Jump to content

Talk:"Weird Al" Yankovic/Archive 7

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Archive 1Archive 5Archive 6Archive 7Archive 8

An hour after...?

An hour after his wife notified him of his parents' death, Yankovic went on with his concert in Appleton, Wisconsin,[24] 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."[25]

Where does it say that in either of the sourced articles? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.249.51.234 (talk) 10:23, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

Cleaning up album articles

I've noticed quite of few instances where many of the individual songs on each album have their own page. Obviously his popular singles that charted should have their own page, and the songs that are culturally or historically important to Al should have their own page, but does I Want a New Duck or Callin' In Sick really warrant pages of their own? A lot of these pages can and should be merged back into the main album page. We should decide which songs are important enough to have their own page and which ones aren't, because there's a lot of redundancy out there and it detracts from the overall information. Spman (talk) 01:47, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

No, you're absolutely right. Not every single WAY song needs a page. Be BOLD and merge as needed. --MASEM (t) 02:00, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Punctuating his name

Just to let everyone know, when you say Weird Al, there's no quotation marks. There's only quotation marks when it's "Weird Al" Yankovic.
"This is historically what I've done: I use quotes when it's the full name ("Weird Al" Yankovic), but no quotes when it's just plain Weird Al. So the possessive case would be Weird Al's." ~ Quote from his website
~ Wikipedian19265478 (talk) 02:49, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Interesting, thanks for that. --Half Price (talk) 10:12, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Gaga

and parts of her song "[[Poker Face (song)|Poker Face]]" have already been used at the beginning and end of his 2010 polka medley.<ref>"Weird Al" Yankovic 2010 tour [Ft. Worth, TX - 07/16/10]</ref>

This was reverted with "He didn't have a tour stop in Ft. Worth" and "It would be OR".

  1. He certainly did.
  2. It's specifically based on the video he showed. Wouldn't this be equivalent to merely stating the contents of a tv show or music video, like is done on most tv or music video articles? There are plenty of featured episode articles that summarize the contents of the episode, without having to cite that synopsis to vanity fair or somesuch.99.39.88.159 (talk) 23:33, 19 July 2010 (UTC)
According to Weird Al's tour page his Texas stops were Grand Prairie, Houston, and San Antonio, no stop in Fort Worth. I was at his Houston show and yes, I believe that it was Lady Gaga's "Pokerface" that bookended the Polka. However, I cannot put that in the article as it would be original research without citing a source. As for pointing to articles that don't cite sources, I point to Wikipedia:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS. --TreyGeek (talk) 23:54, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Punctuating his name

Just to let everyone know, when you say Weird Al, there's no quotation marks. There's only quotation marks when it's "Weird Al" Yankovic.
"This is historically what I've done: I use quotes when it's the full name ("Weird Al" Yankovic), but no quotes when it's just plain Weird Al. So the possessive case would be Weird Al's." ~ Quote from his website
~ Wikipedian19265478 (talk) 02:49, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Interesting, thanks for that. --Half Price (talk) 10:12, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

First European Concert

His first european concert is incorrectly listed as All Party's Festival in Minehead. However I am seeing him in Birmingham at the 02 Academy on the 2nd December, a full day before the festival begins. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.134.247.53 (talk) 19:59, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

Dr. Demento and Al's first meeting

There is some discrepancy in the references on when Dr. Demento and Yankovic's first meeting. In the widely distributed biography, which appears to be an official one, likely produced by a record company at some point, it's said to have happened in 1973 when Al gave Demento that first tape. The bio goes on to say that Demento essentially sat on the tape for 3 years before playing it on his show. The liner notes for Permanent Record do not agree instead putting that first meeting year at 1976 and saying that Demento immediately put the song on the air rather than holding onto it. This seems much more likely as Al was in high school then and Demento was more likely to have visited there than a Jr. High. I'm assuming that the 1973 date began as a typo at some record company and the 3 year hold time was inserted to make things match up by a copy editor somewhere, sometime and has since been copied over and over again by various sources. While they are reliable source by Wikipedia definitions, the information still appears to be wrong. Unless there are objections and some other references to point to, I'm going with the 1976 date.--RadioFan (talk) 12:11, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

bad grammar in first sentence

"Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (English pronunciation: /ˈjæŋkəvɪk/;[2] born October 23, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, actor, comedian, satirist, and a parodist." You can't do that with an article. Either he "is an American X, Y, Z, and parodist" or he "is an American X, a Y, a Z, and a parodist". 86.185.62.37 (talk) 12:00, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Add another Weird Al video which parodies the original

In addition to Smells like Nirvana, Fat, Eat It, etc., the Weird Al video for Gump is a direct parody for the music video of Presidents of United States of America's Lump and uses many of the same costumes/scenery/band theme of the original. It is one of my favorites and deserves inclusion with the others. 72.231.241.228 (talk) 07:50, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from Pauljca, 7 December 2010

{{edit semi-protected}} On the 6th December he played at the Forum Kentish Town in London, this was the first time he had played in London during his career. He was on stage for over 2 hours playing infront of around 1500 die hard (and very cold) fans.

Pauljca (talk) 11:03, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

Do you have any 3rd party reliable sources (such as a review in the local newspapers) to base this on?--RadioFan (talk) 16:05, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

Not done: Even if true, the information is irrelevant. Subject has performed over a thousand live shows in hundreds of cities; every one of those cities must have had a "first time". Note the tour section now--it lists full tours, countries he toured in, and one noteworthy performance (#1000). So even if there were reliable sources, we would not want to add that info to this article. Qwyrxian (talk) 00:34, 8 December 2010 (UTC)

The link to the Eminem interview (Ref# 62) can be updated to the one from Weird Al's YouTube page. It is even in HD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QOya9-lwQk&feature=channel

Already taken care of. Don't forget to sign your posts with four tildes. Bulldog73 (talk) 19:23, 29 December 2010 (UTC)

Not Al page dead

Hi

The "Not Al" page is a dead link - an archived version can be found at http://web.archive.org/web/20080728111957/http://free.house.cx/~eil/etc/notal_list.html

(EDIT: Could we create another page that mirrors this information, therefore providing something users can update? I'm sure all claims would have to be verified.)

- Thirdwheel85 (talk) 05:05, 29 December 2010 (UTC)

I've already put a link to the website you mentioned. Bulldog73 (talk) 07:16, 29 December 2010 (UTC)

Please add

Can You please add next to his name Serbian Cyrillic: Алфред Метју, “Откачени Ал”, Јанковић (coz it always stands next to Serbian decent people. Also can you add Serbian American... not just American. It goes usually this way to famous people in the US of Serbian origin. Thank You. 93.87.105.145 (talk) 16:45, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

We cannot add that next to his name, because it's not his name--he was never given that Cyrillic name in English, not having been born in a country that uses Cyrillic language. This is no different than the fact that if a person were of Japanese ancestry, we wouldn't add a name in Kanji just due to ethnic heritage. As for the category...I don't think we do "America-ethnic" categories for people who were born in the US, but I'll have to check tomorrow. Qwyrxian (talk) 17:24, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

Internet Leaks II: The Leak Continues

Has anyone heard about a sequel to internet leaks coming out? There is going to be a parody of "F**K You, and some song called California Squirrels on it? My wife is really excited for it, but i cannot do an interweb searching to find it. If it is, should we put it in the article?67.170.37.86 (talk) 18:38, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

We cannot include it until there is at least 1 high quality reliable source reporting that it will be released. So, a Twitter announcement, or a blog post, or another rumor level comment won't suffice, but something more reliable will. If you get something reliable, please post it here and we can figure out how to integrate it. Qwyrxian (talk) 02:16, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

Who is the best selling comedy act? Everyone!

"Since his first-aired comedy song in 1976, he has sold more than 12 million albums—more than any other comedy act in history."

Does this statement contradict this one in Jeff Foxworthy's Wikipedia article:

"As the best-selling comedy recording artist of all time[...]"

So, who gets to claim the best selling Comedy Recording artist? Both of them?

Well, the Weird Al claim has a citation, so, for my money, it's the more reliable claim. However, it's possible that both are "correct"—the Washington Post article is from 2007, so it's possible that Foxworthy has passed him in the interim. I'm going to add a date clarification on this article just to be certain. I did go delete that claim from the Foxworthy page, because even if that claim is correct, it clearly needs a citation. Qwyrxian (talk) 01:10, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Well, http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/13/top-earning-comedians-business-entertainment-top-earning-comedians_slide_9.html

Forbes says that Foxworthy has sold 15 million albums, So I would remove the claim from Yankovich and put it back on Foxworthy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.39.85.101 (talk) 17:22, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Well, unfortunately, we don't know how many Yankovic sold bettween 2007 and 2010, when that Forbes article was written. Given that, I'm going to keep the 12 million, and remove the "more than any other...", since the info is dated. If anyone comes across a more recent article with up to date info, please bring it to our attention. Qwyrxian (talk) 00:12, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
The CNN article I added today about his children's book claims he's the best selling but doesn't put a figure behind it, so I'd still edge on removal until a # source is found. --MASEM (t) 00:24, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Associated Acts

Ak & Zuie and Apologetix are listed as associated acts, but these acts seem to be associated only with members of Weird Al's band, not with Weird Al himself. I'm not sure if there is a rule governing the "Associated acts" list, but I'm removing those two acts since they're not actually associated with Weird Al. --DarthTaper (talk) 16:49, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Record Messages

Something else which should be put under oddities - but I don't know where I would get the exact info.

Starting with "In 3D" there would be messages etched onto the dark portion of the record just inside the infinite loop ring (where the needle plays forever once the record ends) There was one message on each side, of the record and I know they did this at least through Polka Party, which is the last Al record I purchased (went to CD's after that). - I only remember one of the messages from polka party. It said "Polka till you puke" Unfortunately I do not have any of the old records any more. As I recall there weren't any messages on 45 singles.

Does anyone have the old records and can look them up, or would anyone know where to "collect" old Al records?

Sorry to bring up ancient technology (when I was a kid we used to rub needles across plastic to listen to our music. And we liked it!) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.80.155.125 (talkcontribs) 21:39, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Lady Gaga Response

I'm hoping someone sees this and adds this information to the article: http://www.tmz.com/2011/04/20/weird-al-yankovic-lady-gaga-rejected-born-this-way-parody-perform-this-way/ Apparently Gaga's people are saying at this point she hasn't refused the song because her manager hasn't played it for her yet, and that she "loves" Weird Al. -- Scoop11 —Preceding undated comment added 22:04, 20 April 2011 (UTC).

Confirmation from Weird Al himself: 'Well, this was a strange day.

After putting my Lady Gaga parody on YouTube this morning – and announcing that it wouldn’t be on my next album because Gaga didn’t approve it – there was a huge outpouring of disappointment from the Internet.

Apparently the fact that she didn’t approve it was news to Lady Gaga herself!

Gaga’s manager has now admitted that he never forwarded my parody to Gaga – she had no idea at all. Even though we assumed that Gaga herself was the one making the decision (because, well, that’s what we were TOLD), he apparently made the decision completely on his own.

He’s sorry.

And Gaga loves the song.

I’m thrilled on many levels to hear this, because 1) I truly respect and admire Gaga as an artist and it pained me to think of her as having less than a great sense of humor, and 2) it means I GET TO PUT OUT MY ALBUM!

As promised, all my proceeds from the song (and the MUSIC VIDEO… I can’t wait…) will go to the Human Rights Campaign.

Thank you, Gaga. And thanks to everybody who had my back.

Whew!

Your pal, Al'


24.33.85.213 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 01:06, 22 April 2011 (UTC).

Main Image

Looking at the weight of him on the main image, and it being dated in 2006 which is the same year as Straight Outta Lynwood it seems like that image could be a lookalike or if not its a really bad angle -- Gaogier

The image has already been replaced with a more pleasing image. Bulldog edit my talk page da contribs 05:38, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

New album

I have already added information about Yankovic's new album, Alpocalypse. This is official according to his official site and this video. Bulldog edit my talk page da contribs 05:46, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

Tour Page

Shouldn't a page about Al's tours be created? There should be a "List of 'Weird Al' Yankovic Tours" Fan4me (talk) 19:50, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Atlantic dispute

First off, I understand all the objections. Unfortunately, Weird Al has never gone on the record and discussed the relationship between his dispute with Atlantic Records (which he was annoyed about, as can easily be found in a reliable source) and his vandalizing the Wikipedia page in the video. But almost every source that discusses the subject and mentions the video seems to think they're related. For instance, Billboard: [1] ("revenge"), Slant Magazine: [2] ("revenge"), Starpulse: [3] ("snide reference"). (there's also an account of Al wearing an "Atlantic Records Sucks" t-shirt in concert while performing the Blunt parody: [4].) It seems to me to be perfectly within policy to add a line like: "In what has been called "revenge" over the dispute,[refs] Weird Al is shown defacing Atlantic's Wikipedia page with the words "You suck!" in his "White and Nerdy" video, which replaced "You're Pitiful" on the album.[more refs if needed]" Comments? --Fru1tbat (talk) 13:28, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 22:09, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 22:10, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

Serbian roots

His roots are not Yugoslavian but Serbian. Yugoslavia was federation of various nations. Please correct it. He is Jankovic like Serbian tennis player Jelena Jankovic.

http://wn.com/Serbian_American http://www.mytopdozen.com/Best_Serbian_Americans.html


http://ethnicelebs.com/weird-al-yankovic109.121.25.200 (talk) 23:18, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Ethnicity:

Serbian and Italian.

the American Musician was born in Downey California. His father was an American of Serbian descent and his mother was of Italian and English descent. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.121.25.200 (talkcontribs)

For the future, new threads go at the bottom of pages. Regarding your points, the problem is that none of those sources meet our reliable source guidelines, while the one already in the article does. If you have a reliable source, we could consider adding both, but it would depend on exactly what the source is because his own website will usually take precedence for this type of issue. Qwyrxian (talk) 03:08, 17 May 2011 (UTC)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_American

He is alive, ask him is he Serbian or "Yugoslav"... Serbian is his surname. Yugoslavs are today rare and those from mixed marriages, thou even them declare as Serbs, Slovenians, etc... Please correct that. It's funny. You took up source of some net written page. Does it ring a bell? Jelena Jankovic (Serbian tennis player)? Yankovic = Jankovic....!!!109.121.55.73 (talk) 15:20, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

Asking him wouldn't help, because his word to me would not be a reliable source. Again, we need a reliable source, or we cannot add the info. Qwyrxian (talk) 00:30, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 04:07, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 04:07, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 04:07, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 04:07, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

  • http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20090616/NY3313516062009-1.html
    • In "Weird Al" Yankovic on 2011-05-20 21:15:44, Socket Error: 'A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond'
    • In "Weird Al" Yankovic on 2011-05-30 04:07:32, Socket Error: 'A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond'

--JeffGBot (talk) 04:08, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 04:08, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 04:08, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 04:08, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Yankovic/Yankovich

"Often, his surname is misspelled (and thus mispronounced) as "Yankovich"

Since "Yankovic" is a transliteration of Serbian/Yugoslavian name Janković/Јанковић, Yankovich is not incorrect, but just another way to transliterate the same name, in fact leading to more correct pronunciation rather than mispronunciation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%8B — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.243.85.249 (talk) 13:22, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 02:42, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

--JeffGBot (talk) 02:42, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Delete Request

In the reference to Weird Al voicing Wreck-Gar in Transformers the Movie, he did not. That casting went to Eric Idle, as listed on the Transformers The Movie Wikipedia page. The information about the Dare To Be Stupid song is correct, however. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.24.42.39 (talk) 21:12, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

The article states that Weird Al voiced Wreck-Gar in the cartoon series, not the movie. I just checked a YouTube clip of the animated series, and it's pretty clearly Weird Al's voice. --Fru1tbat (talk) 02:36, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from BarryRadio, 28 June 2011

In the "Notable television appearances" section it reads:

Yankovic has done voice-overs for a number of animated series. He appeared 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 Yankovic 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)". Yankovic also had a cameo in a 2008 episode, entitled "That 90's Show", during which he records a parody of Homer's grunge hit "Shave Me" entitled "Brain Freeze" (Homer's song, "Shave Me", was itself a parody of Nirvana's "Rape Me") making Yankovic one of only a handful of celebrities to appear twice on the show playing themselves.

My edit request is that it reads:

Yankovic has done voice-overs for a number of animated series. He appeared 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 Yankovic 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)". Yankovic also had a cameo in a 2008 episode, entitled "That 90's Show", during which he records a parody of Homer's grunge hit "Shave Me" entitled "Brain Freeze" (Homer's song, "Shave Me", was itself a parody of Nirvana's "Rape Me") making Yankovic one of only a handful of celebrities to appear twice on the show playing themselves. Yankovic has commented on these appearances to be the proudest moments of his career

BarryRadio (talk) 05:09, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

Not done: Given that it doesn't say anywhere in that interview that it was one of the proudest moments of his career, we can't make that change. Here's the entire quote from Yankovic covering the Simpsons:

I was on the Simpsons twice and that’s one of my all time favourite shows. It’s one of those shows that’s been around for so long and it’s showing no signs of stopping so I like to think it’s my one real claim to immortality, because I like to think that that show in some form will be in syndication for the next 5000 years.”
“I think the first one that I was on won an Emmy that year, so yeah, it was a real thrill. The whole experience, I mean I was in a recording booth with Dan Castellaneta who does the voice of Homer Simpson and I’m doing a scene with Homer Simpson! It’s hard to articulate how surrealistic that is, just to be talking to Homer.”

So he says it's one of his favorite shows, and a "real thrill", but nothing to the effect of what you said. And given exactly what he said, it doesn't seem so noteworthy that it's worth including as a reference. Qwyrxian (talk) 05:36, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

daughter

He has a daughter named nina who is about 8 years old, why is this not in here? This is easily verifiable and Im very surprised it is not included. I would add it, but honestly I am not a very good editor 98.244.116.15 (talk) 07:45, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

It's already in the article. The first two sentences of the “Personal life” section read Yankovic married Suzanne Krajewski on February 10, 2001. Their daughter, Nina, was born February 11, 2003. - I'd say that's more than enough, so I'm going to remove the exact date. The daughter's a minor and has zero notability, so her privacy is more important than the public's curiosity. --Six words (talk) 10:16, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Yankovic ancestors

Somebody wrote that Yankoic ancestors were Serbs, but sources say that they were Yugoslavian. Ridiculous. He could be Macedonian, Bosnian, Slovenian or Croatian! Is there any source confirming that his ancestors were from Serbia? Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.141.71.176 (talk) 12:34, 23 September 2011 (UTC)

Template

should The Naked Gun trilogy be added to the "videography" section, since he had a cameo in all three movies? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.101.160.159 (talk) 22:59, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

Delete Request: Live Performances

Under "Live Performances" - Yankovic is scheduled to tour in the summer of 2010. The initial plan was to tour after his 13th album will be released, but in a podcast in May 2010, Yankovic revealed that the album would not be released before or during the tour, but sometime after.

It's long after 2010, and the album has since been released... can these sentences be deleted? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.102.131.102 (talk) 04:09, 4 October 2011 (UTC)

Serbian not Yugoslavian

He is Yankovic (Jankovic like Jelena Jankovic), Serbian decent! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_American178.253.210.30 (talk) 22:20, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

http://www.theonion.com/articles/i-must-take-issue-with-the-wikipedia-entry-for-wei,16618/ 69.76.179.81 (talk) 18:59, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

The Onion (a satire newspaper) is not really "pointing" to this page, but using this as a basis of humor. It is probably worthwhile on a "Wikipedia in the media" page (which I believe it is already on) , but the fact they decide to make the joke based on this specific page is nothing special. (Counter this to WAY "vandalizing" the Altantic Records pages in the White and Nerdy video as a specific jab at them.) --MASEM (t) 20:19, 9 January 2012 (UTC)
The Onion article is from 2004. As the first archive of this talk page indicates, many of the criticisms were apparently valid, and prompted a significant amount of editing and sourcing. --Maxamegalon2000 21:38, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Please change the link on reference 78 to "http://music.uk.launch.yahoo.com/read/interview/12027570" since it's a UK mirror of the original. Also, remove the associated {{dead link}} template, remove the "(Google Cache)" text in the link (since it's no longer Google Cache), and update the retrieval date.

Anthonyisageek (talk) 09:13, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, I fixed the reference. --Six words (talk) 11:47, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

File:Weird al yankovic anandbhatt.jpg Nominated for speedy Deletion

An image used in this article, File:Weird al yankovic anandbhatt.jpg, has been nominated for speedy deletion at Wikimedia Commons for the following reason: Copyright violations
What should I do?

Don't panic; deletions can take a little longer at Commons than they do on Wikipedia. This gives you an opportunity to contest the deletion (although please review Commons guidelines before doing so). The best way to contest this form of deletion is by posting on the image talk page.

  • If the image is non-free then you may need to upload it to Wikipedia (Commons does not allow fair use)
  • If the image isn't freely licensed and there is no fair use rationale then it cannot be uploaded or used.
  • If the image has already been deleted you may want to try Commons Undeletion Request

To take part in any discussion, or to review a more detailed deletion rationale please visit the relevant image page (File:Weird al yankovic anandbhatt.jpg)

This is Bot placed notification, another user has nominated/tagged the image --CommonsNotificationBot (talk) 05:02, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Lady Gaga Parody: Perform this Way

Through Weird Al Yancovic’s clever strategies in creating parodies, he is able to successfully critique Lady Gaga’s authenticity through his parody music video Perform this Way in 2011. The name of the parody in itself suggests that Lady Gaga is not “born” the way she is as her original title and lyrics suggest, but rather the illusion of her authenticity is created through performance. Throughout the song’s lyrics and visual aspects, Yancovic reflects the original sound and look of Gaga’s video, but with careful re-construction suggests that Gaga’s eccentric and unique character is built to seem real, but really is put in place to gain fans and celebrity success. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Searsjs (talkcontribs) 02:54, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

...and? pcuser42 (talk) 06:56, 2 April 2012 (UTC)
This is all your (Searsjs's) personal opinion/analysis. Per WP:OR, we cannot include such information in WP articles. If a reliable source put forth this analysis, and you could cite it, we could consider including it. Qwyrxian (talk) 07:19, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Famous accomplishments listed in intro.

Hi there,

Any accomplishments listed in the intro must have evidence of notability: i'e' you need to provide evidence that Yankovic is famouse for those things, not just evidence that he does them. For instance, Yancovic may play tennis, but he has not made any notable tennis-playing achievements.

InternetMeme (talk) 09:36, 23 April 2012 (UTC)

InternetMeme is correct. Most famous people have done dozens of things, even things they can be documented as doing, like when an actor talks about how hard it was when they were a waiter back before they became famous during an interview. This falls under the more general idea that WP:V does not say that everything that can be verified belongs in an article--it's merely the minimum standard for inclusion. Qwyrxian (talk) 12:18, 23 April 2012 (UTC)
So... the fact that most sources outline the accordion as his calling card does not make accordion playing notable enough? Also, I would advise you to read WP:BRD – a consensus must be reached before making controversial changes. I had to ask you a couple of times before you even initiated this discussion. Hearfourmewesique (talk) 02:33, 1 May 2012 (UTC)
It's not a controversial change: You're the only one disagreeing with it. The controversy is at your end. He is not famous for playing the accordion. He is famous, and he also happens to play the accordion. That is how it's currently worded.
If you want to prove notability, you need to find a reference listed in accordioning circles citing him as a world-class accordionist. InternetMeme (talk) 12:28, 1 May 2012 (UTC)
I strongly disagree that he needs to be considered a good accordion player to be considered notable for playing the accordion. Regardless, what about Accordionist of the Year, 1989? [5] Or Roland declaring him "An accordion player first and foremost"? [6] --Maxamegalon2000 03:50, 2 May 2012 (UTC)
InternetMeme, stop reverting. End of story. The discussion is not over and Maxamegalon has made a very good point. I would strongly advise you to read WP:DISRUPTIVE and take that to heart. If at least one editor (in this case, me) strongly disagrees with the edit, that is what makes that edit controversial. Hearfourmewesique (talk) 03:54, 2 May 2012 (UTC)
It appears to me as if one user (Hearfourmewesique) is taking an opinion and holding onto it, despite being the only one with said opinion, and will go against consensus to implement it... pcuser42 (talk) 04:34, 2 May 2012 (UTC)

For a moment I thought the article really said Yankovic is famous for playing tennis - and I agree that would be absurd, but after checking the article's history I find that InternetMeme's changes are unproductive. Yankovic is accordionist (he plays the accordion both on his records and live), produced some (though not all) of his records and is a published writer, so listing these occupations in the lede is accurate. So it's not just Herfourmewesique, Maxamegalon2000 seems to be opposed to the change and I am too, so I don't really see a consensus for InternetMeme's edits. --Six words (talk) 13:04, 2 May 2012 (UTC)

Green Eggs and Ham rare video

Someone should add the following information (copied from my addition to the article for Green Eggs and Ham). I don't know where it would fit best, but it should make it, because it doesn't fit under any of the discography articles.

"Weird Al" Yankovic recited a portion of Green Eggs and Ham on video[1] to the tune of Numb by U2. The performance was done while Weird Al was being subjected to abuse, and it was expected that his tolerance wear out before the end of the poem. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rj.amdphreak (talkcontribs) 02:54, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

Name pronunciation

I figure that since I've put a second inline note next to the place in the article where the IPA code for "Yankovic" is, I should explain myself.

While techinically correct, the FAQ IMO is a bad source for confirming the pronunciation, since the relevant entry is nothing but admonishment (regardless of whether it's intended to be funny), and actually uses faulty logic.

Hey, speaking of the letter C, look at Al's last name, Yankovic. You see that 'C' at the end of it? Now, do you see an 'H' after it? No? GOOD! Then don't EVER pronounce his name "...vich".

If I understand correctly, sometimes the "c" is pronounced "ch" in names like his. Of course, his isn't pronounced that way, but I'm sure that there are other sources out there that can be used to confirm this. Mapsax (talk) 05:15, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Delete request

I don't know much about editing Wikipedia, but this line and the cite don't belong: "Also, according to Stanford Libraries, fair use is unlikely to justify a parody song that parodies more than a few lines of song lyrics from an existing song.[54]"

a) Nothing in the article suggests this is actually one of Mr. Yankovic's motivations rather than an idle theory by a Wikipedia user;

b) This is an improper summarization of the rationale/content of the source page- Stanford absolutely does NOT (and in good conscience, couldn't) assert that fair use/parody is restricted only to a certain number of lines. That's flat-out not what the law is. The user was presumably confused by the fact that only a small portion of a work being used was an argument FOR fair use, but this really just goes to the "transformativeness" test.

c) While the site bears the legend of Stanford's library system, I'm pretty sure it's actually maintained by the Center for Internet & Society.

I've been bold and followed your suggestion. That statement was confusing to me as well, and if it fits in this article then it certainly does not fit where I found it. Now I'm switching to all-caps, please do not mistake this for being aggressive on my part: IF YOU DISAGREE, MAKE YOUR EDIT AND EXPLAIN IT IF YOU MUST, BUT PLEASE BRING IT HERE SO WE CAN TALK IT OVER. I WILL revert you if you merely use an edit summary - I'm inviting a debate here, not a contest. LazyBastardGuy 21:45, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Weird Al Yankovic is a Brony?

There are rumors on the internet about Wierd Al Yankovic being a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and has expressed a desired to appear in a future episode. I think that this should be in the article. Here is a link to a page on equestria daily that seems to confirm it. Since I just made this acount I do not have the ability to edit this article. http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/08/weird-al-mlpfim-shoutout-and-possible.html#idc-cover

Garred Murphy (talk) 11:43, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

If he does appear in a future episode, then maybe it deserves mentioning. Otherwise, I don't think we need to start cataloging all entertainment that he is a fan of. --Maxamegalon2000 14:34, 15 October 2012 (UTC)
Plus, of course, that's not a reliable source. Qwyrxian (talk) 23:29, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Web appearence

hey, can some one add his collegehoumor.com video to the article? source: http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6564138/and-the-band-played-on-featuring-weird-al-yankovic thanks in advance!--Maplerocker (talk) 15:38, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 9 April 2013

On April 9, 2004 when his parents were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, Weird Al was performing in Appleton, Wisconsin at the P.A.C. and not in Minnesota. I still have the ticket stub to prove it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dooleybois (talkcontribs) 18:14, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Fat Import 12" Release Info

My wife recalls having purchased a copy of the (Vinyl) 12" single for the song "Fat" and it having an original composition called "Chub Rub" on it. It was an acoustic ballad. Should we put it in, as there is not mention of it in the discography section....?71.35.104.130 (talk) 22:23, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

No disrespect intended for your wife, but she's not a reliable source. Find one that says one of Weird Al's songs is "Chub Rub" it can be added to the article. --TreyGeek (talk) 00:07, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
Well, maybe not THIS article, but he does have a few others where it might be more appropriate... LazyBastardGuy 03:45, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
No, he doesn't. That song doesn't even exist on google, let alone any reliable source that I can find. So, as a first step for contradicting Al's published records and the established reliable sources, someone would need to upload an image of the album graphics to wikimedia commons, which is permissible under a certain category. Allmusic lists no such thing, and discogs has this, which contains only "Fat", "Eat It", and "You Make Me". Thanks! — Smuckola (Email) (Talk) 04:23, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

fair use ruling

"Under the "fair use" provision of U.S. copyright law, affirmed by the United States Supreme Court, artists such as Yankovic do not need permission to record a parody.[55]" - the ruling doesn't actually do that. Rather, it said that the lower court had not considered parody as a potential fair use, and thus killed the lower court ruling and SENT THE CASE BACK - it was never reheard and instead a licensing agreement was signed between the rights holder and the artists. There does not appear to be any case that specifically affirms parody as absolute fair use in these cases. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.118.206.11 (talk) 14:30, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

At best, the statement constitutes original research. Linking to a Supreme Court case directly only works if you are actually quoting it. 184.77.68.158 (talk) 04:26, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

In the section 'personal life' is the segment about the untimely death of his parents, due to accidental CO poisioning. The Source article is no longer available, but the archive.org version is still up [7]. Hopefully the change is accurate.since it no longer is a dead link. Richard416282 (talk) 06:55, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

episode "Pinkie Pride" airs.

I know this is not a good source, but my mum found the episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic that aired on 1 February (in the US) to actually be "cute" and "adorable." Mum has been a big fan of Weird Al's music all her life. 172.190.128.171 (talk) 17:39, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

I am very sorry if this sounds rude, but could you elaborate as to what that has to do with the article? OrangeJacketGuy (talk) 17:40, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Laverne and Shirley

IMDB lists Weird Al as an uncredited guest star on Laverne and Shirley - the Rock and Roll Show, but Weird Al does NOT list that show on his website, and the keyboardist for the band in the episode only has a passing resemblance to Weird Al. Weird Al, in addition, does not list himself as a former member of Jack and the Heart Attack Band, which is featured in the episode. I believe the citation to be in error. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.3.171.59 (talk) 21:23, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Good enough for me. "Uncredited guest stars" need a WP:RS citation in order to be included, because the usual form of citation for filmographies is the work itself. Lacking a credit in the work itself, we need positive confirmation from some other source. I have removed the credit. Elizium23 (talk) 21:37, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 30 May 2014

Please correct this line: "Several hours after his wife notified him of his parents' death, Yankovic went on with his concert in Mankato, Minnesota,[40]"

The actually location was Appleton, WI and the corrected line should read: "Several hours after his wife notified him of his parents' death, Yankovic went on with his concert in Appleton, Wisconsin,[40]"

Yes, the article linked to this says Mankato, MN however that article is in fact incorrect. Comparing the tour dates listed on Weirdal.com (specific link: http://www.weirdal.com/phtour.htm ) with the date of his parents death (April 9, 2004) shows that on the day of his parents unfortunate passing, Al was performing in Appleton, WI

Another corroborative link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Weird-Al-Yankovic/biography/ Triv27 (talk) 03:05, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

 Done Actually, the source just says it was a Wisconsin tour. It looks like it was old vandalism from 2010, perhaps. [8]. For future reference, the second source is mostly just a copy of Wikipedia, so it's not really reliable as a source, but that's a good catch, thanks! Grayfell (talk) 03:44, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

Career History

The history of his career is broken up into only 3 sections. His career has been so long and varied that I think it's time to break that down into 4 or 5 time periods each with specific years. I don't have the writing or editing skill to do it but maybe someone will consider it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.21.49.214 (talk) 19:36, 3 July 2014 (UTC)

vandalism-"Misattribution and imitators"

this is pretty bad, no source and google doesn't give me anything.

"Some songs misattributed to him are not songs, but spoken skits, such as "Sesame Street on crack", which is also widely misattributed to Adam Sandler" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.151.134.106 (talk) 20:17, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

What's up ...

...with the gibberish after his name? I see: /?jæ?k?v?k/ YANG-k?-vik

Is this a secret message for fans, or what? Do I need a decoder ring to read it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.206.162.36 (talkcontribs)

Really? How is a question mark pronounced in "international phonetic alphabet"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.206.162.36 (talkcontribs)
You're seeing question marks as your browser is not able to display the special characters. I suggest upgrading your browser. pcuser42 (talk) 06:13, 23 July 2014 (UTC)
That, or you have specified a font that lacks characters in that set. The markup that is generating that is based on standard default options across all browsers. --MASEM (t) 14:28, 23 July 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 23 July 2014

Section: Personal life, in 3rd paragraph beginning with "On April 9, 2004..." Change "Yankovic went on with his concert in Mankato, Minnesota" to "Yankovic went on with his concert in Appleton, Wisconsin"

(note: the Mankato, MN show was the day after.)

Source of correct city. On April 9th 2004 according to Al's official website, his concert was in Appleton, WI. http://www.weirdal.com/phtour.htm

Subman27 (talk) 22:48, 23 July 2014 (UTC)

Note: See previous discussions here and here. --Michael Greiner 02:59, 24 July 2014 (UTC)
Done And I added an additional ref to cite the correct and a hidden comment alerting users to the discussions on the talk page. —cyberpower ChatOnline 08:46, 24 July 2014 (UTC)

Weird Al is guest starring on Wander Over Yonder.

Weird Al is guess starring on Wander Over Yonder as Dr. Screwball Jones, Wander's nemesis from the past. Proof: https://mobile.twitter.com/CrackMcCraigen/status/492467227858186240?p=v 68.57.243.166 (talk) 01:05, 25 July 2014 (UTC)

"Releases"

@Masem: Singles, EPs & albums/LPs still qualify as releases, do they not? LazyBastardGuy 18:32, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Calling singles and EPs as "shorter works" of an album is inaccurate. He's not making shorter songs, he's going to work on a smaller unit scale (the single instead of the album). --MASEM (t) 18:36, 30 July 2014 (UTC)
That's what I meant. In general, taken as a whole, the releases themselves are shorter, even if the songs themselves are no shorter for it. I don't know where I implied the songs themselves would be shorter, that's all. Perhaps "smaller" would work better instead of "shorter"? LazyBastardGuy 21:27, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Kyle-cassidy-weird-al-yankovic.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on October 23, 2014. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2014-10-23. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. Thanks! — Crisco 1492 (talk) 01:20, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

"Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic (b. 1959) is an American musician known for his humorous songs which make light of popular culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts. His parodies often extend to his music videos, which may at times be scene-for-scene reinterpretations of the originals. He has won three Grammy Awards, sold more than 12 million albums between 1976 and 2007, and recorded over 150 songs.Photograph: Kyle Cassidy

Success of Parody

Weird Al contributes popularity to artists that may not get as much recognition for their work. He contacts every artist to ask for permission to parody their songs ahead of time. He is very successful and most artists are normally flattered that their work is chosen for him to parody. People take it as a compliment that he wants to make a different version that is still very similar to the original. This can relate to a book called Understanding Celebrity, and how "celebrity is the consequence of the attribution of qualities to a particular individual through the mass media" (Rojek, 2001). Mass media allows information to pass by at a rapid speed and spread peoples' content online fast.

Weird Al is famous from doing parodies that are really funny and attract many viewers. Specifically looking at a music video called White and Nerdy that he parodied Ridin' Dirty by Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone got a lot of success because of the comedic humour. In the video he made, stereotypical gangsters were shown as the cool guys not welcoming the nerdy Caucausian guy trying to be their friend. The video is funny because of how hard the guy tries to fit in and try to be part of the group. But, part of the humour is bitter sweet because the audience is laughing at the main character's misfortune of being awkward and different from the other guys. It enforces the stereotypes of being smart and responsible as uncool. This is a reflection of our society too as enforcing the stereotypical black gangsters chilling together and not letting other people be part of their group. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Talyssaf (talkcontribs) 05:04, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

This is original research without any sources and can't be included in WP without them. --MASEM (t) 05:13, 3 March 2015 (UTC)