Here's a recent interview with our favorite parody singer-songwriter, Weird Al Yankovic, who'll be performing at the City National Grove of Anaheim this Friday. Here's what he had to say about his fame, getting rejected by Prince, and his relationship with Lucasfilm.
OC Weekly (Ali Lerman): Let me first say, my best friend's brother is a huge fan, and he met you once and said you were "the nicest guy around." So I assume you're going to be really nice to me...
Weird Al Yankovic: Oh, that is so nice, and well, I'll try my best. [Laughs]
So "My Balonyaa" was recorded in bathroom, and I was wondering, have you ever found any acoustics that match the greatness of those?
I'll be trying the rest of my life to try to duplicate the beautiful, natural, organic sound that I had in that original bathroom. I have 24-track digital bathroom now, but it's not quite the same as that old analog tiled-wall sound. So, it's just a fruitless quest, but I'm giving it my best shot!
You've been so successful in your career at poking fun at songs. Has anyone you've asked for permission to do so said no?
Ummm . . . the only person who has consistently said no over the years has been Prince, and he's never given a reason, so I'm not sure exactly why. He's just never wanted the Weird Al treatment, I guess. I had a few ideas back in the '80s, and if I get another idea, maybe I'll call him up again, but I'm waiting for the next Top 10 hit.
Regarding "The Saga Begins," the song came out around the same time as the first prequel movie. Did you get the inside track? I mean, you knew so much of the storyline!
You know, I tried to get an inside track when we approached Lucasfilm, and they were nice enough to let me do the song, but they didn't want to show me an advanced screening of the movie or give me a script. I mean, they're extremely super-private and secretive, as you well know. So enough things leaked out on the Internet with the previews that I was able to piece together the entire plot of the movie through rumors. I wrote my song based on Internet rumors! I'm very happy the rumors were pretty accurate, or I would have looked totally stupid. [Laughs]
You totally lucked out! Do you think UHF will ever be released on Blu-ray?
I'd love it to! I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be in all its high-def glory! Yeah, see me in high-def before my wrinkles set in. I would certainly support that, but I have no control of that.
Al's concert begins at Friday at 8 PM. Don't forget to check it out!
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