"Weird Al" Yankovic

Features > Timeline > Jul 2011

By Vish KhannaAfter a fan gives him a copy of the book, Diet for a New America, Yankovic decides to go vegan. Currently he eats no meat and avoids eggs and dairy products. He appears on an episode of Circus of the Stars, where he slightly injures himself performing a perilous aerial stunt. He also plays "Murray the Mouth" in a Mathnet segment on the kids show, Square One and, along with Kathy Bates, Jeffrey Tambor, and Billy Bob Thornton, appears in the sci-fi mockumentary, Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun. Between 1995 and 1998, he plays different characters on The Eddie Files, a kids' TV series that demonstrates different ways in which mathematics can be applied in the real world.

Yankovic begins work on his next album, setting his sights on the box office juggernaut Jurassic Park, whose story he re-tells to the tune of "MacArthur Park." Alapalooza (a reference to the then-popular Lollapalooza music festival) is released in October, 1993 and sells well despite a chilly critical reception. The Grammy-nominated animated video for "Jurassic Park" receives heavy rotation, as does "Bedrock Anthem," a tribute to The Flintstones, set to "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose bassist, Flea, is offended because he doesn't find the treatment particularly funny. Since "Bedrock Anthem," "Weird Al" has directed all of his own music videos, as well as videos by Hanson, the Black Crowes, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Ben Folds. A four-disc compilation called Permanent Record: Al in a Box comes out in September, 1994 with extensive biographical notes by Dr. Demento and a brand new parody of Crash Test Dummies' hit "Mmm Mmm Mmm" called "Headline News."

1996 to 2000
In March, 1996, Yankovic's ninth album, Bad Hair Day is released, featuring a mocked-up "Weird Al," sporting rapper Coolio's idiosyncratic hairstyle. During production, the Offspring deny Yankovic's request to turn "Come Out and Play" into "Laundry Day," and, while Sir Paul McCartney's on board, Yoko Ono refuses to allow the new, re-fabricated Beatles tune, "Free As A Bird" to become "Gee, I'm a Nerd," U2 allow "Numb" to serve as the foundation for "Green Eggs and Ham," but the estate of Dr. Seuss is no pal to Al. Yankovic is also unsuccessful in convincing the producers of Friends that turning the show's theme song, "I'll Be There for You" by the Rembrandts, into "I'll Repair For You (Theme for Home Improvement)" is a great idea. Weezer front-man Rivers Cuomo requests that Yankovic's brief interpolation of "Buddy Holly" be removed from the record's "Alternative Polka" medley. As usual, these non-approved album tracks still make it into "Weird Al" live sets. Bad Hair Day yields two popular singles, "Gump," which parodies the Presidents of the U.S.A. hit "Lump" by celebrating cinematic icon, Forrest Gump, and "Amish Paradise," Yankovic's wholesome turnaround of Coolio's hit, "Gangster's Paradise" (which itself is inspired by Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise"). While the Presidents embrace "Gump" (even adopting the film's tagline, "And that's all I have to say about that" when ending "Lump" in concert), controversy erupts when Coolio proclaims that Yankovic never received permission to mock "Gangster's Paradise"; at the Grammys, he says the parody desecrates the song. Yankovic contends that his label told him he had Coolio's blessing to pursue the idea and sincerely apologizes for the misunderstanding. The two are photographed burying the hatchet together at a consumer electronics conference in 2006.

Bad Hair Day becomes Weird Al's highest selling album, peaking at #14 on Billboard. Yankovic writes and records the title song for the Leslie Neilsen movie, Spy Hard, a parody of James Bond films, which is released in May, 1996. He does some voiceover work for the children's cartoon, Eek! the Cat and appears on an episode of the bizarre MTV variety show, Oddville. CBS recruits Yankovic to produce a half-hour, educational Saturday morning program for kids called The Weird Al Show, which debuts in September, 1997. A mix of live action and animation, the show features recurring characters like the Hooded Avenger (Brian Haley), Madame Judy (Judy Tenuta), J.B. Toppersmith (Stan Freberg) and Harvey the Wonder Hamster. The show is hampered by creative conflicts between CBS, who aren't prepared for the adult-oriented content crafted by Yankovic and his writers. As a variety show, it features some very funny ideas, and different guest stars each week, both musical (Barenaked Ladies, Hanson, All-4-One, Clarence Clemons, Dweezil Zappa) and otherwise (Alex Trebek, John Tesh, Patton Oswalt, Mary Lynn Rajskub, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Fred Willard). The first season's final new episode airs on December 6, 1997. On January 24, 1998 Yankovic receives LASIK eye surgery to correct his near-sightedness and he no longer wears his trademark glasses. He also decides to shave his moustache and grow his hair long, radically altering his well-established nerd appearance as a performer, much to some (nerdy) fans' consternation. That same month CBS decides to cancel their entire Saturday morning line-up, including The Weird Al Show; Shout! Factory releases the complete series on DVD on August 15, 2006.

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