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Misapropriations

this section needs to be cleaned up bcause weird al did write the song "the saga begins"-aaronpark

And it says he did. Reread the section. It compares Yoda and The Saga Begins (which he wrote) to songs he did not write. --Michael Greiner 00:23, 16 November 2006 (UTC)
What about 'Living La Vida Yoda'? That would make at least three songs about Star Wars. Is it also a fake? -sergius_maximus 200.48.20.67 16:40, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
Yes, it is not his - Skysmith 19:27, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
'Living La Vida Yoda' is not a Weird Al song. There is a reference in the Misattribution and imitators section. Go there to see what songs aren't his. Prometheus-X303- 08:11, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Lacks depth

I just read the article and it is very good from a professional milestone perspective but it lacks any information about Al as a person. For example there is nothing about his parents' background, what do they do for a living, how did they end up in CA, what's the ethnic/culture makeup of his family and name. Nothing about Al's personal life: is he married, kids, where does he live, etc.. I'm surprised this made it to feature with such major biographical gaps. -- Stbalbach 05:31, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Yankovic married Suzanne Krajewski on 10 February 2001. Their daughter, Nina, was born 11 February 2003. They also have a pet poodle, Bela (pictured atop Yankovic's head on the cover of his album, Poodle Hat), and a pet cockatiel named Bo.

Uh huh, nothing about his marital status or offspring. If you wanted to know about his parents, wouldn't that be more suited in their own biography? ~ Gromreaper 08:07, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Sorry I missed that part about his wifes name and pets name - if you were to separate his career from his personal life you'd still have next to nothing about him as a person. Normally in biographies you provide some background about the person which includes information about the parents and family that is meaningful, just read any professionally written encyclopedia biography to see what I mean. Basically all we know are his parents and wifes and pets names. Like I said, lacks depth and context, not a great article as-is. If you want to see some decent biographies of artists look at Robert Louis Stevenson or Laurens van der Post. They don't have all the fluff this article does, but they have depth and tell us something about the person, plus they provide some balanced criticism - this article talks about the Amish parody, but we only get a few quotes from other artists and nothing from academics, scholars or real critics. -- Stbalbach 14:46, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
You ask for more personal info, but has such info even been made public? You can only write an article with what you are given. Not every celebrity divulges info on their background or what their parents were like. -SaturnYoshi THE VOICES 10:14, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
Yeah that's true, but I find it hard to believe the only thing known about him personally is his wifes name, his parents name, his kids name, his pets name, what town he was born and how his parents died a terrible death. That's it? No one has ever written a human interest story or biography of Weird Al before? -- Stbalbach 21:29, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
The Weird Al autobiography I used to reference the article was writtten in 1994, before his wife and kids, and before his parents died (plus, Suzanne isn't a celebrity and the Google search for her maiden name shows some pretty inconclusive results). It does mention some things about his parents' lives prior to Al, but I'm awful at paraphrasing (especially after being awake only 30 minutes). The Compleat Al and Authorised Al movie/book can't be relied upon as they're satirical, and the Behind the Music special puts heavy focus on his career. Anyway, I'm gonna try using the Permanent Record booklet to paraphrase when I get some free time later on this week, hopefully. Maybe even today. Hopefully it sounds a bit better now? Thanks for your comments, Stbalbach. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 01:39, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
That's great thanks Gromreaper. Now I've got a little better idea about his background and why he is the way he is (it would be interesting if he was the son of a wealthy business man who hated "rock music" for example). -- Stbalbach 14:27, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Jewish

Question: where is the source that claims he is Jewish?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.198.137.5 (talk • contribs) .

Is he? The article doesn't seem to mention it. I'm not sure what your question is. --Maxamegalon2000 22:18, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
Al is not Jewish:
Midnight Star "Ask Al" Q&As for November/December, 1997:
Are you Jewish or Polish? (We have a poll 8 to 5) (Jen Willis)
No.
Midnight Star "Ask Al" Q&As for July, 1995:
What religion are you? Would you call yourself a Christian? ("Lisa Hut" Jenson/Doug Rand/Justin Pettway/Jonathan Rand/Shonna Felice)
Yes.
That's really all Al has said about his religious beliefs. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 01:10, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
He's a Christian??? --Iwannafly3141592653
Apparently. And was it really necessary to have 4 edits to fix up your signature? ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 05:52, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
In Serbia, we think he is Serbian on the father's side, because he is from former Yugoslavia and Janković (original spelling of Yankovic) is common second name here. I know about him only because of his origin, I'm not his fan. It is also possible he is orriginaly from Montenegro, or even Croatia (but less likley). Serbs are ortodox Christian, i.e. eastern Christian stayed in old belive wich was main religion in Byzantine. In newer history we were under socialist rule but not under SSSR, wich gave us reasonable level of democracy at the time, but religion still was not a fashion, so he may be not in religion of any kind, wich I doubt because his father was not born in Yugoslavia. If he is originally from Croatia, or he respects mothers religion, he might be catolic as well. Littlesal 14:03, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
He's reputed to be a member of the Hollywood Church of Christ. Can't say for sure if he is or not, though. As for the Jewish rumor, I think it's derives from "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" and some lines from "The Night Santa Went Crazy." Jdb1972

Singles for Poodle Hat and Straight Outta Lynwood

Okay, it's time we clear up this once and for all.

  • "Canadian Idiot", appears to be listed as a single because it got enough purchases from digital stores like iTunes Music Store to get a spot on the singles chart with absolutely no promotion. (See "Snow ((Hey Oh))" for another example of this)
  • "Do I Creep You Out" IS the next single. It's set for release on November 17: see the "JibJab" item on weirdal.com.
  • Songs with music videos are generally considered to be singles.
  • However, the animations on SOL (apart from "Don't Download This Song") don't count because they received no play and are only included as incentives to buy the physical album.
  • "Don't Download This Song" counts as a single because it received mass exposure through the free downloading and the video being put up by Al on Youtube and MySpace.
  • Poodle Hat did not have physical singles, but "Couch Potato" is considered to be the first single because it got radio play, and while a video was planned, it was canned.
  • "Bob" shouldn't be up there, but since it has a video, many fans think it is a single, even though it got no airplay (hell, "A Complicated Song" would be more fitting to be listed than "Bob"...but I digress), and I'm leaving it because I can easily see an edit war happening.

Now let's hope this ends the freaking dispute once and for all. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 02:01, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Editing suggestion?

"One of Yankovic's most controversial parodies was 1996's "Amish Paradise," based on "Gangsta's Paradise" by hip-hop artist Coolio. Reportedly, Coolio's label gave Yankovic the impression that Coolio had granted permission to record the parody, but Coolio maintains that he never did. While Coolio claimed he was upset, legal action never materialized, and Coolio accepted royalty payments for the song. After this controversy, Yankovic has always made sure to speak directly with the artist of every song he parodied. At the XM Satellite Radio booth at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show Yankovic and Coolio made peace. On his website, Yankovic wrote of this event, "I don’t remember what we said to each other exactly, but it was all very friendly. I doubt I’ll be invited to Coolio’s next birthday party, but at least I can stop wearing that bulletproof vest to the mall.""

I believe that the italicized portion ("directly with the artist") should not be italicized. It's unnecessary and just looks plain unprofessional. I'd change it myself were the page not locked. If someone who CAN edit this page could consider fixing that, that would be very nice. Thanks! Katsarephat 18:37, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Virtually no one can edit the page, (only the 1200 or so admins). Personally, I don't think the full protect is needed (Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and the New York Yankees are all far more vandalized.) Anyways, getting back on topic, I agree with the edit. Michael Greiner 20:50, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
Actually any user that has been here for more than 3 days can edit. Gdo01 20:50, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
Right now the page is under a full protect (I've been here since March and can't edit.) Michael Greiner 20:56, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
Sorry, the last time I had been on this article was 2 hours ago and nothing was going on here then. I personally think the full protection was kind of an overreaction. It was only a couple of users, nothing like what San Francisco suffered earlier today. Gdo01 20:59, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
I've made the edit, and unprotected the article. —tregoweth (talk) 22:57, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
On an interview on Sydney's Nova 969 (Nova 19'S 2007-03-07) Yankovic stated that he had talked with Coolio just last year about it and it was "water under the bridge" and that they were ok.Sirris2007 10:02, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Rhymes with stick

Is that really important? If I didn't know what the purpose of the IPA symbols was for, I would more be wonder how to pronounce the o, than the vic.203.27.231.250 09:53, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm not quite sure what you're asking there. The most frequent mispronounciation (and misspelling) of "Yankovic" stems from the 'vic, which is often pronounced as "vich". The IPA pronounciation is there to try and curb that mispronounciation. The "rhymes with stick" helps the majority of people who can't read IPA. The -o- in "Yankovic" is the same vowel sound as in "hope". I dunno how well that answered your concern, but let me know either way. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 11:12, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
Actually, because the 'o' is in an unstressed syllable, it's a slightly more relaxed sound. The 'o' in hope is the only vowel sound, and therefore completely stressed. The 'o' in "Yankovic" is sort of half-way between a long 'o' and a schwa sound... I think a better comparison might be "reconnect". - Ugliness Man 13:48, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
Hmm, good point ye have. I've only just finished my first year Linguistics course at uni, so I don't claim to know everything about the subject. Do you know of any way to address the middle sound? ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 01:27, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
Yeah, sure. (I am a HUGE fan, so I've said his name CORRECTLY at least 27 times.) I'll givr you the full name. Try to say, "Wee-ird, Al, Yank-uh-vick". OK? StrongBad27 03:13, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Background

Just wondering if the link to serbian-americans category is correct. See, the Weird Al Interview is about 19 mins into the Podcast.

[1]

--202.161.23.124 07:40, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for reminding me, I've been meaning to change that since the awesome Safran interview. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont)!

Right, but shouldn't we still mention, as per some of these sources and the radio interview, that he's some type of South Slav on his father's side and Italian and English on his mother's? Biruitorul 02:28, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Just saying... a lot of the sources that pop up in that Google search aren't reliable - i.e. Wikipedia mirrors, IMDB, trivia sites, etc. Mad Jack 23:13, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
Fair enough, but I still think that the repeated mention of his parents' ancestries one finds by searching (some of the sites do seem relatively reliable) makes it a pretty sure bet that he is in fact Yugoslav (probably Serb) and Italian-English. And it's a fact worth mentioning, assuming we can find a really solid reference. Biruitorul 01:36, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Featured?

omfg! OMFG! That's just incredible. Superior1 20:00, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

No! That's bad! they completely erased the article and wrote in the word "poo"! like, WTF!!! mike 01:55, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Let's see The Onion try to say an unkind word about this article now! Fishal 02:40, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Can we get a better photo at the top? This one is a low-res with shadow on Al's face. Thanks. Barrel-rider 22:38, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

If you can find a free-license image of Al, feel free to upload it. When the article was being reviewed for FA status, a user offered to find a free one on Flickr, and the current one (with hat, outside of Angus & Robertson) was the only one that was free licensed. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 03:44, 6 December 2006 (UTC)


Date linking

Does all these date wiki-links need to be there? Johannes H.-Larsen 15:46, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Year-only links are unnecessary, except for links to "year in music" articles that appear like this: [[1985 in music|1985]]. Complete dates should be linked in order for the date preferences feature to work, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)#Dates. Accurizer 16:00, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Musical Analysis

There is not much in the article about the nature and style of his songs, other than that they are parodies. For example, and something which I think can be used to determine if a parody song really is be Weird Al Yankovic, is that his parody songs are never about the original song or artist - they use the same music, but his lyrics are not about the subject matter addressed in the original song, nor are his lyrics making fun of the original artist (unlike a lot of parody songs out there). Can anyone find an example of where this is not the case? - Matthew238 23:12, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

"(This Song's Just) Six Words Long", "It's Still Billy Joel to Me", "Achy Breaky Song", "Smells Like Nirvana". --Maxamegalon2000 23:14, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
Thanks. But they still seem to be few and far between, at least when compared to other parody songs, which generally seem to always be about the artist and the song. - Matthew238 23:04, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Poo

this article has been vandalized...not it only says poo. lock?

Fixed. Generally, the policy is not to protect the day's featured article, because newcomers to Wikipedia see it and it's a showpiece for "anyone can edit." There is ongoing debate about whether that's a wise policy but it's generally accepted. Newyorkbrad 01:55, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Redundant

So in the info box the members are listed with the date that they started to the present. However there is a section for former members. The fact that the current members are listed to the present and they are not in the former members section is redundant. It should just list the year that they joined the group. You know what I mean? Do I make any sense? Daniel J. Forman 02:29, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Kudos on a great FA

An excellent (one of the best IMO) example of a FA on a modern popular entertainment topic. I especially liked the Album Information table. Different from anything I've seen (don't know how prevalent it is), but IMO a good use of the table feature. Anchoress 02:41, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I agree. I'm a big fan of Weird Al and seeing that it was today's FA I was eager to make some edits to it, but there's not very much at all that needs fixing, and I've learned so much and I'm only halfway done! Congratulations to all of those involved in writing this excellent article. Mike (Talk) 03:46, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
Yeah, Weird Al is awesome, and it is so great that he is on today's feautured article. Maybe more people will listen to his works and learn more about him. Thanks to everyone who helped to promote this article to featured status. And I agree with both of you that this is a spectacular example of a featured article. I wish there was more for me to improve, but guess not. Guess that's a good thing.--Kyo cat¿Qué tal?♥meow! 04:55, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

What Nationality?

The article calls his father Serbian, but says his father was born in Kansas. That would make his father American, or Serbian and American (depending on how Serbian citizenship works), or an American of Serbian ethnicity. Sad mouse 04:21, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Oh, and the wikipedia self-referencing for a minor incident is rather poor form. Sad mouse 04:26, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

According to the FAQ on weirdal.com, his father's parents were Yugoslavian. Even though this is seems to be an umbrella term, let's just go with it unless we find a reliable source. Please. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 12:34, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
The article already says both parents were born in America. Therefore they are American of Slavic decent, not Yugoslavian. Status quo is not a good reason to keep inaccurate information in an article. Sad mouse 00:14, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
The "self-reference" should be there. Wikipedia is the 12th most popular website in the USA and possibly as high as the 6th in the world, depending on what source you use. The incident is not minor enough to warrant exclusion. — Dark Shikari talk/contribs 18:10, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
Yeah, so put that in the wikipedia article. It seems that even the slightest incident involving wikipedia gets put into a person's biographical article when much larger events are left out. It is simply self gratification. Sad mouse 00:14, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

The nation Yugoslavia did not exist before WWII, if his father received the Silver Star fighting in WWII for the US, it is unlikely that he is of Yugoslavian nationality. Americans whose ancestors are from the Balkans often describe themselves as Yugoslavian, simply because more Americans are familiar with Yugoslavia than the countries that were united to form it. Whatever his ethnicity may be, it is highly unlikely that his father's nationality was Yugoslavian.

This was my point, say the father is American (we know he has American citizenship) of Yugoslavian decent. Sad mouse 00:14, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
The only child of Nick Yankovic (4 June 1917 – 9 April 2004; of Yugoslavian descent) and Mary Elizabeth Yankovic (7 February 1923 – 9 April 2004; of Italian and English descent), Alfred was born in Downey, California and raised in the neighboring town of Lynwood
How bout that? ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 02:27, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
I really hate to be picky, but that doesn't actually say that his parents are American. Maybe The only child of Nick Yankovic (4 June 1917 – 9 April 2004; an American of Yugoslavian descent) and Mary Elizabeth Yankovic (7 February 1923 – 9 April 2004; an American of Italian and English descent), Alfred was born in Downey, California and raised in the neighboring town of Lynwood —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sad mouse (talk • contribs) 03:36, 5 December 2006 (UTC).
Just one correction. Yugoslavia did existed since december 1st 1918. just after WWI, by uniting Serbia and Montenegro from winner side with Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia which was Slavic peces of Austria-Hungary. It was state of Southern Slavs wich is the translation of "Jugoslavija" Littlesal 06:48, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

89.142.38.71 20:14, 9 March 2007 (UTC) well, i belive his father is originally from Slovenia, because his lastname ends with -ik (jankovik)

My Sharona parody has two versions I believe

I remember a reading an article about Al in a San Luis Obispo weekly newspaper. It stated that he recorded a song entitled "My Verona" in the bathroom of his dormitory, and it dealt with Romeo and Juliet. The subsequent album release was changed to "My Bologna". I know that I saved the article because I was a huge "Weird Al" fan at the time, so I may be able to find a citation for that. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 131.191.24.143 (talk • contribs) 07:37, 4 December 2006 (UTC).

Yeah, that's 100% incorrect. All previous versions of "My Bologna" had the exact same lyrics as the eventual album version. (That includes the bathroom recording, which was released as a single as well as on Al's "Permanent Record" boxed set.) As far as I can tell, the unlikely "My Verona" doesn't exist. --Steve Worek

Huge vandalism

A bunch of stuff about Chanhassen High School has been inserted! Bigmac31 15:20, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Our RC patrollers have removed it. :D I'm glad that this page has been featured... :) Half-Blood Auror 18:56, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Ok, it's gone

Unless I dreamed it. That was quick removal! Bigmac31 15:22, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Biography section

Just an opinion - it might read better if there were some sort of subheadings or similar to break up the biography section into three or four subsections, as it currently is one long mass which looks fairly intimidating in this format. -- 86.128.50.181 18:23, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Done ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 02:25, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Influence on those Al has parodied?

I'm not sure how relevant this is but on the live version of "Lump" on the album Pure Frosting by The Presidents of the United States of America, Chris and Dave sing "And that's all I have to say about that" at the end, just as Al does on "Gump". Are there any other occasions where something like this has happened, where Al's music has changed the original song or greatly influenced the original artist(s)? Is this too irrelivant for this article? I'm thinking to just include it in the trivia section in the article for the song "Gump". Thoughts?

Al's new look

I would like to see a better before-and-after facial hair photo comparison. Also, has anyone else noticed he now looks a LOT like Disney's Tarzan? The resemblence is uncanny! -- BlueNight (not logged in) 12:45pm MST Dec 4, 2006 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 205.201.141.146 (talk • contribs) 19:46, 4 December 2006 (UTC).

BlueNight, I was just thinking the same thing!!!! It's AMAZING, Isn't it? Almost like they PLANNED it..... Anyone else agree? StrongBad27 03:16, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Running With Scissors

It says that "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" was for Australia only. However this is not true. I purchased this album on cassette and that song was included. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jringer (talk • contribs) 23:44, 4 December 2006 (UTC).

The song was on the album everywhere, but was only released as a single (There is a difference, look above and Talk: Straight Outta Lynwood) in Australia. Michael Greiner 23:58, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

Sochwa 04:24, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Move to discography page

I really do not like how everything from the discography section was removed. Something should be there even if it is a short list or paragraph. This is a featured article, and reached that status with the info in the discography and I don't think it would pass as it stands now. Michael Greiner 23:59, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I agree that something of substance should be included in the section labeled "Discography". Without it, it's forcing people to go elsewhere just to even get a listing of the albums. It may not need every bit of info, but it needs some of it. --Mtjaws 14:18, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
Yeah, I think we need to at least put in a short list of his albums.For example:
"Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D
etc...
--WillMak050389 18:52, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

New Interview

http://break.com/index/weird_al_interviews_kfed.html

Yes, that's from the new Al-TV. Did you have something to say?


Vegan, not just vegetarian

According to 'http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/weirdal/weirdal4.html', Weird Al is a strict vegan, not just a vegetarian. I've updated his category. (I don't think that this reference is important enough to go on the main page, though.) Chip Unicorn 05:02, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

If you don't feel confident in the reference and won't cite it in the article, I don't think that the category should be changed. (I'm not changing it though) There was a previous discussion about this in the January-May archive. Michael Greiner 05:59, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
If a vegetarian is a less devout version of a vegan, then wouldn't that mean that a vegan is also a vegetarian? It's sort of like how a square is also a rectangle. There are other non-square shapes which are rectangles, but a square being a square doesn't mean it's not a rectangle. What I'm trying to say is that, if we're going to keep these particular categories intact, then it does need to be made apparant that he's a vegan, but also identifying him as a vegetarian isn't exactly "wrong". - Ugliness Man 13:26, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
Furthermore, are vegetarians also squares? And do they ever eat a good square meal? :) Wahkeenah 02:10, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, fool, we do eat good meals.

According to the WeirdAl.com FAQ...
Is Al a vegetarian?
Yes. He changed his diet in 1992 after a fan gave him a book called "Diet For A New America." He currently eats no meat and also tries to avoid eggs and dairy products.
So technically, he's a vegetarian with vegan aspirations (or vegetarian.five, as I just made up), since he isn't strictly no-eggs-and-dairy. I vote to remain him in the vegetarian category. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 09:23, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Misattribution and imitators

Just wondering, for the misattribution section, would it be helpful to include a screenshot of a P2P sharing site showing what a search for "Weird Al" returns? One I uploaded today (Image:WeirdAlLimeWire.png) for possible use shows a large number of Not-Al songs, as well as enough "Yankovich" results to get rid of that nasty {{fact}} that has been placed in the section. Thoughts? Comments? Marriage proposals? ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 01:38, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Aaw heck, I just did it anyway. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 07:22, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
I don't have a problem with it. I think it serves a good source. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.87.119.103 (talk) 06:02, 15 January 2007 (UTC).

white and nerdy

he uses the line "i edit wikipedia" in this song, to prove how nerdy he is. this should deffinitely have a mention in the article. Lygophile has spoken 01:46, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

It's already mentioned in the articles for Straight Outta Lynwood and White & Nerdy, that's sufficient. This article is already pretty damn long, adding more bits of trivia that are repeated elsewhere is not a priority right now. - Ugliness Man 23:51, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

Twinkie-Wiener Sandwich

I know the suggestion was to merge the article into here, and it looks like that process has started, but wouldn't it fit better in UHF (film)? There's already a link in the secton on UHF, and people could use that link, or visit the UHF article for more information. At the very least, it should be moved closer to the UHF reference. It was more the creaton of a character that Al portrayed than Al himself. --Elvis 19:52, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

Agreed, I say move it to UHF. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 01:30, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
Also agree, it seems to me like an eyesore on a FA page. --WillMak050389 03:10, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
Disagree. While it was created by Al (or Al's character in UHF) I think that it should remain as it's own short entry. Aervanath 08:35, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
Wait a minute, there's already what I think is sufficient explanation already in the UHF subsection...
UHF shows the creation of Yankovic's signature food—the Twinkie-wiener sandwich. The snack consists of an overturned Twinkie split open as a bun, a hot dog, and Easy Cheese. Yankovic has stated that he has switched to using tofu hot dogs since becoming a vegetarian, but still enjoys them as his favorite snack.
Surely that's enough and we can get rid of the entire subsection devoted to the thing? Honestly, it's so poorly written that I feel like I'm going to vomit each time I see it. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont) 08:12, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
it definitely needs to be removed from this article. Maybe put it in it own article? b_cubed 23:00, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
It had its own article, which was merged in to have the section we have now. The section should be moved to the UHF page (or removed all together), with a mention in the UHF section of this page. Michael Greiner 23:44, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
Looks like majority agree something needs to be done. I'll move it to UHF (film) and we'll see how that goes. --Elvis 15:47, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

American vs British punctuation.

Well, someone just moved all the commas out of the quotes in this article. My first instinct was to just put them all back, but I figured I'd write it up on the talk page first in case someone has a compelling argument why we need British Style [2] punctuation in this article. NipokNek 13:42, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

You are misinformed about what the style guideline has to say on this subject... Here's the relevant text...

When punctuating quoted passages, Wikipedia strongly prefers to put the punctuation mark inside the quotation marks only if the sense of the punctuation mark is part of the quotation ("logical" quotations). This is commonplace outside the U.S. However, insisting on changing to this usage, especially in articles written in American English, is deprecated; there are better and less divisive uses of time. In the very rare case of a multi-paragraph quotation that is not block-quoted, put double-quotes at the beginning of each paragraph, but at the end of only the last paragraph.

(emphasis added)
As this is shaping up to be a Tempest in a teapot (or is that a "storm in a teacup"?) , I'm going to leave the punctuation alone. NipokNek 14:18, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
I observed inconsistency in the article as regards the titles of songs. Some had periods and commas inside quotes, some outside. I change them all to be outside, while leaving the quoted passages alone, as per the guidelines you cited. Wahkeenah 14:53, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
This is an American artist, and as such it should be written in American English. Anyone who knows anything about American English knows that punctuation (save colons and semicolons) goes inside the quotation mark. There's no reason to be using British English in this article. ~ UBeR
Unless, you know, you instinctively write using British English as you've done all your life and because you don't know the rules of American English, you leave it as BE. Wow, I just made an awesome pun...BE, as in the word, but also as British English. ~~ Gromreaper(Talk)/(Cont)
I apparently know nothing about American English. Yet I'm American. Well, what can you expect from a dumb American? Wahkeenah 03:33, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

The Onion

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/37314 -Go there for many ways and new info to include in this article. (sorry for posting at the top. move this down if you want, but dont delete it. Randomfrenchie 00:05, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

That article is over two years old. The issues raised were fixed within a month. --Maxamegalon2000 01:06, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

BargleNawdleZouss.com

http://www.BargleNawdleZouss.com should be included in the 'External Links' section. It provides users with more options when looking for "Weird Al" Yankovic information. There you can find a complete listing of Weird Al lyrics, images, easter eggs in Al's CDs, LPs, DVDs, etc., and lots of other relevant content. Thanks.

Al's Parents' deaths

I was in the midst of reading the bit about Alfred's parents' unfortunate demise in their home in California when something caught my attention: Weird Al was nowhere near Mankato, Minnesota that day. I mean, he was in a relative term... being that he was actually at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wisconsin which is right next door to Minnesota so I could assume that one could probably mistake one state for another. It's okay, I've done it. Just look at Colorado and Wyoming. In any case, Al was in Appleton, Wisconsin the night his parents died. I would know, I was at the concert. My source includes a direct setlist (on the internet, of course, but with positive credentials) from the Fox Cities PAC. The day after the concert I went to on April 9, 2004, I found out (online again, of course) that both his parents had died. I was shocked and astonished that he went on to do the show without a single visible hitch. Anyway, my point is, Alfred Yankovic performed in Appleton, Wisconsin at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center the night his parents died and I would like that bit in the wikipedia to be changed, please. Dilematree 18:04, 12 February 2007 (UTC)Daniel Koehler

  • Was the concert you attended on the 8th or the 9th. If it was on the 8th, there is a very real possibility that he was at a show in Mankato on the 9th. Mankato is only 360 miles from Appleton (according to Google's driving directions) which is about a 6 hour drive. In Al's next tour, he will go from Pompano Beach, FL to Valdosta, GA which is approximately 410 miles in one night (May 24th and May 25th). Unless you have something that explicitly says he was somewhere besides Mankato on the 9th, I won't change it. Michael Greiner 21:00, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
Al's web site confirms the Appleton show on the ninth:[3] CatraDhtem 04:40, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
I think I was confused about the deaths of his parents. Did his parents die the night of the 8th/9th or the night of the 9th/10th? If it was the 8th/9th, Appleton would be correct; but if it was the 9th/10th, Mankato would be correct because he wouldn't have been told until the next morning. Michael Greiner 20:37, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

The Yankovic show I attended was on the 9th. I read about his parents' deaths the following morning on the internet and my father showed me the article in Appleton's newspaper "The Post-Crescent". Al was informed the evening of April 9th just before the show and if my estimation is correct, the performance would have begun around eight or nine p.m. Is there anything else needed for verification? Dilematree 20:30, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

I still can't tell if he knew of the deaths before the concert in Appleton. USA Today/Associated Press says he was not available for contact in Mankato implying that that was the first show after the deaths. If he knew before Appleton, they should have asked him there. [4] Michael Greiner 21:24, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Okay, this is what proved it to me just now: According to the website http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20040410-9999-1mc10ffire.html in the April 10, 2004 issue of the San Diego Union-Tribune, "...[they] were found dead in their rural one-story ranch house yesterday ... about 1 p.m." and then I read on... "...[Al] was scheduled to start a tour in Wisconsin yesterday. He and his agent could not be reached for comment yesterday." Now, from that article, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that his parents died at 1 p.m. the afternoon of April 9, 2004 THE SAME DAY as the concert in Appleton, Wisconsin. Dilematree 12:25, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Good enough for me. I've gone ahead and changed it. Thanks, Dilematree, for your excellent research. --Maxamegalon2000 14:31, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Hitler song

Hi everyone, i just heard a song named "Hitler" (it is said that rammstein made the song, but im not sure about that). I dunno if u heard it before but it´s like the Rammstein song "Sonne". I don´t know who is the one that made the song but, i just made a small analyze, and im thinking it was Weird Al Yankovic, i´d like to knowif this is true or not, cuz the song is nice, and it rocks!!! Anyone knows who made that song???

This isn't a forum. Anyway if it isn't on this list: List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic, then its not Yankovic. Also check out The Not Al List. They have a list of songs that people think is Yankovic but isn't his song. Gdo01 22:23, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Tom Lehrer

"Unlike other parody artists such as Tom Lehrer..." (emphasis mine)

It seems inaccurate to use Tom Lehrer as an example of a "parody artist". I think he is much more correctly labeled a "satirist", although a few of his songs contains elements of parody. 128.152.20.33 07:02, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

  • It might be a stretch to call Lehrer a parody artist, as nearly all of his songs were original. A notable exception would be "The Elements", which uses the Major-General's song as its base. "Clementine" was certainly a parody song. I think "Lobachevsky" was not original, either. But his best-known song was probably "Pollution", which as far as I know is original. Several of his songs made reference to older songs, at least for a bar or two. Some of Yankovic's songs are original, probably more of them are parodies. Sherman did very few original songs, maybe none, with all or nearly all being new lyrics applied to old music. Yankovic arguably lies somewhere between the two. And let's not forget Mark Russell, who is a somewhat kinder and gentler version of Lehrer. He mixes original music with old music. Honorable mention to Spike Jones, although his schtick was largely performing existing songs with comedic music and some added funny lyrics. Wahkeenah 09:26, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
    • Yes, "The Elements", thus my italicization. "Clementine" is a parody, but of other composers' styles, using the song "My Darling Clementine" as an example, rather than a parody of the song itself. The overwhelming majority of his work is original. On your tangent, I find "Pollution" and odd choice; I would guess his best-known works are "The Vatican Rag" and "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park".128.152.20.33 06:15, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
      • Best known to the general public, at one time, probably not now. It was used in some public service TV ads ca.1970, and got some standard-radio airplay, as I recall. His fan base probably qualifies as a "cult following" (count me in on that cult). For the generic version of "Pollution" in the TV ad, he replaced the "San Jose" line (specific to his live audience in 1965) with something like "Throw out your garbage, and I have a hunch / The folks downstream will have it for lunch."

"Vandals"

In the article, "vandals" is wikilinked to Wikipedia:Vandalism. It shouldn't be, per Wikipedia:Avoid self-references. There doesn't seem to be a main space article on wiki vandalism in general. We do have website defacement, but that doesn't quite apply. 194.151.6.70 14:33, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

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