History Trivia / WeirdAlYankovic

* ReferencedBy: In one of the final scenes of [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders]], Jotaro asks a recently-awakened Joseph what the name of Weird Al’s [[Music/MichaelJackson Beat It]] parody was [[ItMakesSenseInContext in order to check if he was still Joseph]]

* RarelyPerformedSong: Due to the difficulty involved with replicating its MotorMouth bridge, Music/WeirdAlYankovic does not perform the fan-favorite song "Hardware Store" live. He also avoids performing the popular "Albuquerque" because its 12-minute EpicRocking length and extensive passages of comedic yelling and screaming put a strain on his vocal chords, saving it for special occasions (namely, when he is performing in UsefulNotes/{{Albuquerque}}, UsefulNotes/NewMexico), though he did bring it back into regular rotation for both Ridiculously Self Indulgent tours.

** Chamillionaire told the Houston Chronicle: "It's one thing to go platinum. Where do you go from there? Then Weird Al calls." He would later end up with the ParodyDisplacement being inverted on him -- people in Asia thought that Al wrote the song first, and they really enjoyed his "parody" of "White & Nerdy".

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: "Another One Rides the Bus" likely would've been his first top 40 hit, but TK Records,[[note]]A Miami-based label best-known for KC and the Sunshine Band[[/note]] the label that picked it up for national distribution, went bankrupt shortly after they released it.

** Nick and Mary Yankovic, Al's real-life parents, are seen in the video for "I Lost on Series/{{Jeopardy}}" at the point where announcer Don Pardo tells Al he's "brought shame and disgrace on [his] family name for generations to come!" They would make future bit appearances in Al media during their lives, including a prominent [[AsHimself as themselves]] role in the 1997 concert special "There's No Going Home", and providing Al's introduction at the beginning of the 1999 ''"Weird Al" Yankovic - Live!'' video.

** There are many songs that Al never got the rights to or were only played on the Dr. Demento Show, including his first recordings that he submitted. Al will sometimes play those songs live. Typically fans have to hunt down a fan recording of one of his live shows or an old Dr. Demento Tape.

** He repeatedly approached Music/{{Prince}} asking for permission to do a parody of his work, which was always refused. The closest he got were the style parodies "Traffic Jam" (which bears a resemblance to [[Music/PurpleRainAlbum "Let's Go Crazy"]]) and "Wanna B Ur Lover," the latter of which was performed as a tribute to Prince on his most recent tour (of course, he didn't outright say it, but the backdrop during the song was purple clouds, and Al wore a Prince-ly outfit). [[note]]Of course, Wiki/TheOtherWiki states that "...Lover" was meant to be a parody of ''Midnite Vultures''-era Music/{{Beck}}, which itself borrows from Prince's brand of hypersexual funk. Al stated [[https://www.weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#080703 in a Q&A on his website]], "that song is actually intended to sound like ''me'' trying to sound like ''Beck'' trying to sound like Prince", indicating that he intended to kill two birds with one stone. [[/note]] After Prince's death and having never budged from this position, Al announced that he would respect those wishes and never do anything based on his songs.

* ChartDisplacement: Zig-zagged. His three top 40 hits, "White and Nerdy", "Eat It", and "Smells Like Nirvana", are among his best-known songs. But "Dare to Be Stupid" never charted on its own (it was a double A-side with "The Touch" by Stan Bush), while other popular songs like "I Lost on Jeopardy" and "Fat" only reached the lower rungs of the charts. "King of Suede" got to #61, but didn't endure in the long run (it's his only Hot 100 entry not to have a page on Wiki/TheOtherWiki).

** When Al approached Music/DireStraits about doing a parody of "Money For Nothing", lead guitarist Mark Knopfler had one request -- that he could play the guitar for Al.

* TheOtherDarrin: The upcoming "biopic" (to use the term loosely) of his life, based on a ''Funny or Die'' parody trailer from 2013, has switched around several of the central players from that trailer:

* CreatorBacklash: As detailed below, he was ''not'' happy with his label rushing out ''The Food Album'' and ''The TV Album'' compilations just to [[MoneyDearBoy make a quick buck]].

* OldShame:
** "It's Still Music/BillyJoel to Me", a home demo recorded in the early 1980s. Al later admitted it was poor taste and has since apologized to Billy for the song. Ironically, Joel not only loved the parody (being prone to SelfDeprecation), he ''[[ActuallyPrettyFunny performed it himself]]'' a couple times!
** A couple of other early coffeehouse recordings, "Orgy On My Own" and "[[Music/JimCroce If I Could Make Love to a Bottle]]", some of which contain content so explicit that many contemporary listeners naturally assumed they were among the many [[MisattributedSong fakes]] when they surfaced.

** Music/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStatesOfAmerica loved "Gump" so much that, to this day, when performing "Lump" live they still replace the song's final line with Al's "And that's all I have to say about that". They also later got Al to direct their video for "Mixed Up S.O.B."

* ContractualObligationProject: In the early 90s, Scotti Bros. Records forced Al to rush-release several compilations and a single because ''Alapalooza'' and ''Bad Hair Day'' would not be released before the end of their respective fiscal quarters in 1993 and 1996. First, they wanted to release ''Al Unplugged'', but Al protested when he learned that they would just mix out the electric instruments and rerecord synthesized acoustic-sounding parts in their place. He begrudgingly agreed to ''The Food Album'' because he "hated it slightly less." Two years later, under the same circumstances, the label had to beg him to release ''The TV Album'' and then the single "Headline News," which wound up on ''two more'' compilations, ''Greatest Hits: Volume 2'' and the ''Permanent Record: Al in the Box'' boxed set, released that year because ''Bad Hair Day'' was almost finished, but wouldn't be released soon enough for a single.

** Al also withdrew from the limelight after his tour to promote ''Poodle Hat'' after the one-two punch of the album's failure ''and'' his parents dying suddenly from CO poisoning while he was on tour, all while he was raising a newborn daughter. And like the last time, his attempts to get his career back on track were made even more frustrating when Atlantic Records revoked permission from James Blunt to let Al release his already-recorded parody of "You're Beautiful" (as "You're Pitiful"). Luckily, the song Al wrote to replace it, "White and Nerdy," would end up becoming his biggest hit ever and his career has survived ever since.

** While many of Weird Al's songs are still widely available, two are hard to find to own, outside of Website/YouTube music videos - "Spy Hard", the theme to [[Film/SpyHard the movie of the same name]] and Polkamon, from the soundtrack to ''Anime/{{Pokemon 2000}}''. The former appears on the rarities collection ''Medium Rarities'' and the 15-album box set ''Squeeze Box'', but the latter is still only available on its soundtrack album. Al was denied permission to re-release it, since the ''Pokémon'' higher-ups didn’t want anyone other than them making money off ''Pokémon'' during its heightened popularity in the heyday of ''VideoGame/PokemonGO''.

** There are many songs that Al never got the rights to or were only played on the Dr. Demento Show, including his first recordings that he submitted. Too many to list but Al will sometimes play those songs live. Typically fans have to hunt down a fan recording of one of his live shows or an old Dr. Demento Tape.

* RarelyPerformedSong: Due to the difficulty involved with replicating its MotorMouth bridge, Music/WeirdAlYankovic refuses to perform the fan-favorite song "Hardware Store" live. He also avoids performing the popular "Albuquerque" because its 12-minute EpicRocking length and extensive passages of comedic yelling and screaming put a strain on his vocal chords, saving it for special occasions (namely, when he is performing in UsefulNotes/{{Albuquerque}}, UsefulNotes/NewMexico).

* RarelyPerformedSong: Due to the difficulty involved with replicating its MotorMouth bridge, Music/WeirdAlYankovic refuses to perform the fan-favorite song "Hardware Store" live. He also avoids performing the popular "Albuquerque" because its 12-minute EpicRocking length and extensive passages of comedic yelling and screaming put a strain on his vocal chords, saving it for special occasions (namely, when he is performing in UsefulNotes/{{Albuquerque}}, UsefulNotes/{{NewMexico}}).

** And the Funny or Die parody of ''Film/AmericanPsycho'' he did with [[Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews Huey Lewis]], with Lewis as a psychotic mass murderer and Al as his next victim, a debauched libertine.

* RarelyPerformedSong: Due to the difficulty involved with replicating its MotorMouth bridge, Music/WeirdAlYankovic refuses to perform the fan-favorite song "Hardware Store" live. He also avoids performing the popular "Albuquerque" because its 12-minute EpicRocking length and extensive passages of comedic yelling and screaming put a strain on his vocal chords.

** Paul [=McCartney=], a fan of Al's work, vetoed ''[[http://www.al-oholicsanonymous.com/interviews/alicon.html Chicken Pot Pie]]'' since it was about eating meat, as [=McCartney=] is a vegetarian.

** He repeatedly approached Music/{{Prince}} asking for permission to do a parody of his work, which was always refused. The closest he got were the style parodies "Traffic Jam" and "Wanna B Ur Lover," the latter of which was performed as a tribute to Prince on his most recent tour (of course, he didn't outright say it, but the backdrop during the song was purple clouds, and Al wore a Prince-ly outfit). [[note]]Of course, Wiki/TheOtherWiki states that "...Lover" was meant to be a parody of ''Midnite Vultures''-era Music/{{Beck}}, which itself borrows from Prince's brand of hypersexual funk. Al stated [[https://www.weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#080703 in a Q&A on his website]], "that song is actually intended to sound like ''me'' trying to sound like ''Beck'' trying to sound like Prince", indicating that he intended to kill two birds with one stone. [[/note]] After Prince's death and having never budged from this position, Al announced that he would respect those wishes and never do anything based on his songs.

** Al himself has switched from Creator/AaronPaul to Creator/DanielRadcliffe
** Madonna, played in the trailer by Creator/OliviaWilde, will now be played by Creator/EvanRachelWood

** Dr. Demento, played in the trailer by Creator/PattonOswalt, will now be played by Creator/RainnWilson

** Al had written down lyrics to incomplete songs about three different subjects: constipation, incest and decapitation. Unsure of which one to finish, he made each into a verse of "A Complicated Song".

** Nick and Mary Yankovic, Al's real-life parents, are seen in the video for "I Lost on Series/{{Jeopardy}}" at the point where announcer Don Pardo tells Al he's "brought shame and disgrace on [his] family name for generations to come!" They would make future bit appearances in Al media during their lives, including a prominent [[AsHimself as themselves]] role in the 1997 concert special "There's No Going Home".
** Averted with "Polka King" Frankie Yankovic, who is not related. However, they did perform together at least once.

** Creator/CharlesNelsonReily's partner Patrick Hughes gave Al his blessing to do "[=CNR=]."

* ChartDisplacement: Zig-zagged. His three top 40 hits, "White and Nerdy", "Eat It", and "Smells Like Nirvana", are among his best-known song. But "Dare to Be Stupid" never charted on its own (it was a double A-side with "The Touch" by Stan Bush), while other popular songs like "I Lost on Jeopardy" and "Fat" only reached the lower rungs of the charts. "King of Suede" got to #61, but didn't endure in the long run (it's his only Hot 100 entry not to have a page on Wiki/TheOtherWiki).

** Kurt Cobain once claimed that he hadn't felt as though he'd "made it" until "Smells Like Nirvana." When he and the other members of Music/{{Nirvana}} saw the video for "Smells Like Nirvana," they literally rolled on the floor laughing.

** Charles Nelson Reily's partner Patrick Hughes gave Al his blessing to do "[=CNR=]."

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Al's first wave of parodies were huge hits in Australia and New Zealand, even more so than in the U.S. "Eat It" was a #1 hit in Australia and went to #6 in New Zealand, and "Fat" and "Smells Like Nirvana" would both break New Zealand's top 5 ("Fat" at #3, "Smells Like Nirvana" at #4). Ironically, Al's only top-10 hit in the U.S., "White and Nerdy," didn't crack either of their major charts (save for Australia's digital charts). It ''did'', however, get to #14 in Sweden.

** He took the failure of ''Film/{{UHF}}'' somewhat personally. In the few years following it's release, he allegedly lost a lot of sleep wracking his mind over what he could have done better and "reediting the movie in [his] head," imagining how it might have worked better. His disillusionment continued into the production of his next album when ''both'' of his first two ideas for opening tracks were shot down by their original performers[[note]]Music/PaulMcCartney refused to let him parody "Live and Let Die" as "Chicken Pot Pie," as [=McCartney=] is an extremely strict vegetarian who's against any endorsement of the consumption of animal flesh whatsoever; Music/MichaelJackson, meanwhile, refused to let him parody "Black and White" as "Snack All Night," as he didn't want to trivialize the original song's message, though he gave Al carte blanche on literally every other song in his catalogue. Al said it was probably for the best, as he'd already parodied two MJ songs and that point and didn't want to be known as "the guy who does Michael Jackson parodies."[[/note]], leaving the album without an opening track until Music/{{Nirvana}}'s "Smells Like Teen Spirit" took off, inspiring "Smells Like Nirvana" and [[SavedFromDevelopmentHell saving the album from development hell]].