In 1976 Alfred Matthew “Weird Al” Yankovic first achieved minor notoriety while still a high school student in 1976 after sending a homemade tape to the Dr. Demento Radio Show and getting airtime for a song called “Belvedere Cruising”. Al went to Cal Poly at San Louis Obispo after high school and while a sophomore he became a DJ on the college radio station. He was nicknamed “Weird Al” by the other students and Al adopted the moniker as his professional name.
In 1978 Al released his first recording, named “Take Me Down”, which was released as a benefit for the Economic Opportunity Commission of San Louis Obispo. The song mocked famous nearby landmarks.
In 1979 Weird Al released his parody of the song “My Sharona”, entitled “My Bologna”.
It is said that Doug Fieger, of The Knack, liked the parody and convinced Capitol Records to release the song as a single. Capitol Records gave Al a 6 month recording contract.
On September 14, 1980, Al was invited to the Dr. Demento Radio Show to record Al’s second hit live called “Another One Rides the Bus”. On April 21, 1981 Al performed this tune on Tom Snyder’s “Tomorrow” show on NBC.
The remainder is history, Al compiled one hit after another. Here are some of Al’s hits.
“Fat”, a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Bad”.
“Eat it”, a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”.
“Smells Like Nirvana”, a parody of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
“Gump”, a parody of The Presidents of the United States’ “Lump”.
“Yoda”, a parody of the Kinks’ “Lola”.
“Amish Paradise”, a parody of “Gangsta Paradise”.
The hits keep on going, for more search for Weird Al on Youtube.
