How many musicians can say they got their start in the bathroom? “Weird Al” Yankovic can. The wildly popular parody songwriter has sold millions of records, made some way-funny videos and has a new Saturday morning TV show coming this September (“The Weird Al Show,” on CBS). But it all started with a trip to the john.
It has been almost 20 years since Weird Al recorded his spoof of The Knack’s “My Sharona.” Al told KidNews he was a junior at a California Polytechnic State University, working at the college radio station, when he got the inspiration to record his sendup, a version called “My Bologna.”
“I couldn’t afford to go into a real recording studio,” Al recalled. “But the bathroom across the hall from (the station) had the perfect acoustic sound, with tiles all over the walls.” So Al lugged his trusty accordion (he’d been taking lessons since age 6), sang his lungs out and sent the tape into the Dr. Demento radio show.
Dr. Demento started playing “My Bologna,” and the song became a huge hit. Al, who was just 20, was offered a six-month contract by Capitol Records – the same record label as The Knack.
Al — who is soft-spoken, even a little shy, in person — said he had no previous plans to become a musician. “I decided when I was 12 that I was going to be an architect. I was a very serious, adult-minded kid. It wasn’t until I put out `My Bologna’ that I thought, `Wow, maybe I can have a career in music!’ “
When it comes to writing parodies of the hits, “I’d like to say any artist or any song is fair game,” Al said. “It’s pretty obvious that some songs work better. Rap songs are good because there are a lot lyrics to them.”
One recent rappin’ example is “Amish Paradise,” a spoof on Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.” On stage, Al and his band don black suits, broad-brimmed hats and phony beards as Al chants, “If I finish all my chores and you finish thine/Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1699.”
Al is also a pretty talented songwriter. “I probably feel a bit closer to the sick love ballads like `You Don’t Love Me Anymore’ and `One More Minute,’ ” Al said. In fact, he wrote “One More Minute” after breaking up with his girlfriend.
As for the new TV show, “It stars Harvey the Wonder Hamster, who is my best friend in the whole world, the world’s only stunt hamster,” Al said. “He’s the star of the show, I’m just his sidekick.”
Being so weird, what does Al do in his spare time? “I just started to have free time again, which is an odd concept for me,” Al replied. “This has been the busiest year of my life, really intense. My spare time is spent just catching up on sleep. I eat out with friends, watch movies, Krazy-Glue small animals to the wall and watch them scurry.”
2 HOLY MOLE-Y, WHO IS THIS?
This 4-year-old is all grown up now. She may even be a role model of yours. Now, it’s not our style to mess with your heads, but you’ll have to guess who she is. Call in with your guess between 5 and 5:30 p.m. today. Call 312-222-4217, 312-222-3327 or 312-222-3612. Later, we’ll hold a random drawing using all the correct answers and pick one winner. That lucky duck gets a $100 gift certificate to the Gap, Claire’s Accessories or Urban Outfitters (his or her choice!). And… to be fashionably late… we’ll run our interview with this wonder woman next week.
3 REACH FOR SCOTTIE’S NEW BOOK
Some of you Scottie Pippen fans might take one look at his new book and take a pass. It’s your loss if you do, dudes. Pippen’s book, an autobiography called “Reach Higher” ($15 hardback, Taylor publish-ing), may look like a little-kid book on the outside – but don’t judge the book by its size and cover. Instead, flip through it to discover a heap of info about the Bulls star. He talks about his childhood as one of 12 kids in the Pippen family, where there was little money but loads of love; his disastrous attempts to play football; his early days playing basketball and how he sat on the bench collecting cobwebs because he was a “weakling”; his college years; his breakthrough into the pros; his injuries and mistakes (think “1.8 seconds”); and his friendship with MJ. Plus, his family, friends and former coaches talk honestly about their Pippen memories. (Friend Ronnie Miller is quoted as saying, “Scottie wouldn’t take any licks in football. If he caught the ball, he’d fall down.” ) Finally, the illustrations – a fun combo of wild drawings and action photos – are real winners.
4 DIG `DARIA’? DUH, OF COURSE!
As fans of “MST3K,” it’s no surprise that we’d like to invite 16-year-old Daria Morgendorffer over to watch some bad movies on video. Just like those wisecracking robots who make fun of lame actors, lame dialogue and even lamer special effects, we’re sure Daria would deliver sarcastic comments that would keep us laughing. We really like the fact that Daria’s brainy, witty and not part of the popular crowd at her high school. One night we watched her whack her head on the top of a van, get stung by a bee, break her glasses and sit on a peanut butter sandwich.
But now that she has her own show on MTV, the animated character who started out as a schoolmate of Beavis and Butt-head probably can’t fit us into her busy schedule. But we’ll be fitting her show, “Daria” (Mondays, 9:30 p.m. Central Time), into our schedule.
