You know it's going to be a good month when "Weird Al Yankovic" releases a new album... not just because of the great new parody singles like "Word Crimes" and "Foil" but because it means the funnyman will be out on the interviewing circuit.
Yesterday (July 15), Yankovic joined the likes of The Black Keys' Patrick Carney, 50 Cent and St. Vincent by logging onto Reddit.com and participating in a fan Q&A over on /r/iAMA... We discovered a lot, so let's revisit the six best things we learned from Weird Al's Reddit AMA:
1. Without the weird choice of accordion lessons for a teen, "Weird Al" Yankovic would just be plain ol' Al.
Yankovic responded to a deleted question about his odd choice of instrument as a kid, but even if the accordion may have led to a few jokes played on the jokester, he wouldn't have it any other way...
"Someone asked me how different my life would have been if my parents had gotten me guitar lessons instead of accordion lessons. (They just deleted their question.) Anyway...," he wrote.
"I probably wouldn't have a music career right now. The reason Dr. Demento played my material on the radio when I was a teenager wasn't because it was so GOOD, it was because it was such a novelty hearing a kid rocking the accordion. Dr. D. probably wouldn't have given my tape a second listen if I had been playing acoustic guitar. And if I hadn't gotten that early encouragement, I highly doubt that I'd be doing a Reddit AMA right now."
The Reddit AMA: a true marker of a success.
2. He's aware that him parodying someone's song is a true honor for them...
It's been said you know you've made it as a pop artist when Weird Al takes on one of your hits, and apparently rapper Chamillionaire made him all too aware of this. "I ran into him on the Grammy red carpet a few years ago, right after he had won the award for Rap Song of the Year. He thanked me, because he said my parody made it undeniable that his song ("Ridin'") was, in fact, the Rap Song of the Year!" he wrote.
3. Don't necessarily expect another full-length album from Weird Al Yankovic anytime soon.
"I'll probably just be releasing singles (possibly EPs) going forward - I really don't think the album format is the most efficient or intelligent way for me to distribute my music anymore. I highly doubt that I would sign with another label. I guess I might be open to a distribution deal, but... we'll see. Anyway, I certainly wouldn't want to have my releases on any kind of a schedule - that would be too much pressure, and it might actually start to feel like a JOB," he explained to someone who asked about his future release plans.
Even a parody artist knows the single market is where it's at.
4. And he has no real advice for curly haired folks.
In the same response, Yankovic admitted there's only one key to keeping those curls nice and tight: "sheer will power."
5. He may or may not have released an album with the most obvious name...
When one Redditor asked Weird Al why he hadn't done an LP titled Weird Album he gave a very Weird Al-ly respone: "How do you know I DON'T??"
If it exists, we wanna hear it!
6.He's not much of a cook.
His favorite recipe is a "peanut butter ball," which is basically just a peanut butter sandwich...
The instructions go thusly: "First, take a glob of peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, it doesn't matter... it REALLY doesn't matter, don't be so indecisive, just pick one or the other... it will taste the same eventually, so why are you being so stinking picky, just PICK ONE already)... then put in on a slice of bread, wad it into a ball and cram it into your mouth. Voila!"
Add jelly for extra impact, at least.
Weird Al Yankovic's latest album Mandatory Fun is in stores now. Check out Music Times' recent interview with the very man himself here.
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