Original Air Date: November 14, 1994.  6:30p.m.
Original Location: WONC 89.1 FM.  Broadcasting from Naperville, Il.
Original Interviewer: Chad Mitchell        cmitch3@TheRamp.net
Transcribed by: Marty Lick                 martyl@emsphone.com
Type of interview:  Phone

Chad: Now on the telephone lines is the comedy genius sometimes deemed the
     Rock and Roll parody King, "Weird Al" Yankovic.  How are you doing the
     afternoon/evening Al?
Al: Chad thank you so much for asking.  I'm doing....swell! and you?
Chad: Well, ya know I'm doin' my best ya know.  It's a beautiful day here in
     Naperville and it's just...I'm trying to do my best.  Is that good
     enough for ya?
Al: Sometimes that's just not enough, is it?
Chad: It's not enough and the reason I wanted to have you on was is recently
     I was in the record stores and I picked up your newest venture, it's the
     Permanent Record, and it's your best of box set type of thing.  It
     doesn't include all of your works, does it?
Al: It includes about half of everything I've done.  It's the best half of
     Al.
Chad: It's the best half.  Is that the left usually or the right?
Al: A little section right down the middle.
Chad: We'll leave that one at that.  It's basically comprised of four CDs and
     a nice little booklet put together by out good friend, the doctor.  The
     Doctor Demento man himself put together a booklet basically explaining
     your life and why you are a parody genius.
Al: He explains it all.
Chad: Have you read it?
Al: Yeah, it's the longest book I've read since high school.  
Chad:  It's a long one and I know you're kidding about that because I was
     reading through a little bit of this and this came as a surprise.  I
     don't want to cut you down in any way, but I found out that you were a
     valedictorian of your high school class.
Al: Oh yeah.
Chad: And you're just a genius.  There's no other way to describe you.  Have
     I paid you enough compliments yet?
Al: No I was a complete geek nerd in high school and now I'm proud to say
     that I'm the king of the geek nerds.  
Chad: To tell you the truth, I have a lot of friends that are very big
     followers of you and we'll get back into that later on.  They've got a
     few questions that they wanted me to ask you.  
Al: Okay.
Chad: ...while I've got you on the telephone lines.  But let's go ahead and
     play your new song if people haven't heard it yet.  Can you kind of
     explain why you did this song and a little bit about it?
Al: Yeah, this is my Crash Test Dummies parody and it's about Tonya Harding,
     Nancy Kerrigan, John Wayne Bobbitt, Michael Fay.  I wanted to write a
     song about these people because I don't think they're getting quite
     enough media attention.  I just wanted to bring their stories to light
     finally.  
Chad: That's exactly right.  They don't get enough media attention.  I think
     you've summed it all up right there so we should give them a little more
     right now as we play "Weird Al" Yankovic's brand new song.  It's called
     "Headline News" on the Chad Mitchell Show.
[Plays Headline News]
Chad: That's right folks it's "Headline News" by "Weird Al" Yankovic live on
     the Chad Mitchell Show right now.  And just talking with him during that
     song he says that he's in the MNOOD or he's in the process...
Al: I'm in Menudo right now.  That's right. I finally was able to join Menudo
     as their new lead singer.  I'm very proud of that.
Chad: I have trouble talking today, but that's okay because it makes for
     interesting conversation.  Anyway, what you're doing is going into the
     studio right now and just about ready to complete another album or start
     up another album or?
Al: We're just starting actually.  We're doing the original half which is the
     way we usually work so I've written five original tunes over the summer
     and going in to record them first half of December and then next year I
     get to tackle the parodies.  Hopefully, if the fates are kind to me and
     pop culture works its odd magic I should be able to have an album out
     next year sometime.  
Chad: This is something, I don't know if it's your exact quote or one of your
     publicists came up with this, this is something they said about you. 
     They said "your soul purpose in life is to slam a stapler against the
     forehead of American pop culture."
Al: WHAT!?!
Chad: That's what it says.  I got a bio of you and it says that.  Is that
     something you said or did they make it up?
Al: No, I probably said that about a decade ago and they used it against me
     ever since.  
Chad:  Oh.  Well, it's a very interesting statement in itself, but one of the
     things that I wanted to make sure I talk to you about when I was on the
     air with you was, is the fact that I, you're gonna laugh at me, but I'm
     a person who does some parodies my self.  
Al: [Laughs uncontrollably].
Chad: And they're horrible compared to yours, but anyway, I wanted to ask
     about your copyright laws.  I know that people, the average listener,
     maybe doesn't understand that when you do a song, such as...whatever
     you've done that makes fun, or is a parody or a popular song done by a
     popular artist or an unpopular artist, no matter what,  you have to
     clear it through their people. Right?
Al: Yeah, actually it's more of a gray area these days because of that Two
     Live Crew Supreme Court decision.  So, I'm not even completely sure
     myself about the legalities, but basically I get permission anyway even
     if I don't need to.  Because I think it's the right thing to do.  I like
     to enter into a partnership of sorts with the songwriters to make sure
     that they're in on the joke and they're comfortable with it because I
     certainly wouldn't want them to take offense.  
Chad: Something that comes to mind as you say that is, that there are songs
     that you've done of Michael Jackson's.  Do you call up Michael and go
     'Hey buddy.  I wanna make fun of you in a song.  Is that okay?'
Al: Well, we usually do it during one of our bowling tournaments, ya know. 
     Before he goes up to bowl, 'Hey Michael, ya know' Actually, Michael did
     sign off on that and gave us his blessing and everything and it wasn't
     quite that direct.  I talked to my manager who talked to his secratary's
     lawyer's manager's agent's answering machine, but the word did finally
     get back to Michael and there's a contract somewhere that has his
     signature right next to mine says that everything's okay.
Chad: So you guys are real close?
Al: Oh, like this we are.
Chad: As far as signatures go.
Al: Oh yes.
Chad: So, explain to me, kind of, if you're going into the studio to say, put
     the newest song together, like "Headline News", or whatever song you've
     done...you just go into the studio and it's like any other studio and
     you just go ahead and sing your song.  How do you keep a straight face
     when your sayin' some of these?
Al: Well, by the time I finally get around to the studio, we've gone through
     it enough times that you can sing without cracking up.  But yeah,
     sometimes people come to the studio and watch me sing, they don't know
     how I can be so serious about something that's essentially is so stupid. 
     Ya know?  Like I'll be in there and we'll all be very seriously doing
     hand music or blowing bubbles into water or doing some ridiculous kind
     of things and people are going 'This is really insane.'
Chad: Yeah, that's interesting that you say things like that.  I've known a
     few people that have done, not the same type of thing that you do,
     usually in radio, a parody is something that's real real topical.  I
     know your "Headline News" is real topical, but some of the other ones go
     off onto other things.  When a person does a parody, I say that I've
     seen, they do have the trouble, like you probably don't since you've
     done so many of them, they do have the trouble of having to cut it six
     zillion times because they actually can't get the out of their mouth
     without laughing.  I guess after a while it just becomes a song and
     words, but at first, it kind of catches the person's funny.
Al: Right.
Chad: Catches the person's funny.  I have some weird phrases and words coming
     out of my mouth tonight.  But anyway, besides your actual recording
     sessions, I guess I wanted to ask you, you know you're intelligence.  It
     totally caught me by surprise.  I hate to cut you in any way, but I
     didn't know that you were a person who, I guess, you were a studier. 
     You say you were a nerd, but I really doubt that.  You were a person who
     really was dedicated to school work and education and some of the words
     that come through in your songs are totally typical of that type of
     person.
Al: Oh really?
Chad: Uh huh.
Al: Like multi-syllable words?
Chad: Well yeah.  Muti-syllable usually expresses somebody who had some type
     of education, but there's some things in your songs that the common
     ordinary person, no matter if they're a parodist or whatever, wouldn't
     come up with.  Do you have anything to say about that?
Al: I don't know.  Are you thinking of anything particular?
Chad: [mutters] thinking of something in particular.  I think in "Taco
     Grande", song came out- was it your last album or the album before?
Al: "Off the Deep End", yeah that was the one before.
Chad: Was that the one with the Nirvana song?
Al: Yeah.
Chad: Okay, that had some, I don't have the words right in front of me, but
     I know it had something- I'm not going to be able to explain this to you
     because I cant-  I'm not going to lie to you.  I cannot remember what
     the exact words were, but I mean in a numerous number of songs that I've
     listened to off of your box set, there are just things that wouldn't
     come to the mind of a normal person, I don't think.  How do explain
     your, I guess, talent, or gift, or whatever, that you have that you can
     do this type of thing?  Why are you the type of person that can do this?
Al: I've got a chemical imbalance in my brain.  
Chad: Okay.
Al: [It's] Nothing I really have control over.
Chad: And do you see that as a good thing or a bad thing?
Al: It's a curse.  It's a living Hell.  
Chad: It's a living Hell?
Al: But I do it all for you.
Chad: Well thank you very much.  In talking about, I mentioned on last weeks
     show that I was going to be talking to you for this next week and people
     said 'Can we call in and give you questions to ask you while I was on
     the telephone line talking to you.'   So I will ask those questions if
     that's okay with you.
Al: Okay, Let's do it.
Chad: Okay, these are basically all from one guy.  I had some other
     questions, but they were all the same questions.
Al: The same guy calling over and over?
Chad: No it was-
Al: 'I got another question for Al.  Wait, I just thought of another one.'
Chad: No, this is some weird stuff.  I've kinda touched on one of these. 
     What do you see yourself doing at the age of 60 or 70 or even said 127? 
     Are you still gonna be doing music or are you going to turn back to or
     do architecture?
Al: I'll just be drooling into my lap probably by then.  I don't know.  No,
     I'll never be doing architecture, God be willing.
Chad: Do you see yourself doing this for quite sometime?  I mean, you've had
     great success in all the albums you've put out thus far.  
Al: It's really hard to say.  I've never really given too much thought to the
     far future actually, I mean.  I wouldn't have predicted fifteen years
     ago when I was doing "My Bologna" that I'd be talking to you on the
     phone right now.
Chad: "My Bologna" in the bathroom?  Can you explain?  That was your first
     effort right?
Al: Yeah, that was my first single.  I recorded that in the bathroom across
     the hall from my campus radio station because I couldn't afford to go
     into a real recording studio.  
Chad: That's funny.
Al: It had a very nice warm reverb sound and that's where my first single was
     recorded.  
Chad: "My Bologna" was the first single by "Weird Al" Yankovic and since
     then, can you tell me how many songs you've come up with along with the
     albums and whatever else, roughly?
Al: I haven't counted them.
Chad: Is everything you've come up with on your albums or are there just so
     many things that you don't even deal with.
Al: No, I'm pretty conservative.  If I write twelve songs, I'll record twelve
     songs- put twelve songs out.  So let's see, there's about 50 songs on
     the box set and I know the box set is about half of my catalogue.  So
     I'd guess around 100 at this point.  
Chad: And you just wake up one morning and all of a sudden you say 'I'm gonna
     sing a song about "Jurassic Park"' or 'I'm gonna sing a song about the
     "Flintstones"' or whatever else.  It's amazing to me how somebody, I
     know how some people really struggle in coming up with things like this
     and how easily- Does it come to you easily?
Al: Some of the ideas do.  The best ideas are the ones that come easily and
     you don't have to put too much thought into.  There's been occasions
     when I've had to really really work at it and really study the Billboard
     charts and really pour over them to try and come up with a decent idea,
     and if you have to force it, it usually is not that great of an idea. 
Chad: This is another question.  Actually, you may have some connection and
     might have met this guy at sometime.  He's actually a friend of Jon, I
     think it's your drummer, his name is Mike and he's from Chicago and this
     is another one of his questions.
Al: Mike Hoffman.
Chad: Excuse me.  Oh, you know him,  Mike Hoffman??
Al: Yeah. 
Chad: And this was passed along to me from another friend of his which is
     Marty Lick, and
Al: I know Marty [transcriber of interview nearly has heart attack]
Chad: You know Marty?  You know both of those guys?
Al: Oh yeah.
Chad: So, good friends. And you guys probably- is he part of your bowling
     team too?
Al: Oh yeah, we all go bowling.
Chad: You all go bowling.  
Al: Mike's interviewed me on occasion when I've been in the Chicago area.
Chad: Oh, okay.  What they wanted to know I guess, how much stuff never made
     it to the final cut of "UHF".
Al: Oh, that actually there was probably an hour of at least because I
     remember the very first cut of the movie was something like two and a
     half hours long.
Chad: Yeah?
Al: And believe me, you're not missing a whole lot.  We definitely cut out
     the worst hour, but there was a lot more story stuff, a few gags here
     and there, but mostly we just cut it for pacing reasons 'cause it just
     wasn't as funny or it wasn't playing as well.  I'm sure there's probably
     some die hard fans that would kill to see like the original cut of the
     movie-
Chad: Oh I'm sure.
Al: -but really, you're not missing that much.
Chad: When you say that "you're not missing much", I guess, it makes me think
     of your- what do I want to say- your songs and exactly who you are and
     what you're trying to portray with your songs- Do you ever at any time
     feel embarrassed doing your concerts and getting up on stage and saying
     certain things?
Al: Not really.  The only time when I feel awkward on stage is occasions
     where I'm doing two shows, the same night, the same place, and I happen
     to know that like half the audience was there for the first show.
Chad: Okay.
Al: So they're hearing me do the same jokes, in the same lame patter, and
     its, I can tell they're going 'uh-huh, we've heard this already
     tonight.'
Chad: Yeah.  Speaking of your shows, I've never had a chance to see you in
     concert, but I've heard that you have numerous, numerous costume
     changes.  In your last tour, how many, can you tell me how many costume
     changes you had and why or what types of things you wore?
Al: Oh, well gee, the Alapalooza tour.  I don't know off hand how many but we
     pretty much- every song or every other song, especially near the end. 
     Either I come out in the "Fat" suit and the "Fat" mask.  I do the
     Nirvana-  We do the Nirvana change, the Flintstones Red Hot Chili
     Peppers change and "Achy Breaky Heart" Billy Cyrus outfit and ya know
     various things here and there.  I mean it is pretty theatrical.  We try
     to get as much production value as we can.
Chad: Mike, this is along the lines of the tour also, Mike wanted to know if
     there's anybody in particular you'd like to tour with.  Anybody
     specific?
Al: Yeah, Rolling Stones would be good.  Beatles if they get back together. 
     That'd be good.  I don't know.  That is kind of a tough question because
     it seems like it needs to be just the right kind of audience.  I mean I
     don't think opening for Nine Inch Nails would probably be the best idea. 
Chad: Yeah exactly.
Al: It was actually kind of a neat bill when I was touring with The Monkees,
     which was back in '87, because they're kind of a fun loving, goofy kind
     of act, and their audience seemed to enjoy us.  Yeah, I don't know.  I'd
     certainly be willing to hear suggestions from fans as to who we should
     approach, because I certainly wouldn't mind going out as an opening act
     if it were, ya know in a ya know, compatible kind of package.  
Chad: In kind of summing up things real quickly here, is there anything in
     particular that- I mean, I've asked you this earlier, and there might've
     been something that came to mind while I was talking to you- Is there
     anything in particular- there are a lot of core fans that are listening
     to this right now. People that really just love "Weird Al" and actually,
     I talked to a friend the other day that said that you're either a total
     "Weird Al" fan or you're not and you know that's just the way it is. 
     You're not a part time fan.  If you like "Weird Al", you live and love
     "Weird Al" all the time, but is there anything you'd like to say to
     those people?  Some type of inspiring message?
Al: Yes.  Make them carry on the word of Al and don't- I don't know.  I don't
     know.
Chad: That was so beautiful.  
Al: Thank you!
Chad:  From "Weird Al"
Al: Please, please, sit down.
Chad: I want to thank you so much for coming on the show, and I'll go ahead
     and go back into the show right now, but thank you very much.  Is there
     any song that I can lead off, or end things off with?  Something that
     maybe is special to you that's on your box set right here that I can
     stick in-
Al: Oh gee.
Chad: -And lead us out.
Al: You put me on the spot here.
Chad: I did, didn't I?
Al: Let's see.  Oh Gosh.  How- Oh...I don't know. "Frank's 2000" Tv".
Chad: "Frank's 2000" Tv"?  Here it is.  Thank you so much, "Weird".  
Al: Thank you.
Chad: Can I call you "Weird"?
Al: Nope. [laughs]
Chad: Thank you so much, Mr Al. for coming on the radio show this evening,
     and have yourself a fine life.
Al: Thank you.
[Frank's 2000" Tv is played]