well done as Yankovitch’s stuff, but then, they’re not filling up the whole album with parodies, either.
Shoot, good call about Tom Lehrer. Not parody exactly, but extremely funny, twisted stuff. I laugh harder at Poisoning Pigeons in the Park than I have at any of Weird Al’s stuff.
I think some of you guys are being way too hard on Al. His recent albums might not have the same punch as some of his older works, but they’re still bloody well entertaining.
And what’s this talk about “relevance,” for pity’s sake? Since when is relevance a pre-requisite for being funny?
It takes a lot of work to do comedy without resorting to sexual humor and fart jokes. Wierd Al pulls it off, which makes his work more brilliant than the majority of so-called comedians nowadays
I love Weird Al and saw him in concert about three years ago. He had the most humorous interludes when he was changing costumes. He not only does parodies, but also original songs that are just plain different and funny. He also does songs that aren’t parodies of particular songs, but in the style of a particular band. I think he’s a genius for being able to perfectly explain “Episode I” in a parody of “American Pie.” And he sums up the whole computer culture in “It’s All About the Pentiums.” When I read some of the message boards, I can just imagine some of the people posting having the sames attitudes of the person in “It’s All About the Pentiums.” It’s hilarious.
He writes A LOT of his own songs. Only about half of his songs are parodies. Unfortunately, only a few of the non-parodies turn out to be hits (“This is the Life” is the only one that comes to mind.)
I should also add that I’ve been an Al-coholic since I was 15. WHile I think some of his more recent stuff may be too edgy for my tastes (“The Night Santa Went Crazy” being a prime example), odds are still very good that the latest Al songs will quickly worm their way into my heart.
And yes, I have every intention of buying Poodle Hat when it comes out.
There have been other great song parodists other than Weird Al. It’s just that, for some reason, there haven’t been any of note that have come out in recent years (other than Judd). Of those mentioned earlier, Spike Jones died in 1965, Allen Sherman in 1972, Tom Lehrer 1) with a couple of exceptions, wasn’t really a song parodist, and 2) has been inactive for the last 30 years, and many of the others never “broke out” in the public eye.
Of course, we’ve all forgotten Stan Freberg and Dickie Goodman, but, of those two, Freberg has spent most of the last 40 years in the ad business (though I believe he’s playing the nightclub rounds in NYC right now- will the Dopers from there please check their theater listings?), and Goodman shot himself in 1989.
What about Stan Freberg? He focused more on parodying the styles and idiosyncracies of popular performers, though. Love his rendition of “Heartbreak Hotel” in which the slow blues plunk of the song briefly transforms into “Hawaiian War Chant” with Freberg doing Elvis grunts to the tiki rhythm.
Don’t forget The Capitol Steps who do political commentary using parodies of mostly show tunes, but with the occasional rock or country song. (I.E. God Bless My S.U.V. to the tune of God Bless the U.S.A.)
And Alan Freburg has not been totally out of the comedy field, he recently (1996? well, kind of recently) released Vol. 2 of his United States of America.
