When all is said and done, "Weird Al" Yankovic may well go down in history as the most insightful popular music critic of the past two or three decades. He certainly had the most honest reaction to Nirvana if nothing else, and Kurt Cobain himself considered him a genius for it ("What is this song all about/ Can't figure any lyrics out ... We're so loud and incoherent/ Boy this oughtta bug your parents.") And now, a newly compiled double-disc retrospective called The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic is making a definitive case for the legacy of his satires. Rhapsody recently talked with Al about the compilation, pop and rock in the '00s, how the music biz neglects nerds, and why R. Kelly is more parody-worthy than Radiohead.
- On How Hit Music Has Changed Since He Was Growing Up: Back then, Top 40 was great because it was really eclectic. It's part of my job description to have my proverbial finger on the pulse … I still listen to Top 40 radio. But pop culture's gotten so much more fragmented; MTV's not playing videos anymore. In the '80s, everybody watched MTV, and they knew every subtle nuance of the videos. Now everybody watches videos online, on YouTube and other Internet portals. And there are so many subgenres, and because of the fragmentation, there's also not as many bona fide musical superstars as there were in the '80s. It's hard for songs to attain that level of ubiquity. It's even hard to tell what is a popular hit.
- On Coming of Age During New Wave, and What He Listens to Now: I really liked a lot of the bands then -- the B-52s, Devo, Oingo Boingo. Now it's stuff that would now be considered alternative, but would have been popular in the '90s, like Barenaked Ladies.
- On What Makes a Song Worthy of Parody: When I do my parodies, I don't necessarily do songs that are my favorites, or songs I don't like -- even though people assume that. They'll say "you really killed that song." Actually, I try to pick songs that I like, because I'm going to have hear them for months, and I don't want to spend a big chunk of my life playing a song I don't like. There are several things that make a song a good candidate for a parody: a great hook that makes it immediately identifiable, and it has to have enough words to make for a kind of variation on the theme.
- On Whether His Typical Fan Is a Precociously Nerdy 11-Year-Old Boy: I'd say that's not a bad guess …that's who a lot of letters come from. I do want to stress that my audience is one of the more diverse and multigenerational audiences out there. If you go to my show, you'll see people of all ages. But there's probably something about my kind of humor that appeals to that age group. That was the age that I was really into Mad magazine.
- On What Other Hit Music Precociously Nerdy 11-Year-Old Boys Can Listen to Now: Maybe They Might Be Giants, or Ben Folds? But not a lot of hit music is nerd-friendly. A lot of songs in the '90s, out of alternative and grunge, had more of a sense of humor. I think we're moving away from it. Most of the hits driving radio don't seem to have a sense of humor.
- On What Else He Disliked About Pop Music in the '00s: It seems to be going back to being more synth-driven instead of guitar-driven. And for some odd reason they won't stop using that stupid AutoTune. I liked it when Cher did it, years ago, but … though actually, I did do a T-Pain parody, of his song "I'm N Luv (Wit A Stripper)," called "I'm in Love With a Skipper," about Gilligan's Island. But I haven't released it. I wasn't sure if all my audience would be comfortable with the homoerotic content!
- On Why He Hasn't Done a Radiohead Parody: They're like a huge group in one particular niche -- a critics' darling, enormously popular. But most people couldn't name three songs by them.
- On R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet," Which He Parodies with the 11-Minute "Trapped in the Drive-Thru": Sometimes a song comes out that is already so ridiculous that a parody is redundant. Where do you go from there? So you make it about the most boring thing you can think of.
- On the Purpose of Polka Medleys, and the Elimination of Polka Grammys: There's nothing that can skim the angst out of a song as much as a polka … I'm actually sad that's no longer a Grammy category. But I don't know why Jimmy Sturr won every year. I felt bad for everybody else -- poor Walter Ostanek and Eddie Blazonczyk.
- On How the Internet Has Made Life Easier for Song Satires: I no longer have to wait 'til I have songs for a physical CD, which is especially nice for me since my parodies are sometimes topical. It allows me to put them out when what I'm parodying is still hot -- I did that when T.I. had "Whatever You Like," and I got my parody out when he was still No. 1, instead of having to wait two or three months.
- On The Essential Set: This is the stuff I'm proudest of. I thought of it as a time capsule; I wanted it to be the best stuff that I've done. It's split evenly between originals and parodies, with one polka medley. And it has more of my recent songs, because I think my songs have gotten better. You'll notice that some important songs aren't there -- like "My Bologna." That's out there if somebody wants it, but if I put it out today, people wouldn't think it was one of my best songs. The album's a great value -- over 2 � hours of music, retailing for 14 bucks. A darn good Christmas gift.
- On Hopes for the Future: One thing I can be sure of when it comes to pop music is that it's always changing. So I'm just waiting for it to get better.
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
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