"Weird Al" Yankovic Celebrates 10 Years of "Mandatory Fun"

[MUSIC - "Weird Al" Yankovic: Amish Paradise]

There's no cops or traffic lights

Livin' in an Amish paradise

But you'd probably think it bites

Livin' in an Amish paradise

Brian Lehrer: No, that's not The Brian Lehrer Show theme, not even close. Although with today's global internet outage, we're probably closer to living in an Amish Paradise than we have been in quite a while. Anyway, I'm sure some of you are very excited for our next guest, "Weird Al" Yankovic singer of Amish Paradise, and countless parodies of your favorite songs over the last four decades. Today he's with us to celebrate his release of a new medley of the latest pop hits out, it's called Polkamania. We'll preview at the end of the segment. "Weird Al", welcome to WNYC.

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Thank you so much.

Brian Lehrer: I feel weird calling you "Weird Al", is that how I should address you or just Al or just Weird?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: We're old friends now so like Paul Simon says, you can call me Al.

Brian Lehrer: [laughs] Listeners we'll open up the phones right away for those of you who are fans of "Weird Al Yankovic". Do you have a burning question for the master of parody? Maybe you have a pop culture question for the man who's met everyone from Paul McCartney to Kurt Cobain. What's the "Weird Al" song of your generation or the ones you enjoyed with multiple generations the most? Call or text us with your "Weird Al" memories or questions at 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Amish Paradise, the song we just played was the first time you covered a rap song. There are so many ways in this day where that could have gone wrong. How did you approach it?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: With any music that I parody, I approach it with respect. I'm not trying to denigrate the artist or the song, I'm not trying to put anybody down, it's all done in good fun and it's meant to be an homage. I think that's really the key. As long as you approach something with at least a modicum of respect, chances are you're going to come up with a product that's not offensive, but that people will actually enjoy.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, and you could have offended rappers, you could have offended the Amish. Something we have in common is that on the radio, we're not allowed to say bad words. You also don't curse in your music, and you're known to not use profanity in your personal life either, I understand. Why do you choose not to swear and do you think we'd all be better off not using so-called word crimes?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Oh, I'm not going to tell anybody else how to live their life. It's just the way that-- that's the way I was raised. I just never in my life used any harsh profanity and I guess is just, by habit now, I suppose. The nice byproduct is my music is de facto family-friendly because I'm not using any harsh profanity but it's an extension of my actual personality.

Brian Lehrer: You've been parroting pop music for 40 years plus often as we get older we start falling out of love with contemporary popular culture but you seem to still have so much respect for pop music and pay attention.

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Yes, I pay a little less attention to pop music now than I did 10, 20 years ago. That was actually a pretty good barometer for this polka medley because I figured if I'm aware of this being a big hit song, [laughs] I think a lot of other people will be too so that was my litmus test.

Brian Lehrer: Do you have a favorite era of pop?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Oh, that's a good question. I always have a warm feeling about my college year. Late '70s was a nice period for me with a new wave and alternative and power pop music. The '90s I liked a lot because that was like a lot of grunge and college bands and garage bands and DIY bands, but there's always something good in every era. It's hard to say that one decade or one generation of music is better than another.

Brian Lehrer: Listener writes their favorite "Weird Al" song was "Another One Rides the Bus spoofing Another One Bites the Dust." Was that your biggest hit?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: In 1980 it probably was, that was a very early one. It's an old-school one so that was a big hit on the Dr. Demento show. I remember I recorded that on September 14th, 1980. I remember that because that was also the night that I met my drummer, Jon Bermuda Schwartz, who was still my drummer to this very day, 44 years later. I did it live on the Dr. Demento Radio show. I had just written the song that weekend and I needed somebody to bang on my accordion case for percussion and Jon said, "Well, I'm a drummer." I said, "Great, you can bang on my case." That was the start of it all

Brian Lehrer: In the past, you've said that you steer clear from discussing politics because it's a sure way to alienate half your fan base, but in the last decade or so, you've been, "Moderating presidential debates." Let's take a listen to a clip from the last "Weird Al" presidential debate.

[MUSIC - "Weird Al" Yankovic: Deja Vu]

I think I'm getting déjà vu

You have to be quite smart

Who signed off on this reboot?

Having sex with a porn star (Who?)

And people are dying all over the place

We are the most admired country, the United States

It's a disgrace

Was it me and you who made this déjà vu?

Speaker 1: So we did a great job.

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Perfect. All make sense. Totally normal. We should get together in four years and do this again.

Brian Lehrer: [laughs] You're still remaining nonpartisan there, I guess, but you are talking about politics. As much as you're comfortable sharing, what were you feeling while watching the recent debate while writing this remix and in the weeks following?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: [laughs] I should say, first of all, that this wasn't my project per se, this was The Gregory Brothers. They've done songs applied the debates for many years. In fact, this is the third one that I've done with them, I did it in 2016, 2020, and the most recent one 2024. It's really their thing and even though The Gregory Brothers and I obviously have our own political beliefs, we try to keep these as nonpartisan as possible.

We're just trying to make fun of everybody and try to make it so it's palatable for anybody to listen to. Yes, it was a challenge. Watching this last debate was just not a happy experience [laughs] in any sense of the word but we just tried to make the best of it for the video.

Brian Lehrer: Let's take some calls from some of your fans. Bob in Blairstown, New Jersey, you're on WNYC with "Weird Al" Yankovic. Hi, Bob.

Bob: Good morning and good morning, "Weird Al". One of my favorites for the past 30 years at least, anyhow. My favorite and it always will be, is a parody of Michael Jackson's Beat It, you "Eat It." It's hysterical. I love it. I can't tell enough people about it.

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Thank you very much, I appreciate it. That song changed my life in a major way because prior to Eat It, I had a few small minor hits and when Eat It went into heavy rotation on MTV, all of a sudden, I became the Eat It guy. People were pointing at me and staring in public which was something that really hadn't happened in my life to that point.

Brian Lehrer: Diana, in Bay Ridge, you're on WNYC with "Weird Al". Hi, Diana.

Diana: Hi. I'm excited to get to tell "Weird Al" this because this is a fun fact I've used a lot. Hi, how are you?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Good. How are you doing?

Diana: I'm excited to tell "Weird Al" this because it's been a fun fact, I've used a lot in my life that when I was a kid, my first CD was -- hi, sorry. Can you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: Yes. No, no, you were on. Oh, you shouldn't listen to the radio in the background because you'll be hearing it on delay. That's why I think you just started your phone call twice, so you don't need to start at a third time, Diana. What was that thing you wanted to look back on?

Diana: Yes, I just wanted to say that my first CD was actually "Weird Al" Amish Paradise CD. I think that's very funny because how did I even know what the songs he was parodying were about? He transcended parody. He was the original for me.

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Thank you. Yes, that was the Bad Hair Day album, and that's my guide for writing parodies. It's got to be funny and enjoyable even if you're not familiar at all with the source material. I'm glad that you're able to enjoy it without maybe being familiar so much with a Coolio hit. I know a lot of people that hear my song first and then years later they hear the song that it's based on and go, "Oh, oh, now I get it."

Brian Lehrer: Izzy in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC with "Weird Al". Hi, Izzy.

Izzy: Oh, hi. Love your work. I wanted to ask a little bit more about your creative process. How you get the crappy stuff out of the way to do what you do. If you have time or answer this one instead, what do you think the elements of a good parody are?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: I brought it up already that it's got to be funny even if you're not familiar with the original source material. Another thing is it's got to maintain the humor throughout the entire course of the song. A lot of times I'll come up with an idea for a hook or a joke for the chorus and it's just funny for 30 seconds. You can get to the chorus, and there's the joke and then there's nowhere you can take it from there. The sign of a good parody is something that's not only funny in the first verse, but it's funnier in the second verse and even funnier by the end of the song. It's got to be able to build and not all parodies are able to do that.

Brian Lehrer: Listener writes in a text message, "I fulfilled a childhood dream when I saw "Weird Al" at the Apollo in 2018. It was the ridiculously self-indulgent tour which was extremely fun, but I couldn't believe my luck when Al played my favorite song for the encore, The Saga Begins. I'm forever grateful," writes that listener. David in West-- Go ahead. Do you want to say something?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: I just said it's my pleasure and playing the Apollo was a real thrill for me. It was a real dream come true.

Brian Lehrer: David in Westfield, you're on WNYC. Hi, David.

David: Oh, I can't believe I got on with "Weird Al". This is a lifelong dream. I am a 56-year-old man. "Weird Al", you helped me grow up and with your sense of humor all the way through the difficult times we've gone through. Your humor and your music has been a guiding star for me and helped me find friends still to this day. My question for you is, I've got kids and I try to get them to listen in the car to all the things I love. You're among them. Would you have any advice for a dad and trying to get his kids that mindset that there's humor, there's fun and all the things that I can't express that go into your music? Thank you for taking my question.

Brian Lehrer: Parenting advice. Do you get asked for parenting advice frequently, Al?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Not frequently. First of all, thank you for all the kind words. I would say that, if you're going to be a good parent, just lock your kids in the car and just play all my songs on a loop until their defenses fall. Then that's all they listen to. That would be my number one parenting tip.

Brian Lehrer: I read that Prince is one of the few artists who repeatedly rejected your requests to remake his songs. Is that true and were there other parodies that you really wanted to make that got rejected by the original artists?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: That is true. Prince was pretty much the exception. Over the last four decades, the people that have turned me down, I could probably count on one hand. It's pretty rare because most artists actually look at it as a badge of honor to get a "Weird Al" parody. We approached Prince several times. I think I had a half a dozen ideas and he just wasn't into it. He's got a great sense of humor, but just maybe not so much about his own music.

Brian Lehrer: Listener writes in a text, "Hello, "Weird Al", you're my hero. Love your polka songs and I just listened to Polka Your Eyes Out, et cetera, at the beach last weekend and it made it that much better in the sun." Now, the new release that you're actually on for today has polka in the title, right?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Yes. Polkamania.

Brian Lehrer: You want to talk about it?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: [laughs] Sure. It has been 10 years since my last album Mandatory Fun. I've done The Hamilton Polka, I did that in 2018, which was a medley of all the many of the hits from Hamilton. I haven't done a real pop culture time capsule kind of polka medley since 2014. I figured the 10-year anniversary was a nice excuse to be able to get people caught up. If you listen to this four-minute-long medley, then you have a pretty good sense of what happened in pop music for the last 10 years. It's a good cliff notes to pop music for the last 10 years.

Brian Lehrer: At the end of the segment in two minutes, we're going to go out with a 30-second sample from Polkamania. Let's get at least one more question. I think this one's a story in here from Bill in Toms River. Bill, you're on WNYC with "Weird Al".

Bill: Hi. Hi, Brian. How are you?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Good.

Brian Lehrer: All right. What you got?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Great.

Bill: I had a funny story. I think it was about my eighth birthday and my first real experience with "Weird Al". My mother and a friend were driving us from the Jersey Shore to the Catskills to go skiing and there was a car accident. We got stuck in a long line of traffic. We were in the car for almost eight hours. The only two cassette tapes we had in the car were "Weird Al" Dare to Be Stupid cassette tape and the John Denver Greatest Hits.

We just alternated back and forth between those two cassette tapes. Al, I've been a fan for a long time. I remember having a VHS copy of the fat video that we would wear out in our living room, just always been a great fan and you're a great inspiration to the kids, to music, and I can't say enough about you.

Brian Lehrer: Bill, between the "Weird Al" and the John Denver, which one seemed campier?

Bill: Oh, my gosh, that was my first experience with "Weird Al" and we would all just suffer through the John Denver, although as I got older, I appreciated it more. Then we were just four kids in the backseat chanting for more "Weird Al"-

Brian Lehrer: Bill, thank you.

Bill: -when my mother and her friend were Rocky Mountain High.

Brian Lehrer: Al, we've got 30 seconds for a last word.

"Weird Al" Yankovic: I'm just honored to be part of your John Denver "Weird Al" rock block.

Brian Lehrer: Are you performing in concert anywhere soon now that this Polkamania is out?

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Not soon. We haven't announced a new tour yet. I think conventional wisdom is that there will be a tour at some point, but I really can't discuss that at this point.

Brian Lehrer: What a treat to have you on with us and everybody deserved it at the end of this week. Thank you so much.

"Weird Al" Yankovic: My pleasure. Thank you. Take care.

Brian Lehrer: Polkamania.

[MUSIC - "Weird Al" Yankovic: Polkamania]

So you're a tough guy

Like it really rough guy

Just can't get enough guy

Chest always so puffed guy

I'm that bad type

Make your mama sad type

Make your girlfriend mad type

Might seduce your dad type

I'm the bad guy

 

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