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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZYANKOVIC, Weird Al(b 24 October 1959, Lynwood CA) USA accordionist, parodist. He qualified as an architect, then became a radio disc jockey, got bored with songs and began parodying them; a studio tape of 'Another One Rides The Bus' (sending up Queen hit 'Another One Bites The Dust') almost made the Hot 100 '81. He followed this with 'My Bologna' (from Knack's 'My Sharona'); fell in with guitarist Rick Derringer; did 'I Love Rocky Road' (from Joan Jett's 'I Love Rock'n'Roll'), again just missed the Hot 100 '83; his eponymous album made the Billboard chart that year. 'Eat It', a spoof of Michael Jackson's 'Beat It', had a hilarious video of teenagers pulling apart a plastic chicken, on the theme of recalcitrant child refusing to eat dinner (Jackson loved it): Derringer cloned Eddie Van Halen's solo on the original for a no. 12 hit USA '84. Other chart entries that year: 'King Of Suede' (from the Police hit 'King Of Pain'), 'I Lost On Jeopardy' (from Greg Kihn's 'Jeopardy'); second album In 3-D was a no. 17 '84, including 'Polkas On 45' (pop hits done polka style), Men without Hats parody 'The Brady Bunch' (to tune of 'The Safety Dance'). He also sent up Sylvester Stallone, Madonna ('Like A Surgeon') etc. The third album was Dare To Be Stupid '85. Further parodies were 'Smells Like Nirvana' '92 (Nirvana's 'Teen Spirit') and 'Amish Paradise' '96 (Coolio's 'Gangsta's Paradise'). There were nine albums on Scotti Bros '96 plus two compilations including four-CD The Permanent Record (notes by Dr Demento). His only top ten single was 'White & Nerdy' in 2006 (Chamillionaire's 'Ridin' '); his 2011 album Alpocalypse was a top ten on the album chart. In 2013 a total of dozen albums were said to have sold more than any other comedy act in history; he said he had one more album to do under his contract and that after that he would probably go online, because what he does has to be immediate to have its impact. He also told John J. Moser of the Morning Call, 'I never run out of source material because there's always something ridiculous to make fun of in pop music.' |