Weird Al Yankovic Wikipedia. This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. August 2. Alfred Matthew Weird Al Yankovic YANG k vik born October 2. American singer, songwriter, parodist, record producer, satirist, actor, voice actor, music video director, film producer, and author. Alfred Matthew Weird Al Yankovic j k v k YANGkvik born October 23, 1959 is an American singer, songwriter, parodist, record producer. The discography of American singer, songwriter, rapper, musician and parodist Weird Al Yankovic consists of fourteen studio albums, ten compilation albums, eleven. He is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts, original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, and polka medleys of several popular songs, featuring his favored instrument, the accordion. Since his first aired comedy song in 1. His works have earned him four Grammy Awards and a further 1. United States. Weird Als first top ten Billboard album Straight Outta Lynwood and single White Nerdy were both released in 2. His latest album, Mandatory Fun 2. Weird Als success comes in part from his effective use of music video to further parody popular culture, the songs original artist, and the original music videos themselves, scene for scene in some cases. He directed later videos himself and went on to direct for other artists including Ben Folds, Hanson, The Black Crowes, and The Presidents of the United States of America. With the decline of music television and the onset of social media, Weird Al used You. Watch Weird Al Yankovic Live!: The Alpocalypse Tour Download' title='Watch Weird Al Yankovic Live!: The Alpocalypse Tour Download' />The latest news, photos, insider information, FAQs, biography, trivia, and merchandise. Maintained by Als drummer, Jon Bermuda Schwartz. Tube and other video sites to publish his videos this strategy proved integral helping to boost sales of his later albums including Mandatory Fun. Weird Al has stated that he may forgo traditional albums in favor of timely releases of singles and EPs following on this success. In addition to recording his albums, Weird Al wrote and starred in the film UHF 1. The Weird Al Show 1. He has also made guest appearances and voice acting roles on many television shows and video web content, in addition to starring in Al TV specials on MTV. He has also written two childrens books, When I Grow Up and My New Teacher and Me Early life. Yankovic was born in Downey, California and raised in Lynwood, California. He is the only child of Mary Elizabeth Vivalda and Nick Yankovic. His father was born in Kansas City, Kansas, of Yugoslavian89 descent, and began living in California after serving during World War II 1. Nick married Mary in 1. Mary, who was of Italian and English descent, had come to California from Kentucky, and gave birth to Alfred ten years later. Als first accordion lesson, which sparked his career in music, was on the day before his sixth birthday. A door to door salesman traveling through Lynwood offered the Yankovic parents a choice of accordion or guitar lessons at a local music school. Yankovic claims the reason his parents chose accordion over guitar was they figured there should be at least one more accordion playing Yankovic in the world, referring to Frankie Yankovic,1. Additionally, Yankovic said that his parents chose the accordion because they were convinced it would revolutionize rock. He continued lessons at the school for three years before deciding to learn on his own. Yankovics early accordion role models included Frankie Yankovic and Myron Floren. In the 1. Yankovic was a big fan of Elton John and claims Johns Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album was partly how I learned to play rock n roll on the accordion. As for his influences in comedic and parody music, Yankovic lists artists including Tom Lehrer, Stan Freberg, Spike Jones, Allan Sherman, Shel Silverstein and Frank Zappa and all the other wonderfully sick and twisted artists that he was exposed to through the Dr. Demento Radio Show. Other sources of inspiration for his comedy come from Mad magazine,1. Monty Python,1. 4 and the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker parody movies. Yankovic began kindergarten a year earlier than most children, and he skipped second grade. My classmates seemed to think I was some kind of rocket scientist so I was labeled a nerd early on, he recalls. As his unusual schooling left him two years younger than most of his classmates, Yankovic was not interested in sports or social events at school. He attended Lynwood High School. Yankovic was active in his schools extracurricular programs, including the National Forensic League sanctioned speech events, a play based upon Rebel Without a Cause, the yearbook for which he wrote most of the captions, and the Volcano Worshippers club, which did absolutely nothing. We started the club just to get an extra picture of ourselves in the yearbook. Weird Al graduated in 1. Starting with his first professional recordings and appearances on the Dr. Demento radio show decades ago, Weird Al Yankovic has managed to stay on the pop culture. Yankovic attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where he earned a bachelors degree in architecture. Career. Dr. Demento and early fame. Yankovic received his first exposure via Southern California and syndicated comedy radio personality Dr. Watch Weird Al Yankovic Live!: The Alpocalypse Tour Download' title='Watch Weird Al Yankovic Live!: The Alpocalypse Tour Download' />Dementos radio show, saying If there hadnt been a Dr. Demento, Id probably have a real job now. In 1. 97. 6, Dr. Demento spoke at Yankovics school where the then 1. Yankovic gave him a homemade tape of original and parody songs performed on the accordion in Yankovics bedroom into a cheesy little tape recorder. The tapes first song, Belvedere Cruisin about his familys Plymouth Belvedere was played on Dementos comedy radio show, launching Yankovics career. Demento said, Belvedere Cruising might not have been the very best song I ever heard, but it had some clever lines. I put the tape on the air immediately. Yankovic also played at local coffeehouses, saying It was sort of like amateur music night, and a lot of people were like wannabe Dan Fogelbergs. Theyd get up on stage with their acoustic guitar and do these lovely ballads. And I would get up with my accordion and play the theme from. And people were kind of shocked that I would be disrupting their mellow Thursday night folk fest. During Yankovics sophomore year as an architecture student at Cal Poly, he became a disc jockey at KCPR the universitys radio station. Yankovic said he had originally been nicknamed Weird Al by fellow students and took it on professionally as his persona for the station. In 1. 97. 8, he released his first recording as Alfred Yankovic, Take Me Down, on the LP, Slo Grown, as a benefit for the Economic Opportunity Commission of San Luis Obispo County. The song mocked famous nearby landmarks such as Bubblegum Alley and the fountain toilets at the Madonna Inn. Watch Halloween Online Flashx. In mid 1. 97. 9, shortly before his senior year, My Sharona by The Knack was on the charts and Yankovic took his accordion into the restroom across the hall from the radio station to take advantage of the echo chamber acoustics and recorded a parody titled My Bologna. He sent it to Dr. Demento, who played it to good response from listeners. Yankovic met The Knack after a show at his college and introduced himself as the author of My Bologna. Watch Populaire Streaming. The Knacks lead singer, Doug Fieger, said he liked the song and suggested that Capitol Records vice president Rupert Perry release it as a single. My Bologna was released as a single with School Cafeteria as its B side, and the label gave Yankovic a six month recording contract. Yankovic, who was only getting average grades in his architecture degree, began to realize that he might make a career of comedic music. On September 1. 4, 1. Yankovic was a guest on the Dr. Demento Show, where he was to record a new parody live. The song was called Another One Rides the Bus, a parody of Queens hit, Another One Bites the Dust. While practicing the song outside the sound booth, he met Jon Bermuda Schwartz, who told him he was a drummer and agreed to bang on Yankovics accordion case to help Yankovic keep a steady beat during the song. They rehearsed the song just a few times before the show began. Another One Rides the Bus became so popular that Yankovics first television appearance was a performance of the song on The Tomorrow Show April 2.