No one can deny the success that Weird Al Yankovic has had in his career. Starting out sending tapes to Dr. Demento for his radio show, then finally getting some recognition on radio. Yet, he was still considered a novelty act and wasn’t given the time of day as having any staying power. Look at his predecessor and influence in the parody/funny song genre; Allan Sherman had a handful of hits then pretty much disappeared from active parody.

Al was written off as perhaps being able to have two albums worth of material before fading into the background. The sales of his second album being poor didn’t help. Yet, here he is so many decades later and still pumping out parodies, including his first ever #1 single.

I think the first time I ever got introduced to Weird Al was because of UHF, his wonderfully done parody movie with a plot. It was running as the weekend movie on the local NBC affiliate and I happened to catch it. As young as I was I got most of the references and laughed way harder than I should have. This would also be my long descent into becoming a geek later in life, mind you.

It wasn’t until later in life, with the album being discussed here, that I got into Al’s music directly. It was all because of one track.

Weird Al Yankovic - Alapalooza

There are quite a few different styles of parody on this album. Prince has never allowed Al to record a parody of his music, but Traffic Jam is a complete Let’s Go Crazy style parody. There is the one parody that annoys everyone as much as the original and that is Achy Breaky Song, a parody of Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus (for the young-uns, that be Miley Cyrus’ daddy).

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