Weird Al Yankovic is a remarkable recording artist. When he first burst on the scene, I assumed he’d have a few hits and then either write music for kids shows or vanish into obscurity. Somehow he’s managed to endure for more than 30 years. It’s truly amazing, particularly his ability to secure the rights to parody so many hit tunes. Apparently, it’s cool to be mocked by Weird Al.
I selected Bad Hair Day because we’ve all had them. Additionally, it contains one of Al’s most brilliant videos, Amish Paradise, which is a take on Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise.
I mentioned Amish Paradise. Here’s the video:
Always enjoyed Yankovic’s recordings…he quickly graduated from being “that strange fellow with the Accordion on Dr. Demento” to having his own band o’ well tuned session musicians. Some o’ his most entertaining pieces are actually his original tunes; with sharp lyrics such as “I’d rather slide down a razor blade into a pool filled with broken glass, than spend one more minute with you!” – brilliant! O’ course the Polka toned melodies are always a hoot.
Back when he was requesting permission to parody Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, the story goes, Cobain replied, “Sure – it’s going to be something about food, right?” – to which Yankovic replied, “No. It’s about how nobody can understand what the f–k you’re saying!”. Apparently the response was a rather muted, “Oh…I guess that’s cool, too”.