Top Ten Songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic

Not many people are true Weird Al fans and a lot of people don’t even know who he is. For those who don’t know, “Weird Al” Yankovic is a comedy songwriter/performers who parodies popular music of the current time. He currently has a new album entitled “Straight Outta Lynwood” due out at the end of the month. Before you go out and spend money on that, here is a small list of songs you should listen to before you decide if he is for you. Since he has ten albums out, I will try to pick a song from each album, to give you a feel for what he has parodied over the ages.

10. From Weird Al Yankovic (Debut Album) - Ricky/My Bologna
It is hard for me to decide the best song from this album, since it was released when I was learning to crawl. But, if I had to decide, it would be either Ricky or My Bologna. Ricky is a parody of Mickey by Toni Basil. The song’s basis is on the TV series I Love Lucy. That song, along with My Bologna (which parodies the Knacks song My Sharona) launched the idea of Weird Al into mainstream. The idea of someone parodying songs with the artists approval was a new form of flattery back in the day.

9. From In 3-D - Eat It
One of the well-known songs by Weird Al is his first Michael Jackson parody, Eat It. The song parodies Beat It and is the start of Weird Al’s obsession with the topic of food. The song is basically a picky eaters anthem, telling people that it doesn’t matter what is put in front of you, you should eat it.

8. From Dare To Be Stupid - One More Minute
This song actually isn’t a parody, but since Weird Al isn’t all about parodies, it still needs to be heard. It’s a song about breaking up (another topic that Weird Al is good at singing about). It lists the many different things this person would rather do that be with the person they just broke up with. If you can get through the painful things he describes, (like diving into a swimming pool filled with double-edged razor blades) you’ll be laughing possibly about someone you know.