thought I might throw up a topic about the guy that really inspired me, not necessarily toward parody writing, but more toward music in general. he was probably my first favorite artist in general. if anyone wants to throw up some weird al love then go ahead. i have to say i enjoy his polkas most, then his originals, then the parodies although all are amazing. I'm consistently amazed how much of the original song's ambiance he captures... I think that's what makes him great at writing/recording parodies. So... maybe list your favorite polka, original, and parody?

polka: angry white boy polka (polka your eyes out is a CLOSE second)
original: Don't you love me anymore
parody: Ebay

I'm always awed by his massive ability to parody so well, when I hear a local station attempt to do a parody of a song.  He's simply in a league all his own.

I  saw him perform two years ago, and loved it.  More fun and better produced than some of the serious musicians I've seen live.

If he tours in southern new england again this year, we'll have to get all the local amirighter's together to attend a performance.  Though if it's late July, or August, I doubt I'll have the time (kid on the way after all)

I'm always awed by his massive ability to parody so well, when I hear a local station attempt to do a parody of a song.  He's simply in a league all his own.

I  saw him perform two years ago, and loved it.  More fun and better produced than some of the serious musicians I've seen live.

If he tours in southern new england again this year, we'll have to get all the local amirighter's together to attend a performance.  Though if it's late July, or August, I doubt I'll have the time (kid on the way after all)


On the FAQ on his website, it sounded like he wouldn't tour again till 2006, but that is a cool idea.  He's incredible in concert.

thought I might throw up a topic about the guy that really inspired me, not necessarily toward parody writing, but more toward music in general. he was probably my first favorite artist in general. if anyone wants to throw up some weird al love then go ahead. i have to say i enjoy his polkas most, then his originals, then the parodies although all are amazing. I'm consistently amazed how much of the original song's ambiance he captures... I think that's what makes him great at writing/recording parodies. So... maybe list your favorite polka, original, and parody?

polka: angry white boy polka (polka your eyes out is a CLOSE second)
original: Don't you love me anymore
parody: Ebay


I'm Old School:

Polka:  Hooked On Polkas
Original:  One More Minute
Parody:  I Lost On Jeopardy

Until he won a Grammy last year, I don't think I'd heard anything at all about him since the 80s! 
Good to hear he's been keeping busy all this time...

I think he's been going slightly down-hill with his last two albums, but he was my first real favorite artist, because I liked all the stuff he parodied and I liked his polkas and medleys. The original works he did were a mixed bag to me. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be on amiright if it weren't for him. But in an all-out, number 1 spot, favorite quality parodies that consistently made me laugh out loud, I'd have to go with Allan Sherman. Don't get me wrong, huge Weird Al fan, but huger Allan Sherman fan. But let me get to it:

Favorite Polka:    "Alternative Polka"
Favorite Original: "Frank's 2000'' TV" with "Everything You Know is Wrong" at a close second
Favorite Parody:  Tie between "Gump" and "Smells Like Nirvana"

everything you know is wrong is one of the better produced songs i've ever heard. it's always in my top 100 lists of songs i've always loved. crap like that. And to throw some gas on the fire I think poodle hat, although it has some stinkers, tracks 5-11 (excluding wanna b) is amazing work... maybe his best... and i looked through all the albums i own (all of them) to make that comment. lol.

mike and i saw him live summer of '02 and it was a fantastic live show. the crowd was... interesting... it must be tough to be this guy in everyday life with the people he seems to attract as fans. lol.

I do not have any favorites when it comes to polkas so I will have to decline on that score.

I do have a few parody favorites, but I cannot just pick one. So I give you a list:

1. Girls Just Want to have Lunch
2. The Saga Begins
3. Yoda
4. I Love Rocky Road
5. Chicken Pot Pie
6. Ricky
7. Its Still Billy Joel to Me

Favorite originals:

1.  One More Minute
2.  The Truck Driving Song
3.  Nature Trail to Hell

Just like with Spaff's work, I love the way Weird Al manages to work in so many puns relating to his topic. I have only heard a few songs of Al's, mainly because the majority of his works parody songs prior to my naissance, but I read through some lyrics from Poodle Hat and loved all the leper puns.
When I was 10 or so I was addicted "It's All About The Pentiums" and only later learned that he was the one who did it.

"What kinda chip you got in there- a Dorito?"

He does take lots of artistic license in pacing, however, such as in 'Pretty Fly For a Rabbi', 'Amish Paradise' and numerous others.

Polka:Alternative Polka/Angry White Boy Polka
(I love both of them b/c they have my fav. genres in them)

Original: Happy Birthday/Nature Trail To Hell/Good Old Days

Parodies: (Here is my list"
King Of Suede
Yoda
Syndicated Inc.
White Stuff

Polka: The alternative polka
Original: Stuck in a closet with Vanna White
Parody: Amish Paradise

Been a fan of Weird Al for years..............

Should I also mention that "Dare to be Stupid" was my first vinyl purchase?  I've got all the vinyl album release (not the rare singles or anything).

Picking favorites is not something I'm about to do. 

I´m passing on the polkas because because I´m not really a fan of those.

Original: One more minut (Do we have a surprising theme here or what?)

Parody: Amish Paradise (or maybe "Smells like Nirvana").

And as for the artist himself I think that maybe it should be added that he has a great voice for this genre. And with a great identificational factor to it, you can pretty much always tell that it´s an Al song, even if it´s one of the originals. The lyrics may be brilliant but they would still probably fall flat if performed by say Britney, Eminen, one of the boy bands (not to say that they don´t have great voices if they stick to the right material) or... well, you get the picture.

I am a big fan of Weird Al. I have a few of his albums. I like his parodies better than his originals (altho a few of them are funny), and the polka medleys are cool too.

I saw him in person a couple times (but didn't meet him). The first time was on February 8, 1997, at a Dr. Demento show at Caltech in Pasadena. He was sitting across the aisle from me; during intermission there was a long line of people waiting to see him. The second time was on July 21, 1999, when he performed a concert at the Orange County Fair.

I like Weird Al, I have UHF on DVD but I have NEVER bought a Weird Al CD.
I do, however, have a collection of songs on an audio cassette that I taped from AL TV on MTV.

I mention this in my bio, but I auditioned for Al's band when he was starting out, and we both had stuff on Dr. Demento. We are also the proud owner of his autographed underwear. (As a joke he pulls red heart undies out of his pants during "One More Minute". He then throws them to an audience member, Mari in this case) We also met his unfortunate parents. Anyone that wished to meet him only has to go to a show, and then wait backstage afterward. He meets and greets anyone that wants talk to him.

I mention this in my bio, but I auditioned for Al's band when he was starting out, and we both had stuff on Dr. Demento. We are also the proud owner of his autographed underwear. (As a joke he pulls red heart undies out of his pants during "One More Minute". He then throws them to an audience member, Mari in this case) We also met his unfortunate parents. Anyone that wished to meet him only has to go to a show, and then wait backstage afterward. He meets and greets anyone that wants talk to him.

I Love Weird Al :)  He is, well, weird.  Richard Cheese is as funny though, although he's not exactly a parody artist.

I saw his video clip DVD and absolutely adore Jurrasic Park, Fat, Amish Paradise, It's All About The Pentiums, Smells Like Nirvana and You Don't Love Me Anymore (especially when he goes to play the guitar but then puts it down. ROFLMAO). The visuals just compliment the songs so well with heaps of visual gags, and you can appreciate Bob alot more with the words on a screen.

I have one major complaint with Weird Al: he doesn't tour the UK.  For some reason, he seems to think that nobody will like him over here...

As many know, i worship at the altar of Al. Been following him ever since 1979...I would say that every album he releases gets better and better, musically and satirically (though I thought that Poodle Hat had better originals than parodies, it was one of my favorite albums of 2003). I've seen him twice, in 1983 and 2003, excellent shows that are loved by young and old alike. I have the original Video compilation DVD, the live DVD, and UHF...and every album of course, but I need to replace the worn out vinyl and cassette copies. I would love to see him break his formula of appealing to the little kids just once and make a very difficult record--Running With Scissors was only the beginning of that trend.

I was saddened by the loss of his parents last year. He deserves a year off. (nonfans are always surprised to hear it when "AL makes a comeback", even though he's been working continuously in showbiz since 1980...)

Oh...i admire more of his parodies that were on the obscure side, the ones that no one thinks of,
such as "Toothless People", "Phony Calls", and "Cavity Search". I would love to make a mix CD of his 'tribute' originals that alternate with their honorees (like "Rock Lobster" backed with "Mr. Popeil", or "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails backed with "Germs"! :D)

Fav Polka : Polka Power!
Fav Original : I Remember Larry, followed by That's Your Horoscope For Today, followed by Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung
Fav Parody : Another One Rides the Bus


Incredible artist.

5. Chicken Pot Pie
7. It`s Still Billy Joel to Me

Weird Al never recorded those. There were quite a few parodies that he did in concert only, but never recorded (that is, they don't appear on any of his albums, compilations, singles, etc.). So I don't know if those count or not. Besides, he didn't parody the whole song in many such cases. (For example, he once did a "partial parody" of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" called "Pizza Delivery" (or something like that; I don't remember what it was called, but his lyrics had to do with pizza deliveries). Lots of examples.)

Weird Al never recorded those. There were quite a few parodies that he did in concert only, but never recorded (that is, they don't appear on any of his albums, compilations, singles, etc.).

Dr. Demento has played a complete performance of "Still Billy Joel To Me" before. If you want a cassette copy, contact me agrimorfee@hotmail.com.

A more detailed listing of songs he only performed live can be found at another site (i really don't have the time to look it up, just google Yankovic-Discography, and it should turn up)

i like potatose.

i like potatose.

Look! Dan Quayle!  ;D

I suppose I should at least give a real reply. I'm not into the polkas, but my favorite original is Happy Birthday (Hilarious in a twisted way). My favorite parody is probably It's All About The Pentiums. There are some classic lines in there (You're just about as useless as JPEGs to Hellen Keller, etc.)

I know he's released a couple of albums in the 2000s thus far, but I don't know most of the OSes that he's parodied on those. I have no desire to get those albums. :-\\

-Polka: The Alternative Polka

-Original: Night Santa Went Crazy

-Parody: Jerry Springer

Among parodies and polkas by Weird Al, I still have too many favourites to even narrow down. As for originals, the title track from his 1985 album Dare To Be Stupid is funny.

There's also the 1-minute song on that same album, "George of the Jungle", which is neither an original nor a parody...but rather a cover of the theme song from a 1960's TV series of the same name. According to Wiki:
Yankovic's record company suggested that he do a straight cover song on this particular album.

There's a lot of stuff I like and love of his. I have Running With Scissors and Off the deep End CD's and saw him a couple of times.  Bla Bla Bla...

Adding to this thread again (wow, people must be really bored to dig this stuff up).

Hate to say it, but the Internet Leaks stuff he's been releasing lately is just not on a par with his classics.  :-X

Adding to this thread again (wow, people must be really bored to dig this stuff up).

Hate to say it, but the Internet Leaks stuff he's been releasing lately is just not on a par with his classics.  :-X


I agree!

1. Whatever You Like (Really good probably the best out of his Internet Leaks stuff and the ONLY parody!)
2. Craigslist (Sucked! For one I'm not a big fan of The Doors but it wasn't even that funny)
3. Skipper Dan (I have a personal bias on this one seeing that I was a 'tour guide on the Jungle Cruise ride' so of course I loved this one)
4. CNR (The lyrics were good but who the hell is CNR anyways? It was funny but too obsure in my opinion)
5. Ringtone (I love Queen so I loved this one as well... But the fact was that it wasn't funny either)

I think the site Craigslist doesn't scream humor anyway...

4. CNR (The lyrics were good but who the hell is CNR anyways? It was funny but too obsure in my opinion)


Charles Nelson Reilly, very gay stage actor more widely known as a frequent panelist on The Match Game. Al's really showing his age here, as he does with all those 70s references in "Close But No Cigar"....that could be a potential problem for his younger fanbase.

There's a lot of stuff I like and love of his. I have Running With Scissors and Off the deep End CD's and saw him a couple of times.   Bla Bla Bla...

Those albums will be on my wish list at some point.

I think his stuff is great. I bought the first 3 albums when they were released, and sang those songs over and over.

favorites of mine include "One more minute" , " I lost on Jeopardy" and "Buy me a Condo"