Since the late 1970s, “Weird Al” Yankovic has been in a league of his own. The pop parodist has been witness to countless shifts in musical trends, from Michael Jackson to Lady Gaga (who he says told him getting the Weird Al treatment was a “rite of passage”), and has deftly skewered them all, selling millions of records across the globe.
But with his whopping 14-album deal with Volcano Records now complete (“I had the option of signing this record contract or keeping my day job, working for minimum wage in a mailroom,” he says), Yankovic is free to focus on his own projects, which include his current day job as bandleader on IFC’s Comedy Bang! Bang!
Isthmus caught up with “Weird Al” in advance of his Aug. 21 show at the Overture Center to take a closer look at the lengthy, colorful career of a true music and comedy legend.
Oct. 23, 1959
Alfred Matthew Yankovic is born in Downey, California.
“I grew up in the Compton-adjacent city of Lynwood. I went to the same high school as [Death Row Records’] Suge Knight.”
1966
Al takes his first accordion lesson after a door-to-door salesman visits his parents.
“The choice was between guitar lessons and accordion lessons, and, of course, my parents — being the visionaries that they were — went with the accordion, because they wanted me to be extremely popular in high school.”
1979
Just before his senior year at Cal Poly, Al records “My Bologna,” which becomes his first professionally released parody.
“I didn’t have the money for a professional recording facility, so I recorded it in the bathroom across the hall from my college campus radio station. I remember how giddy I was when I got a postcard from Dr. Demento saying that “My Bologna” had been No. 1 on his Funny Five countdown for two weeks in a row. I actually thought, ‘Man... my life’s never going to get any better than this!’”
1983
Al’s self-titled debut album is released.
“This album is kind of painful for me to listen to, but I suppose I just have to allow it to be a product of its time and resist the George Lucas impulse to completely re-record it just because I actually know what I’m doing now.”
1984
“Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D is released, with “Eat It.”
“‘Eat It’ basically changed my life. Within 24 hours of that video going into heavy rotation on MTV, I became a celebrity. It was literally overnight fame. I couldn’t go anywhere in public without people staring and pointing at the ‘Eat It’ guy. That was the power of MTV back in the day.”
1989
Comedy film UHF is released in theaters.
“UHF went on to become a beloved cult classic, but it was an unmitigated box office bomb. The whole experience was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster because the movie had tested extremely well and everybody was treating me like I was going to be Orion Pictures’ next big movie star. After its dismal opening weekend, nobody at Orion even wanted to establish eye contact with me.”
1996
Bad Hair Day is released, including “Amish Paradise.”
“Bad Hair Day is still my highest-selling album to date (over 2 million copies) because of “Amish Paradise,” and also because of the fact that it came out in an era when people were still actually buying albums. Plus, Amish people buy tons of CDs, right?”
2006
Straight Outta Lynwood is released, including “White & Nerdy,” his biggest-selling single to date.
“I lucked out by releasing “White & Nerdy” at the crest of the wave of nerd empowerment. 2006 was the tipping point when all of a sudden people decided it was actually cool to be a nerd. I guarantee you, nobody was trying to establish their “nerd cred” when I was in high school!”
2014
Mandatory Fun — including single “Word Crimes” — is released and becomes his first No. 1 album in the U.S. (and the first comedy album to top the charts since 1963).
“I had been under contract to my record label for 32 years, [and] Mandatory Fun was the last album on my 14-album record deal. I thought it was a really strong album, but I didn’t think I had a standout single. I figured I would release it anyway and quietly fulfill my contractual obligations. Instead, to my amazement, the album made history.”
2016
Al joins IFC’s Comedy Bang! Bang! as bandleader.
“Comedy Bang! Bang! is one of my all-time favorite TV shows, and Scott Aukerman is an old friend of mine, so when he offered me the bandleader gig, I jumped at the opportunity. It’s a real thrill for me every single day on set, because I get a chance to do music, improv and sketch comedy with some of the absolute funniest people in the world.”
Aug. 21, 2016
Al performs at Overture Hall in Madison.
“My whole life has been building up to this. Let’s face it, it’s all downhill after the Madison gig.”
