By Vish Khanna1976 to 1979
Yankovic is named Valedictorian of his senior class and graduates high school at 16 years old. He's really into Elton John and learns to play rock'n'roll on accordion by repeatedly listening to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and learning the songs. He writes an original entitled "Belvedere Cruising" about his family's 1964 Plymouth Belvedere. He self-records on a portable cassette deck, and sends a tape of the song to Hansen. More tapes follow; the song "School Cafeteria" makes it on Dr. Demento's Top Ten "Most Requested Songs" countdown (spurred on by a petition signed by hundreds of Lynwood High students).
"He gave me exposure and encouragement when nobody else would," Yankovic says of Hansen. "I can't imagine any other DJ in the known universe that would have given airplay to me back then. They were really horrible songs, horribly recorded, literally on a cassette recorder in my bedroom, and he played them on his national radio show, which kinda blew my mind."
Not taking music too seriously, Yankovic attends California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (between L.A. and San Francisco), where he pursues a degree in architecture. In his sophomore year, hoping to emulate Dr. Demento, he starts his own campus radio show and, after fellow students begin to refer to him as 'Weird Al," soon adopts it, as an on-air persona for a midnight to 3 a.m. slot on Wednesdays. He is reprimanded by the school four shows in, after he believes a prank phone call and announces that the next day's classes will be cancelled due to rain. The show continues and he plays funny songs, as well as favourites by emerging new wave artists. Yankovic begins to write and perform his own music at a coffeehouse on Thursday nights in the Student Union building. While fellow amateurs mostly play folk music on acoustic guitars, Yankovic goes on-stage with his accordion, his friend Joel on bongos, and they play Tom Lehrer songs and a few originals. He first appears on record in his junior year, writing and singing a song about San Luis Obispo called "Take Me Down," which appears on a small run of LPs by local artists. He also narrates a Flexidisc sent to incoming Cal Poly students during orientation week.
In the summer of '79, before his senior year, Yankovic is taken by "My Sharona," a huge hit for the Knack that inspires him to craft a song parody entitled, "My Bologna." Using the campus radio station's equipment, he records the song in a men's room (sensing its acoustic advantages) and gets a tape to Dr. Demento; the on-air response is overwhelming, the most in-demand song Demento plays all year. When the Knack plays Cal Poly, Yankovic sneaks backstage to meet them. Lead singer Doug Feiger loves "My Bologna," telling Yankovic, "Oh, that's a really great song!" Feiger's boss, then Capitol Records vice-president Rupert Perry is also in attendance; Feiger tells Perry that Capitol should release "My Bologna," as a single and Perry responds, "Ok, let's do it!" A 20 year-old Yankovic is signed to a six-month contract at Capitol and paid $500 for the master of "My Bologna"; the single is released within a month of the Knack encounter, and features "School Cafeteria" as a b-side.
Yankovic begins to see music as a viable career option, particularly since he's only getting average grades towards his architecture degree. "The fact that I grew up in Los Angeles gave me opportunities I wouldn't have had elsewhere," he says. "It allowed me to go to all these record companies when I was 19 or 20 years old, submit material, and get in people's faces. Most of that was ineffectual, but I don't think I'd have those inclinations if I lived in Nebraska. Also, I grew up playing the accordion, which set me apart at an early age. I never fit in and it left me pretty autonomous. I think that's why Dr. Demento played me; he thought it was pretty quirky and unusual for a teenaged kid to play the accordion and think that it was cool." But he gets a wake-up call when Capitol does little to no promotion of his single, and shows no interest in releasing a follow-up, "Baby Loves Burping," a parody of the Knack's "Baby Talks Dirty."
1980 to 1983
In September 1980, Yankovic parodies Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" with the punk-ish, Frank Zappa-inspired "Another One Rides the Bus." Dr. Demento schedules him to appear on his show and also invites Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz to perform. When Yankovic learns that Schwartz plays drums, he enlists him to bang on his accordion case for "Bus." Another guest, Dan "Damaskas" Hollombe, sings the bass part and the trio perform the song on-air after two hallway rehearsals. Yankovic reads his still-fresh lyrics from a loose-leaf notebook he now carries everywhere. Hansen cites it as the most exciting moment to ever take place on his show, and listeners request the performance for weeks after. The tape is dubbed across the world and the song becomes a grassroots hit. For his part, Yankovic continues with his studies, getting home from class to hear that someone in New Zealand called requesting a copy of his Queen parody. A Miami radio station flies him in to perform the song at a concert; it's his first time on an airplane.
« Page 1 | Page 3 »
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-28 18:57:32I think that "Dare to be Stupid" is a highly underrated album and easily belongs on the list of essential Weird Al records.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-28 21:54:59When I saw Weird Al perform at the Del Mar Fair earlier this month, I met Tad Dowd after the show (and before Jay Levey came to escort him backstage to the aftershow). Al is really good about staying in touch with people who were important to him when he was starting out.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-28 22:15:38I love being a Nameless Poseur. You might want to consider editing "Don MacLean" to "Don McLean." Just a suggestion.
Posted by Elvish On 2011-06-28 22:55:15I agree about Dare to Be Stupid. It was a close one there for a while but I wanted to pick Even Worse and then felt weird choosing two outta three records from the 80s. Wanted to spread it out a bit. Plus EW, OtDE, and SoL are all amazing. I stand by my Essential picks.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-29 01:23:35What a thrill to find such a great and detailed piece
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-29 15:43:33Excellent article. Well researched and informative.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-29 22:43:48Even Worse came out before UHF. If anything, it was a return after the lackluster sales of Polka Party (unfortunate, because that one is even more underrated than Dare to be Stupid, Dog Eat Dog is one of his best).
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-06-30 11:03:55Well you could have picked the 2009 Compilation "The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic you know.. :D
I'd pick that, Alpocalypse and Poodle Hat as my Essentials
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-01 10:23:50Great article. As noted above, the author misspelled "McLean", but also misspelled "Popeil" by adding an "m". Anyway, loved the article! Al's pal and former producer Rick Derringer (who also played the lead guitar for the studio recording of "Eat It") is now touring with Ringo's All Starr band. Pretty impressive. I wanna add that some years back, VH-1 had people vote for their favorite video moment. Jim West blowing up in the "Eat It" video was one of the choices. I, of course voted for that. Never found out the results, but I thought it was a great moment in video history. Thanks for sharing this article.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-01 13:26:52without Weird Al, the world would suck a little harder....
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-01 14:31:58Al receives his first music lesson on October 22, 1967, the day before his seventh birthday.
59-67 = 8 years !!!!
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-01 17:16:35i appreciate the effort that went into compiling all the info that went into this piece, but i have to say that the writing itself made me wince.
i'm also surprised that this website doesn't offer any indications as to how long their articles actually are.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-01 18:53:08Who edited this article??! While this is very thorough and well-researched, there are spelling mistakes and several run-on sentences. It goes in order until the last page. After mentioning Al's 2011 work, it jumps to mentions of 1988 and 1992.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-01 21:38:14One fairly major project that seems to be left out is "Al's Brain." Otherwise a great piece.
Posted by Elvish On 2011-07-02 00:39:58Al's Brain! Good point!
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-02 10:05:02Like many others out there, "Weird Al" got me through a lot of bad times, and has indeed, made my world so much better. I couldn't imagine life being brilliant, without him around.
Posted by Elvish On 2011-07-02 12:18:37Wait, you seriously want us to tell you how long each article is in advance?!
Wow, someone's really been spoiled by "This Song's Just Six Words Long."
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-02 18:03:53uh...the references to 1988 and 1992 appear to be the author's top three picks, after the proper article had concluded. Kinda like a sidebar.
Well done, Vish. Excellent piece.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-04 02:13:21My parents drove by my elementary school during recess when I was in 4th grade just to show me that they had just purchased "IN-3D" on vinyl for me, which had just come out. I was beyond excited.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-05 07:52:33Don't forget that he appeared in an episode of Johnny Bravo!
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-12 04:22:08He who is tired of Weird Al, is tired of life.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-13 16:47:32Ugh, please learn how to use tense before becoming a journalist. Thanks.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-16 01:05:34This is awesome :) all the details I ever wanted to know about Al's journey to success, without having to pick up a book. :)
Posted by Elvish On 2011-07-16 12:06:07Hey Nameless Poseur, how should I be using tense?
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-18 09:06:53Nameless Poseur........ stop being a cynic and just appreciate the article for what it is will you
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-19 01:04:11Well, let me say, 2 boys in the 80's~~ saw vidioes from Wierd Al and they were hooked. What does a Mother know?? HMM Accordian?? Yeah, my Dad thrust one on me!Hey, Cindy here play this. He was a car salesman. HMMMMM?? must have been his tip??WELL!! I impressed myself, aS i PLAYED!(caps lock)Okay, reply because we want( or I do) to see you on the sunshine coast of Gibsons! BC!
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2011-07-26 06:19:51Saw Al in concert in Birmingham, England. It was his first show on his first European Tour ever. It was amazing! As a kid growing up in Kansas City in the 80's, I'd always wanted to hear Weird Al first hand. I was happy I did, and my son got to experience it too. The lady at the ticket booth never took my tickets so I still have them as a keepsake.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-02-13 12:06:20Nameless Poseur or one of you, your Al messing about!
Posted by bob On 2012-02-24 10:36:13qeer
Posted by bob On 2012-02-24 10:36:56i love chicken and weird al
Posted by timothy On 2012-02-24 10:39:15i was here
METAL: Antigama - Stop the Chaos
SHARE IT! 
---c.-of-Sony-Music.jpg)
