Posted on 02/21/2017 2:35:13 PM PST by billorites
LOS ANGELES — One day last summer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, on break from “Hamilton,” stopped by neighbor Jimmy Fallon’s house in the Hamptons. They both love music and Fallon has a listening room in the basement, so it wasn’t long before they were downstairs sharing another passion: “Weird Al” Yankovic.
“I said, ‘Do you know “Polka Party!”?’ ” Fallon says. “He’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, I know it word for word.’ ”
Fallon threw Yankovic’s 1986 record on the turntable, and the Broadway phenomenon and the late-night TV star sang along to an accordion-driven medley that covers 12 songs in three minutes, from Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” to Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach.”
“Picture Jimmy Fallon and I sitting in a basement laughing our asses off singing, ‘I’m gonna keep my baby, keep my baby, keep my baby,’ ” Miranda says.
“We were crying, laughing and singing,” Fallon says.
They’re not alone.
Yankovic has sold millions of albums, played 1,616 shows and outlasted so many of the stars he once spoofed. His most recent album, 2014’s “Mandatory Fun,” featured parodies of Iggy Azalea, Lorde and Pharrell Williams, a polka medley and his usual smattering of original songs. The album hit No. 1. At 57, he’s now readying a complete set of his 14 studio recordings, plus an album of bonus tracks. “Squeeze Box,” on sale through a PledgeMusic drive until the end of February, will naturally come in an accordion-shaped box. “Comedy recording and funny songs go back to the earliest days of the record industry,” says Barry Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento, the radio host who introduced Yankovic to the public 40 years ago. “But Al is unique. There’s nothing like him in the history of funny music.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Weird Al is a genius, and seems like a really nice, decent guy.
I’ve found I like many of his “spoofs” even better than the originals. His take off of Nirvana’s “Smell Like Teen Spirit” is really great.
But his original songs, like “Dare to be Stupid,” are really brilliant, where he does a song in a style of a band, in this case, like Devo.
He’s really terrific, and I remember there were a bunch of us in high school who’d listen to Dr. Demento every week, and excitedly compare notes after the weekend. Al was always a highlight of the show when he’d appear.
I loved his movie, “UHF.”
Some favorites:
Robin Thick’s “Blurred Lines” - Al’s “Word Crimes” (should be the official Freeper Video!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc
Lourde’s “Royal” - Al’s “Foil”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urglg3WimHA
Al’s “White & Nerdy”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw#t=25.762339
Al’s “It’s All About the Pentium”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpMvS1Q1sos
Mark
He is also the star of Disney’s Milo Murphy’s Law.
Watch it! It’s a trip in the same line as Phineas and Ferb, but, with Weird Al!
That one has always been my favorite of his.
Ping
“Eat it” was good too.
One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.
Bill Rivers or Bob Rivers?
It’s UHF
I could not agree more, but it goes farther than that. My audio engineering ear listens very closely to the production values. They spend an amazing amount of attention to replicating sound quality. "I am Santa Clause" spoof of "Iron Man" first pointed this out to me.
Listen close to the guitar tone. The drum sounds. Amazing reproduction of audio quality from forever ago.
“Pretty Fly for a Rabbi” is my personal favorite!
Seen him twice in concert. He is great.
And a friend of SNL cast member Victoria Jackson.
In recent years, he does a dramatic entrance at the beginning of his concerts by starting "Tacky" outdoors where he interacts with people outside before coming into the venue. All of this is televised and shown on the big screen to the waiting audience. Once he gets inside, the audience just explodes. An example of the "Tacky Entrance" can be seen here.
Last year, there was an online petition to get him hired for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. I think he is more than worthy of the gig.
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