Why did I write “Eat It”? Because I wanted to buy a house… It worked.

Weird Al Yankovic

One of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with in my career is keeping my material topical even though I only release albums every 3 or 4 years. Now, with the advent and popularity of digital distribution, I don’t have to wait around while my songs get old and dated – I can get them out on the Internet almost immediately. It kind of boggles my mind – I thought of the idea for this new song a week ago, and next week it’s getting released!

TOMMORROW AL GOES DIGITAL!!!

Video Twins: Ice Cube and Weird Al →

What do these two artists have in common? They both have music videos that show you exactly what the lyrics are saying.

Cube says breakfast, show him eating breakfast. Weird Al says fanny pack, show a close up of the fanny pack. My favorite: Ice Cube says, “Woke her up around 1,” while we see him waking up a sleeping woman with a clock in the foreground reading 1:00. This kind of literal video-making has always been a hallmark of comedy and hip hop. These two dudes were just the best at it.

I suspect the reason Weird Al doesn’t get more credit is because his comedy doesn’t rely on irony. His is the comedy of Hawaiin shirts and funny last names. He plays accordion. He has funny hair. He is, in short, uncool. →

ericmortensen:

UHF: Life is Like a Mop

As “Weird Al” states in his commentary of the movie, UHF was thought to be the movie that would “save the studio” for Orion.