"Weird Al" talks accordions and The Simpsons
By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor
August 6, 2008
 Every outcast’s favourite pop parody superstar is hitting the road again for the summer in anticipation of new projects and eventually a new album.
Entering the third decade of his career as a parody master, “Weird Al” Yankovic is still going strong. His latest album, 2006’s Straight Outta Lynwood, has gone gold, along with his first top 10 hit, “White & Nerdy,” which peaked at number nine on the Billboard charts.
The album didn’t start off so well, however. One of the songs set to be included on the album didn’t quite make it that far, but it did attract quite a bit of attention to Yankovic and open more doors for him.
Yankovic’s song, “You’re Pitiful,” a parody of James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” was pulled due to protests from Blunt’s record company, Atlantic Records, delaying the release of the album.
“You’re Pitiful,” however, is available in MP3 format from Yankovic’s website and MySpace, as well as on numerous fan pages.
This has prompted discussions of whether or not Yankovic would further this idea, releasing songs on his website and iTunes once he’s recorded them.
“I’ve been discussing that very subject with my manager and record label, and it seems like a very real possibility for the future,” he said.
This would allow Yankovic to release songs on a more immediate basis.
Instead of waiting to have enough material for the next album, the parodies would remain more current, memorable, and relevant.
Moving past that, Yankovic has picked up a new instrument for his studio recordings, which we can look forward to in the future. Yankovic has upgraded to the digital accordion, which he has been very impressed with. Roland’s FR-7 V-Accordion, a second-generation digital accordion, features 30 sounds.
“I’m not using it on this current tour, but I certainly might later on,” he said, also stating that the new accordion is “pretty cool.”
Musical talent does run in the family. Now that his daughter Nina is five-years-old, almost the same age Yankovic was when he received his first accordion, she’s taking piano lessons.
“If she wanted to branch out to the accordion, I guess I could give her a few tips,” he offered.
On whether or not he thinks Nina will follow in her famous father’s footsteps, Yankovic is doubtful.
“I would seriously doubt it, but if she decided that’s what she wanted to do, I certainly wouldn’t stand in her way. Actually, right now she says she wants to be a bird trainer when she grows up. But she’s only five—there’s a chance she may change her mind someday.”
While Yankovic does have some top-secret projects in the works that he wouldn’t comment on, he has eliminated the prospect of a live album and more rare song releases.
“The live songs sound an awful lot like the studio recordings—plus, we released a live concert DVD a few years back, so you can always play that and just face away from the TV,” he said.
Yankovic got such wide exposure as a parody artist in the late 1970s and early 1980s on the Dr. Demento radio show. Every so often, Yankovic contributes some of his older rare recordings to Dr. Demento’s Basement Tapes compilations, but appears to have run out of a useable rare back catalogue.
“If I haven’t released it already, there’s probably a pretty darn good reason why not,” he explained.
Of course, Yankovic has had a lot of highlights in his career—winning three Grammy Awards, scoring six platinum and four gold albums, meeting Michael Jackson before he was creepy—but the one that stands out most for him is appearing on The Simpsons.
“That show is still amazingly good after nearly two decades, and I’m sure it will be in syndication until the end of recorded history,” said Yankovic.
As for how the tour is going so far, Yankovic maintains it’s going well. “No fatalities yet,” he commented.
“There are a lot of costume changes and video projection on a big screen—it’s a veritable multimedia extravaganza,” said Yankovic.
The shows are high-energy and feature the same band Yankovic has been working with for many years.
After the current tour is finished, Yankovic plans to begin work on the next album. Although the finished album is far away, Yankovic promises it will arrive on Tuesday. “I’m not sure which Tuesday, but that’s the day albums come out.”
Yankovic, always willing to encourage the younger generations of parody artists, leaves us with a little advice for them: “Give up—the field is already overcrowded as it is.”
Yankovic is on tour throughout Canada and the U.S. until the end of August.
For more information and tour dates, visit Yankovic online at http://www.weirdal.com/.
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