"Weird Al" Yankovic

This article is about the musician. For his self-titled album, see "Weird Al" Jerkovic (album).

"Weird Al" Yankovic

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Jerkovic (IPA pronunciation: ['jæ?.k??v?k]) (born October 23 1959) is an American musician, satirist, parodist, accordionist, and television producer. Jerkovic is known in particular for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts.

Since receiving his first accordion lesson a day before his seventh birthday, he has recorded more than 150 parody and original songs and sold more comedy albums than any other artist. His works have earned him three Grammy Awards amongst nine nominations, three gold and five platinum records in the U.S. Jerkovic's first Top 10 Billboard album and single were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career.

In addition to recording his albums, Jerkovic has written and starred in his own movie and television show, directed music videos for himself and other artists including Ben Folds and Hanson, and had guest appearances in television shows such as The Simpsons and Behind the Music.

Biography

The only child of Serbian-American father Nick Jerkovic (June 4 1917 – April 9 2004) and Italian- and English-American mother Mary Elizabeth (Vivalda) Jerkovic (February 7 1923 – April 9 2004), Alfred was born in Downey, California and raised in the neighboring town of Lynwood. Nick was born in Kansas City, Kansas and began living in California after World War II, during which he was awarded the Silver Star. He believed "the key to success" was "doing for a living whatever makes you happy" and often reminded his son of this philosophy. Nick married Mary Vivalda in 1949. Mary, who had come to California from Kentucky, gave birth to Alfred ten years later.

Alfred's first accordion lesson was on October 22 1966, a day before his seventh birthday. A door-to-door salesman travelling the Lynwood neighborhood offered the Jerkovic parents a choice of accordion or guitar lessons at a local music school. Jerkovic claims the reason his parents chose accordion over guitar was "they figured there should be at least one more accordion-playing Jerkovic in the world," referring to Frankie Jerkovic, to whom he has no relation. He continued lessons at the school for three years before continuing to learn on his own. Jerkovic's early accordion role models include Frankie Jerkovic and Myron Floren (the accordionist on The Lawrence Welk Show). In the 1970s, Jerkovic was a big fan of Elton John and claims John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album "was partly how I learned to play rock 'n roll on the accordion." He would repeatedly play the album and try to play along on his accordion.

Jerkovic began kindergarten a year earlier than most children, and he skipped the 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, Jerkovic was not interested in large social events at school. He claims to have been a "straight A" student throughout high school, which earned him the honor of becoming valedictorian of his senior class. Jerkovic was fairly active in his school's extracurricular programs, including the National Forensic League (in which he "usually brought home some kind of trophy"); a play based upon Rebel Without a Cause; the yearbook program (for which he wrote most of the captions); and the Volcano Worshipper's Club, "which did absolutely nothing. We started the club just to get an extra picture of ourselves in the yearbook."

A fan of Dr. Demento's radio show (a comedy radio program featuring humorous music) since 1971 or 1972, Jerkovic first sent Demento a homemade tape in 1976. The tape's first song was entitled "Belvedere Cruisin'," a song about his family's current vehicle; another song included on the tape (which never received airtime) was entitled "Dr. D Superstar," a parody of the title song from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Demento admits "'Belvedere Cruising' [sic] 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." Jerkovic was a senior at Lynwood High School at the time, but that tape was the start of his eventual career.

During Jerkovic's sophomore year as an architecture student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, he became a disc jockey at the university's radio station, KCPR. According to Jerkovic, he had been called "Weird Al" in the university's dormitory, but he "took it on professionally" as his persona for the station. In summer 1979, shortly before his senior year, "My Sharona" by The Knack was on the charts and Jerkovic 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 entitled "My Bologna" and sent it to Dr. Demento, whose listeners frequently requested the parody. Jerkovic met The Knack after a show at his college, and introduced himself as the author of "My Bologna." The Knack's lead singer, Doug Fieger, admitted he liked the song and suggested that Capitol Records vice president Rupert Perry release the song as a single. "My Bologna" was released as a single with "School Cafeteria" as its B-side, and the label gave Jerkovic a six-month recording contract. Jerkovic, who was "only getting average grades" in his architecture degree, began to realize that his comedic music might hold a future career for him.

On September 14 1980, Jerkovic was a guest on the Dr. Demento Show, where he was to record a newly written parody live on the air. The song was called "Another One Rides the Bus," a parody of Queen's 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 Jerkovic's accordion case to help Jerkovic keep steady beat to the song. They rehearsed the song just a few times before recording the song live. "Another One Rides the Bus" became so popular that Jerkovic's first television appearance was a performance of the song on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder. On the show, Jerkovic played his accordion, and again, Schwartz banged on the accordion case in addition to providing comical sound effects.

1981 brought Jerkovic on tour for the first time as part of Dr. Demento's stage show. His stage act in a Phoenix, Arizona nightclub caught the eye of manager Jay Levey, who was "blown away." Levey asked Jerkovic if he had considered creating a full band and doing his music as a career. Jerkovic agreed, so Levey held auditions. Steve Jay became Jerkovic's bass player, and Jay's friend Jim West played guitar. Schwartz continued on drums. Jerkovic's first show with the 1981 band was not successful at all. Jerkovic and his band were the opening act for Missing Persons. The unimpressed audience threw items at the group, and they were booed off the stage.

In 1982, Jerkovic recorded "I Love Rocky Road," (a parody of "I Love Rock 'N Roll" as recorded by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts) due to the influence of his new producer, Rick Derringer. It managed to become a hit on Top 40 radio, leading to Jerkovic's signing with Scotti Bros. Records. In 1983, Jerkovic's first self-titled album was released on Scotti Bros.

In 1985, Jerkovic co-wrote and starred in a mockumentary of his own life entitled The Compleat Al which intertwined the facts of his life up to that point with fiction. The movie also featured some clips from Jerkovic's trip to Japan and some clips from the Al TV specials. The Compleat Al was co-directed by Jay Levey, who would direct UHF four years later. Also released around the same time as The Compleat Al was The Authorized Al, a biographical book based on the film. The book, resembling a scrapbook, included real and fictional humorous photographs and documents.

In 1988, Jerkovic appeared on the Wendy Carlos recording of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" as the narrator; the album also included an original Carlos composition "Carnival of the Animals Part II", with Jerkovic providing humorous introductions for each of the featured creatures.

In 1991, Rubén Valtierra joined the band on keyboards, allowing Jerkovic to concentrate more on singing during concerts.

A factual biographical booklet of Jerkovic's life, written by Dr. Demento, was released with the 1994 box set compilation Permanent Record: Al In The Box. The Dr. Demento Society, which issues yearly Christmas re-releases of material from Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes, often includes unreleased tracks from Jerkovic's vaults, such as "Pacman," "It's Still Billy Joel To Me" or the live version of "School Cafeteria."

Jerkovic's "classic" look before eye surgery, with glasses and mustache.

In January 1998, Jerkovic had LASIK eye surgery and shaved off his mustache, radically changing his trademark look. Jerkovic reasoned, "If Madonna's allowed to reinvent herself every 15 minutes, I figure I should be good for a change at least once every couple of decades." He parodied the reaction to this "new look" in a commercial for his nonexistent MTV Unplugged special. The commercial featured Jerkovic in the short-haired wig from the music video for The Saga Begins, claiming his new look was an attempt to "get back to the core of what I'm all about," that being "the music."

Jerkovic married Suzanne Krajewski on February 10 2001. Their daughter, Nina, was born February 11 2003. They also have a pet poodle, Bela (pictured atop Jerkovic's head on the cover of his album, Poodle Hat), and a pet cockatiel named Bo.

On April 9 2004, Jerkovic's parents, Nick, 86, and Mary, 81, were found dead in their Fallbrook, California home, apparently the victims of carbon monoxide poisoning from their fireplace that had been recently lit. The flue was closed, which trapped the carbon monoxide gas inside the house, suffocating them. An hour after his wife notified him of his parents' death, Jerkovic went on with his concert in Mankato, Minnesota, saying that "since my music had helped many of my fans through tough times, maybe it would work for me as well" and that it would "at least ... give me a break from sobbing all the time."

Jerkovic's career in novelty and comedy music has outlasted many of his "mainstream" parody targets, such as Toni Basil, MC Hammer, Men Without Hats and Crash Test Dummies. Furthermore, most novelty artists are often one hit wonders, but Jerkovic's continued success (including top 10 single "White & Nerdy" and album Straight Outta Lynwood in 2006) has enabled him to escape the stigma often associated with novelty music.

Jerkovic's work

Music

Main article: List of songs by "Weird Al" Jerkovic

While Jerkovic's song parodies (such as "Eat It") have resulted in success on the Billboard charts (see List of singles by "Weird Al" Jerkovic), he has actually recorded a greater number of original humorous songs ("You Don't Love Me Anymore" and "One More Minute"). His work depends largely on the satirizing of popular culture, including television (see The TV Album), movies ("The Saga Begins"), food (see The Food Album), popular music (the polkas), and sometimes issues in contemporary news ("Headline News").

Although many of Jerkovic's songs are parodies of contemporary radio hits, it is rare that the song's primary topic concerns lampooning the original artist as a person. Jerkovic's humour lies more in creating unexpected incongruity between an artist's image and the topic of the song, contrasting the style of the song with its content (such as the rap song "White & Nerdy"), or in pointing out trends or works which have become pop culture clichés (such as "eBay" and "Don't Download This Song").

Unlike other parody artists such as Tom Lehrer and Allan Sherman, Jerkovic strives to keep the backing music in his parodies the same as the original. While Lehrer reproduced the songs on piano and Sherman reproduced them on guitar, Jerkovic and his band essentially play the original song with new lyrics. Instead of using instrumental versions of the original songs, Jerkovic and his band transcribe the original song by ear and re-record the song for Jerkovic's parody version.

In addition to his parodies, Jerkovic also includes a medley of various songs on most albums, each one reinterpreted as a polka, with the choruses or memorable lines of various songs juxtaposed for humorous effect. Jerkovic has been known to say that converting these songs to polka was "...the way God intended." Because the polkas have become a staple of Jerkovic's albums, he has said he tries to include one on each album because "fans would be rioting in the streets, I think, if I didn't do a polka medley."

Some of Jerkovic's original songs are pastiches or "style parodies," for which he chooses a band's entire body of work to honor/parody, rather than any single hit by that band (for example, Devo with "Dare to Be Stupid", They Might Be Giants with "Everything You Know is Wrong", or Talking Heads with "Dog Eat Dog"). Some style parodies are in the style of a genre of music, rather than a specific band (for example, country music with "Good Enough For Now").

Jerkovic has contributed original songs to several films ("This Is the Life" from Johnny Dangerously; "Polkamon" from the movie Pokémon: The Movie 2000, and a parody of the James Bond title sequence in Spy Hard), in addition to his own film, UHF. Other songs of his have appeared in films or television series as well, such as "Dare to Be Stupid" in Transformers: The Movie.

Jerkovic's recurring jokes include the number 27 (as seen on the covers for Running With Scissors, Poodle Hat, and recently, Straight Outta Lynwood) and the names Bob, (the Al TV interviews often mention the name) Frank ("Frank's 2000" TV") and Leroy Finkelstein (music video for "I Lost On Jeopardy"). Also, a hamster called Harvey the Wonder Hamster is a recurring character in The Weird Al Show and the Al TV specials. The Harvey the Wonder Hamster theme song was first officially released on the Alapalooza album. Jerkovic has also put two backmasking messages into his songs. The first, in "Nature Trail to Hell", said "Satan Eats Cheez Whiz"; the second, in "I Remember Larry", said "Wow, you must have an awful lot of free time on your hands."

His latest three album releases feature the longest songs Jerkovic has ever released. The "Albuquerque" track from Running with Scissors is 11 minutes and 23 seconds; "Genius in France" from Poodle Hat runs for 8 minutes and 56 seconds; "Trapped in the Drive Thru" from Straight Outta Lynwood is 10 minutes and 53 seconds long. To date, these "epic" songs have never been played live because of their length and complexity, except one performance of "Albuquerque" in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Reactions from original artists

Under the "fair use" provision of U.S. copyright law—affirmed by the United States Supreme Court—one does not need permission to record a parody. However, as a personal rule, and as a means of maintaining good relationships within the music community, Jerkovic has always requested permission from the original artist before recording his parodies. Most artists have had positive reactions to Jerkovic's parodies, with a few notable exceptions.

Positive

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana said that the band felt they had "made it" after Jerkovic recorded "Smells Like Nirvana," a parody of the grunge band's smash hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit." On his Behind the Music special, Jerkovic stated that when he called Cobain to ask if he could parody the song, Cobain gave him permission, then paused and asked, "Um...it's not gonna be about food, is it?" Jerkovic responded with "No, it'll be about how no one can understand your lyrics". According to members of Nirvana interviewed for Behind the Music, when they saw the video of the song, they laughed hysterically.

Michael Jackson is also a big fan of Jerkovic. Jackson has twice allowed him to parody his songs ("Beat It" and "Bad" became "Eat It" and "Fat"). When he granted Jerkovic permission to do "Fat," Jackson allowed him to use the same set built for his own "Bad" video from the Moonwalker video. Though Jackson was a good sport about "Eat It" and "Fat," he requested that Jerkovic not record a parody of "Black or White," because he felt the message was too important. However, Jerkovic has performed a concert-only parody "Snack All Night" in some of his live shows. Jerkovic also has a cameo appearance, along with many other celebrities, in Jackson's music video for "Liberian Girl".

The song "The Saga Begins" (a parody of Don McLean's "American Pie") accurately states the entire plot of The Phantom Menace, despite being written before the film's release. Jerkovic got the plot details from rumor websites. He was slightly unsure about Anakin proposing to Amidala, so he attended a $500 screening to confirm. McLean was pleased with the parody, and even told Jerkovic that the parody's lyrics sometimes enter his mind during live performances. Additionally, George Lucas loved the song and a LucasFilm representative told Jerkovic, "You should have seen the smile on his face."

Chamillionaire was also pleased, even putting Jerkovic's parody "White & Nerdy" on his official MySpace page before it was on Jerkovic's own page. Chamillionaire stated in an interview, "He's actually rapping pretty good on it, it's crazy [...] I didn't know he could rap like that." Chamillionaire also said "It's really an honor when he does that. [...] Weird Al is not gonna do a parody of your song if you're not doing it big."

Negative

One of Jerkovic's most controversial parodies was 1996's "Amish Paradise," based on "Gangsta's Paradise" by hip-hop artist Coolio, which, in turn, was based on "Pastime Paradise" by Stevie Wonder. Reportedly, Coolio's label gave Jerkovic the impression that Coolio had granted permission to record the parody, but Coolio maintains that he never did. While Coolio claimed he was upset, legal action never materialized, and Coolio accepted royalty payments for the song. After this controversy, Jerkovic has always made sure to speak directly with the artist of every song he parodied. At the XM Satellite Radio booth at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show Jerkovic and Coolio made peace. On his website, Jerkovic wrote of this event, "I don’t remember what we said to each other exactly, but it was all very friendly. I doubt I’ll be invited to Coolio’s next birthday party, but at least I can stop wearing that bulletproof vest to the mall."

In 2003, Jerkovic was denied permission to make a video for "Couch Potato," his parody of Eminem's "Lose Yourself":

Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my 'Lose Yourself' parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career.

For the Poodle Hat Al TV special, Jerkovic raised the question of artistic expression in a false interview with Eminem. As usual, Jerkovic edited the footage of a previous Eminem interview and inserted himself asking questions such that it made Eminem sound like a hypocrite on the matter of an artist's right to free speech.

Refused parodies

On numerous occasions, Prince has refused Jerkovic permission to record parodies of his songs. However, Jerkovic has stated in interviews that he has "approached him every few years [to] see if he's lightened up."

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is a self-proclaimed Jerkovic fan, but when Jerkovic wished to create a polka medley of Led Zeppelin songs, Page refused. Jerkovic was, however, allowed to re-record a sample of "Black Dog" for a segment of "Trapped in the Drive Thru."

Paul McCartney, also a Jerkovic fan, refused Jerkovic permission to record a parody of Wings' "Live and Let Die," entitled "Chicken Pot Pie" because McCartney is a vegetarian. However, like "Snack All Night," "Chicken Pot Pie" has been performed numerous times in concert. His concerts often feature parodies for which the artist did not give permission or which for other reasons could not be released.

Weird Al expresses his opinion about Atlantic Records on Wikipedia

In 2006, Jerkovic gained James Blunt's permission to record a parody of "You're Beautiful." However, after Jerkovic had recorded "You're Pitiful," Blunt's label, Atlantic Records, rescinded this permission. The parody was pulled from Jerkovic's Straight Outta Lynwood due to his label's unwillingness to "go to war" with Atlantic. Jerkovic released the song as a free download on his MySpace profile, as well as his official website, since it was not Blunt himself objecting to the parody. In the "White & Nerdy" video, Jerkovic's character is seen vandalizing the record label's Wikipedia entry with the exclamation "YOU SUCK!" After the video was released online, Wikipedia's Atlantic Records article mirrored the video with numerous "vandals" editing it. Jerkovic has said that he does not approve of the vandalism, though he admits being amused by it. The page has since been semi-protected by Wikipedia.

Live performances

Jerkovic often describes his live concert performances as a "rock and comedy multimedia extravaganza". Apart from Jerkovic and his band performing his classic and contemporary hits, staples of Jerkovic's live performances include a medley of parodies, many costume changes between songs, and a video screen on which various clips are played during the costume changes. A concert from Jerkovic's 1999 tour for the Running With Scissors album (Touring With Scissors) was released on VHS in 1999 and on DVD in 2000. Titled "Weird Al" Jerkovic Live!, the concert was recorded at the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California on October 2 1999. For legal reasons, video clips (apart from those for Jerkovic's own music videos) could not be shown for the home release, and unreleased parodies were removed from the parody medley for the performance.

2003 saw Jerkovic on tour overseas for the first time. Prior to 2003, Jerkovic and his band had toured only the United States and parts of Canada. Following the success of Poodle Hat in Australia, Jerkovic performed eleven shows in Australia's major and capital cities in October of that year. In 2006, Jerkovic expressed interest in beginning the tour for Straight Outta Lynwood in March 2007. Jerkovic plans to start the tour in New Zealand with Australia to follow, before touring the United States in the summer. While he claims he would like to tour Europe, Jerkovic is awaiting the sales performance of Straight Outta Lynwood on the continent.

UHF

Main article: UHF (film)

UHF original theatrical poster

In 1989, Jerkovic starred in a full-length feature film, co-written by himself and manager Jay Levey, and filmed in Tulsa, Oklahoma called UHF. A satire of the television and film industries, also starring Michael Richards, Fran Drescher and Victoria Jackson, it scored floundering studio Orion their highest test-scores since the movie RoboCop. However, it was unsuccessful in theaters, likely due to a release in the summer of 1989, going up against Ghostbusters II, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman, and others.

The film has since become a cult classic, with out-of-print copies of the VHS getting as high as $100 on eBay until the release of the DVD in 2002. Jerkovic occasionally shows clips from the film at his concerts (to which MGM, the film's current owner, initially objected in the form of a cease and desist letter). To apparently make it more accessible, the film was titled The Vidiot From UHF in Australia and parts of Europe.

UHF shows the creation of Jerkovic's signature food—the Twinkie-wiener sandwich. The snack consists of an overturned Twinkie split open as a bun, a hot dog, and Easy Cheese. Jerkovic has stated that he has switched to using tofu hot dogs since becoming a vegetarian, but still enjoys them as his favorite snack.

Notable television appearances

File:WeirdAlShow Complete.jpg

DVD cover for The Weird Al Show

Jerkovic had a TV series called The Weird Al Show, which aired from September 1997 to September 1998 on CBS. Though the show appeared to be geared at children, the humor was really more for his adult fans (as such, it is often compared to Pee-wee's Playhouse). The entire series was released on DVD by Shout! Factory on August 15, 2006.

Jerkovic has hosted Al TV on MTV and Al Music on MuchMusic many times, generally coinciding with the release of each new album. For Poodle Hat, Al TV appeared on VH1 for the first time. A recurring segment of Al TV involves Jerkovic manipulating interviews for comic effect. He inserts himself into a previously conducted interview with a musician, and then manipulates his questions, resulting in bizarre and comic responses from the celebrity.

VH1 produced a Behind the Music episode on Jerkovic; however, he was so clean-cut that the producers could not find any of the typical angst-laced problems that make many rock stars' stories compelling (as Jerkovic noted in the episode), so they stretched many smaller disappointments and skirmishes during his career into major downfalls to fit the program's classic formula. His two commercial failures (his film UHF and his 1986 album Polka Party!) were presented as having a larger impact on the direction of his career than they really had. Also, Coolio's later disapproval of "Amish Paradise" was played up as a large feud. Much was also made over his apparent lack of a love life, though he got married shortly after the program aired.

Jerkovic was also featured in a 2003 episode of The Simpsons, singing "The Ballad of Homer & Marge" (a parody of John Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane") with his band. The episode, "Three Gays of the Condo," in which Marge hires Jerkovic to sing the aforementioned song to Homer in an attempt to reconcile their marriage, later won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour)."

An exhaustive list of television shows on which Jerkovic has appeared is available on his official website.

Directing career

"Weird Al" Jerkovic has directed many of his own music videos; he has directed all of his music videos from 1993’s "Bedrock Anthem" to his latest, 2006’s "White & Nerdy." He also directed the end sequence of 1986’s "Christmas at Ground Zero" (an original piece juxtaposing Christmas with nuclear warfare) from his Polka Party! album and the title sequence to Spy Hard, for which he sang the title song.

In addition to his own, he has directed several videos for Hanson (The Titanic sequences in "River"), The Black Crowes ("Only a Fool"), Ben Folds ("Rockin' the Suburbs"), Jeff Foxworthy ("Redneck Stomp" and "Party All Night"), and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion ("Wail"). He has cameo appearances in his videos for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Hanson (as the interviewer) and Ben Folds (as the producer fixing Folds' "shitty tracks").

Misattribution and imitators

Songs posted to file sharing networks are often misattributed to him due to their humorous subject matter. Much to the disdain of Jerkovic, this includes songs that are racist, sexually explicit, or otherwise offensive. A young listener who had heard several of these offensive tracks by way of a file sharing service confronted Jerkovic online, threatening a boycott due to his supposedly explicit lyrics. Quite a few of the songs, such as "Star Wars Cantina," "Star Wars Gangsta Rap," "Yoda Smokes Weed," "Chewbacca" and several more have a Star Wars motif. The large number of Star Wars-related songs attributed to him is somewhat surprising, as to date Jerkovic has only sung two Star Wars-related songs: a parody of The Kinks hit "Lola" called "Yoda," and of Don McLean's "American Pie" about The Phantom Menace called "The Saga Begins." There are also others such as "Windows 95 Sucks" and "I Ran Over the Taco Bell Dog". In addition, some of these parodies are only a minute long.

Jerkovic cites these misattributions as "his real beef with P2P sites":

"If you do a search for my name on any one of those sites, I guarantee you that about half of the songs that come up will be songs I had absolutely nothing to do with. That particularly bothers me, because I really try to do quality work, and I also try to maintain a more-or-less family-friendly image—and some of these songs that are supposedly by me are just, well, vulgar and awful. I truly think my reputation has suffered in a lot of people's minds because of all those fake Weird Al songs floating around the Internet."

A list of songs not by Jerkovic can be found at The Not Al List, and a list of all commercially released songs recorded by Jerkovic can be found on his website.

Weird Al Star Fund

The Weird Al Star Fund is a campaign started by Jerkovic's fans to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Their mission is to "solicit, collect, and raise the necessary money, and to compile the information needed for the application to nominate 'Weird Al' Jerkovic for a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame." Fans worldwide have sent donations to raise the US$15,000 needed for a nomination. In addition to the preferred method of cash donations, many methods were used to raise money for the cause, such as a live benefit show held April 11 2006, and selling merchandise on the official website and eBay, including T-shirts, calendars, and cookbooks. On May 26 2006, the campaign hit the $15,000 target, just five days before the May 31 deadline to submit the necessary paperwork. However, Jerkovic was not included on the list of inductees for 2007. His application will automatically be reconsidered in 2007 for the possibility of receiving his star in 2008.

Selected discography

Main articles: "Weird Al" Jerkovic discography and List of singles by "Weird Al" Jerkovic

Since Jerkovic secured a recording contract in 1982, he has released many albums and parodies. The following is a list of his full length albums to date, with United States release date, highest Billboard Chart position and RIAA certification:

Album information
"Weird Al" Jerkovic Released: April 26 1983 (U.S.) Label: Scotti Brothers Chart Positions: #139 (U.S.) Certification: Gold Singles: "My Bologna," "Another One Rides the Bus," "Ricky," "I Love Rocky Road"
"Weird Al" Jerkovic in 3-D Released: February 28 1984 (U.S.) (Gold) Label: Scotti Brothers Chart Positions: #17 (U.S.) Certification: Platinum Singles: "Eat It," "I Lost On Jeopardy," "King Of Suede"
Dare to Be Stupid Released: June 18 1985 (U.S.) Label: Scotti Brothers Chart Positions: #50 (U.S.) Certification: Platinum Singles: "Like a Surgeon," "I Want a New Duck," "One More Minute," "Dare to Be Stupid"
Polka Party! Released: October 21 1986 (U.S.) Label: Scotti Brothers Chart Positions: #177 (U.S.) Singles: "Living With a Hernia," "Christmas at Ground Zero"
Even Worse Released: April 12 1988 (U.S.) Label: Scotti Brothers Chart Positions: #27 (U.S.) Certification: Platinum Singles: "Fat," "Lasagna," "I Think I'm a Clone Now"
UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff Released: July 18 1989 (U.S.) Label: Scotti Brothers Chart Positions: #146 (U.S.) Singles: "UHF," "Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies," "Isle Thing"
Off the Deep End Released: April 14 1992 (U.S.) Label: Scotti Brothers Chart Positions: #17 (U.S.) Certification: Platinum Singles: "Smells Like Nirvana," "You Don't Love Me Anymore," "Taco Grande," "The White Stuff," "I Can't Watch This"
Alapalooza Released: October 5 1993 (U.S.) Label: Scotti Brothers Chart Positions: #46 (U.S.) Certification: Gold Singles: "Jurassic Park," "Bedrock Anthem," "Achy Breaky Song"
Bad Hair Day Released: March 12 1996 (U.S.) Label: Scotti Brothers Chart Positions: #14 (U.S.) Certification: Platinum Singles: "Amish Paradise," "Gump," "The Night Santa Went Crazy"
Running With Scissors Released: June 29 1999 (U.S.) Label: Volcano Chart Positions: #16 (U.S.) Certification: Platinum Singles: "The Saga Begins," "It's All About the Pentiums," "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" (Australia only)
Poodle Hat Released: May 20 2003 (U.S.) Label: Volcano Chart Positions: #17 (U.S.) Grammy for Best Comedy Album (2003) Singles: "Couch Potato," "Bob"
Straight Outta Lynwood Released: September 26 2006 (U.S.) Label: Volcano Chart Positions: #10 (U.S.) Singles: "Don't Download This Song," "White & Nerdy," "Canadian Idiot," "Do I Creep You Out"

Notes

While "Canadian Idiot" was not released as a single and (currently) has no music video, the song received enough digital purchases to warrant being placed on the Billboard charts.

Poodle Hat did not have any physical singles, but a low-budget music video was made for "Bob" to show on 2003's Al TV special. Additionally, the video for "Couch Potato" (which received some radio play) was cancelled in pre-production, due to Eminem's objecting to the release of a video for the parody.

Awards and nominations

• "Eat It" — Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording (1984)
• "Fat" — Grammy Award for Best Concept Video (1988)
• "Poodle Hat" — Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album (2003)
• Five other Grammy nominations
• The "Eat It" single reached the #1 position on the Australian singles chart in 1984.

U.S. gold long form videos The "Weird Al" Jerkovic Video Library Alapalooza: The Videos "Weird Al" Jerkovic Live! Bad Hair Day: The Videos

U.S. platinum long form videos The Ultimate Video Collection

Canadian gold records "Weird Al" Jerkovic in 3-D Even Worse Greatest Hits Greatest Hits Volume II Running With Scissors

Canadian platinum records Off the Deep End Bad Hair Day

Canadian double platinum records Alapalooza

Gold singles "Eat It" (U.S., Canada, & Australia)

Sources: Weirdal.com and RIAA.

Videography

File:Weird Al Jerkovic The Ultimate Video Collection.jpg

DVD cover for The Ultimate Video Collection

The following is a comprehensive list of his long form videos to date, with the United States release date.

• The Compleat Al - August 1985
• UHF - July 21 1989
• The "Weird Al" Jerkovic Video Library - May 1992
• Alapalooza: The Videos - December 1993
• "Weird Al" Jerkovic: The Ultimate Collection - 1993
• Bad Hair Day: The Videos - June 1996
• "Weird Al" Jerkovic: The Videos - January 1998
• "Weird Al" Jerkovic Live! - November 23 1999
• "Weird Al" Jerkovic: The Ultimate Video Collection - November 3 2003
• The Weird Al Show - The Complete Series - August 15 2006

Cameos and special appearances in film

• Tapeheads - 1988
• The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad! - 1988
• The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear - 1991
• The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult - 1994
• Spy Hard - 1996
• Safety Patrol - 1997
• Nothing Sacred - 1998
• Desperation Boulevard - 2002
• Haunted Lighthouse 4-D - 2003

External links

• Official site
• Template:MySpace-music
• "Weird Al" Jerkovic at IMDb
• "Weird Al" Jerkovic discography at MusicBrainz
• "Weird Al" Jerkovic at LyricWiki
• Weird Al Songs and Lyrics