Multi-Trick-Pony

July 13, 2011 12:40 PM

Apocalypse Now ... and Then - the timeline of Weird Al Yankovic
posted by mannequito (16 comments total)

That ALpocalypse, son.
posted by punkfloyd at 12:48 PM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

I love Weird Al, but a twelve-page timeline of his stuff seems pretty thin for a post.
posted by Gator at 12:51 PM on July 13, 2011

What Gator said.
posted by Melismata at 12:54 PM on July 13, 2011

The first I heard of him was my brother sending me a cassette tape of It's Still Billy Joel to Me which he apparently taped off Dr. Demento. It did get the feeling that this was a demo that was submitted and played on the program.
posted by Danf at 12:56 PM on July 13, 2011

Why do they keep reminding me I could've been a classmate of Al's at Cal Poly 35 years ago? Whimper.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:55 PM on July 13, 2011

I'm learning a lot I didn't know about his life from this timeline!

I'm learning a lot I didn't know about the world in general from this timeline. (There's actually a need for "accordian repo men"? Who knew?)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:56 PM on July 13, 2011

Weird Al deserves every good thing he gets. He's the goodwill ambassador of American music and a credit to his species. As to the artists (and I use that term so loosely it isn't even funny) who didn't/don't give their permission for Al to parody their songs...what a bunch of arrogant, narcissistic losers! I'd be on my knees begging for him to parody anything I ever sang/said.

Great post, btw...its been favorited!
posted by Quasimike at 3:26 PM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have such vivid memories of the radio ads on KLAQ (95.5 FM, El Paso, Texas) for Al's tours around the In 3D era... "Somewhere in America, there is a group of trucks carrying X lighting rigs, Y amplifiers, Z pieces of rock band instruments... and ONE ACCORDION." I saw him back then a couple of times, I've seen him a couple of times since. He's truly one of the concert acts who is worth the time and money, and I recommend seeing him live to anyone who has ever even momentarily considered doing it. Even my friends who hate concerts say they've loved seeing Weird Al.

This isn't too thin for a post. It's a great career overview, and I greatly appreciate the FPP!
posted by hippybear at 4:40 PM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

How can anyone RTFA and call this post thin? That's almost more info than I need to know about Weird Al.

Almost.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:01 PM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

The late 70's & early 80's were an exciting time to be a Dr. Demento fan. As an added bonus for L.A. area residents, he did a 4 hour local show on KMET, then if you had a decent antenna, you could later pick up the 2 hour syndicated version on KOLA out of Riverside, which was usually quite different.

Weird Al & Dr. Demento went together like chocolate & peanut butter. (though I'm not sure which was which)
posted by ShutterBun at 5:40 PM on July 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

I met Weird Al at LaGuardia Airport when I was 13. He's still by far the coolest celebrity I've ever met and I've met my share.
posted by jonmc at 6:40 PM on July 13, 2011

I was about 14 when Dare To Be Stupid came out. I bought the casette tape at the mall. When my dad saw it, he said in disbelief, "THAT'S what you bought with the money I gave you?!" Suffice to say that I probably still have the whole thing memorized.
posted by goethean at 8:06 PM on July 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

Weird Al always seemed ridiculous enough that I thought he was Canadian.
posted by sharpener at 9:54 PM on July 13, 2011

In that case, he would simply have been known as "Regular Al."
posted by ShutterBun at 11:46 PM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

How did I miss this? Aaron Paul as Weird Al? Weird Al as the sleazy record producer? Olivia Wilde as Madonna? Lumberg/Birdman and Time Hussy Mary Steenburgen?
posted by Eideteker at 3:44 PM on July 15, 2011

How did I miss this?

I have no idea, since it had its own post on The Blue.
posted by hippybear at 4:37 PM on July 15, 2011