Despite some evidence to the contrary (like, y'know, his songs), Beck took himself pretty seriously in the '90s. "Weird Al" Yankovic famously doesn't take anything seriously. That seems like the perfect formula for a dynamic parody! But as Beck revealed in a new episode of Audible's Words + Music podcast series, that tension was also the reason that said parody never came to be.
As reported by Billboard, Beck Words + Music episode is called "Dear Life" and features Beck telling stories from across his career. At this year's SXSW, Beck mentioned that he'd re-recorded his songs "Loser" and "Where It's At," which are featured on the podcast. Billboard has a clip of the first episode (featuring the re-recorded, significantly more streamlined "Loser") and in it, Beck tells the story of how his "Weird Al" parody didn't come to be.
Yankovic always asks the subjects of his parodies for permission to toy with their songs — a kind and unnecessary courtesy, as parodies are protected under the First Amendment — and as Beck tells it, the comedian reached out to him around the release of 1994's surprise hit "Loser," telling him that he wanted to release a parody of the song called "Schmoozer."
However, Beck turned Yankovic down, citing the fear that he wasn't being taken seriously. In the Words + Music clip, he recounted the story and said that he now regrets turning down the parody:
I had a lot of people who were veterans in the business telling me at 20, 21, 22, "You should go back to school. You don't really have the talent to do this. The songs, as they are, aren't going to work. They're too rough. They're too raw. They're not real songs. These are kind of, like, sort of hodgepodge ideas." It wasn't really taken seriously at all. And when it came out and it was popular, it still wasn't taken that serious at all.
I mean, you can go back to the press of the day. I just remember myriad articles and headlines of "one-hit wonder joke band Beck," "novelty act." I remember there was a review in a big paper in L.A. once, and it was not a lot of kindness. I felt very dismissed and kind of, like, a bit of a footnote.
"Weird Al" Yankovic tried to do a parody of ["Loser"]. It was going to be called "Schmoozer," which I regret denying him permission to do. It would've been an amazing video. I'm actually really sad that it didn't happen.
A Yankovic parody is a true honour — Madonna herself was cool with "Like a Surgeon" — but maybe it's not too late for the world to finally hear "Schmoozer."
The full episode of Words + Music comes out tomorrow on Audible, but you can check out the clip at Billboard.
As reported by Billboard, Beck Words + Music episode is called "Dear Life" and features Beck telling stories from across his career. At this year's SXSW, Beck mentioned that he'd re-recorded his songs "Loser" and "Where It's At," which are featured on the podcast. Billboard has a clip of the first episode (featuring the re-recorded, significantly more streamlined "Loser") and in it, Beck tells the story of how his "Weird Al" parody didn't come to be.
Yankovic always asks the subjects of his parodies for permission to toy with their songs — a kind and unnecessary courtesy, as parodies are protected under the First Amendment — and as Beck tells it, the comedian reached out to him around the release of 1994's surprise hit "Loser," telling him that he wanted to release a parody of the song called "Schmoozer."
However, Beck turned Yankovic down, citing the fear that he wasn't being taken seriously. In the Words + Music clip, he recounted the story and said that he now regrets turning down the parody:
I had a lot of people who were veterans in the business telling me at 20, 21, 22, "You should go back to school. You don't really have the talent to do this. The songs, as they are, aren't going to work. They're too rough. They're too raw. They're not real songs. These are kind of, like, sort of hodgepodge ideas." It wasn't really taken seriously at all. And when it came out and it was popular, it still wasn't taken that serious at all.
I mean, you can go back to the press of the day. I just remember myriad articles and headlines of "one-hit wonder joke band Beck," "novelty act." I remember there was a review in a big paper in L.A. once, and it was not a lot of kindness. I felt very dismissed and kind of, like, a bit of a footnote.
"Weird Al" Yankovic tried to do a parody of ["Loser"]. It was going to be called "Schmoozer," which I regret denying him permission to do. It would've been an amazing video. I'm actually really sad that it didn't happen.
A Yankovic parody is a true honour — Madonna herself was cool with "Like a Surgeon" — but maybe it's not too late for the world to finally hear "Schmoozer."
The full episode of Words + Music comes out tomorrow on Audible, but you can check out the clip at Billboard.