Monday, January 02, 2006

Weird Al Yankovic


Still going through Bill's mp3s and I found something shocking.

He has every Weird Al album.

Now Bill may not want you to know this but there it is. Sure, Weird Al Yankovic used to be hilarious, but I used to be 11. Anyway, I figured I'd listen to one or two songs before I deleted them.

I've gone through three albums. What amazes me most is how long Al's career has been. I mean, he's had a LONG career. The guy's been making albums since 1982. He released his latest in 2003. Van Halen doesn't even have a record contract anymore and Weird Al's still making albums. He had his own movie (with Michael Richards) and a tv show. He has a live dvd. And he's still out there.

I think the only reason he slowed down at all is there's no songs out there to parody anymore. Can you name the biggest song of 2005? Neither can I. Between the record companies canning bands left and right, iPods, the Clear Channel and American Idol, we simply don't listen to the top 40 these days. We don't even know what they are. And neither does Al.

The other thing that astounded me was how limited his lyrical content is. Food. TV. Dentists. That's about it. Every time a song parody started, my first thought was "Is this one about food or a tv show?" I believe "King of Suede" was the only one that went to third base. And, I can't say this enough, he's still out there. Keep it up, Al. Give us all hope.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The underestimated genius of Weird Al lies not in his paradies but in his original creations, like Trapped in a Closet with Vanna White, Christmas at Ground Zero, Nature Trail to Hell, One More Minute, Dare to Be Stupid, and You Don't Love me Anymore.

Damn. I've got about 5 pages on Weird Al. I should get my own damn blog...

M. Umberger said...

I am actually a CPFOA (Close Personal Friend of Al). I have a six-hour VHS tape full of Weird Al TV clips I taped... He is clever...