The Everything Index: It's Weird Al's World, We're Just Living in It
Yankovic is back, and he edges out Rihanna in this week's pop-culture power rankings
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By James Montgomery
July 16, 2014 3:55 PM ET
Welcome to the Rolling Stone Everything Index, where we rank the week's pop-culture power players...whether they like it or not.
The Everything Index: Taylor Swift is Here to Save the Day
Right off the bat: Yes, we realize this week's Index is a day late (and only half as long as usual), but we're hoping you'll forgive us – Grumpy Cat was in the office. Anyway, we don't think we'll get any complaints from "Weird Al" fans; after all, their hero sits atop our list. Yankovic managed to outgun perennial powerhouse Rihanna for the #1 spot...no small feat considering everything she's accomplished this week.
Since we're already late, let's get to our abridged version of the Everything Index. We'll be back at full-strength next week, we promise. Unless Lil Bub decides to pay us a visit.
1. "Weird Al" Yankovic: Patron Saint of Parody just dominating everything with week of music videos, new album Mandatory Fun. We could all use more Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz in our lives.
2. Rihanna: Partying with Germans. Supporting Palestine. Smoking all the pot. At this point, she's basically one Eurail Pass away from being the girl you tried to hook up with at that hostel in Amsterdam.
3. Marvel Comics: First, they gave us a female Thor. Now they're promising an "all-new era" for another major character. Please don't let it be Spider-Ham.
4. Kacy Catanzaro: Former gymnast crushes the course on American Ninja Warrior. Meanwhile, we're still attempting to master the art of eating Cheetos with chopsticks.
5. Adele's 25: Queen of Pain's new album supposedly coming out this year. That's barely enough time to meet someone, fall in love, then be heinously wronged.
6. Charlie Sheen: Tiger-blood guzzling meme machine returns to prominence with drunken performance in a Taco Bell drive-thru. "Sorry I'm so smurfin'' hammered," he tells a fan. No need to apologize, dude.
7. Bleachers' Strange Desire: Debut album from Jack Antonoff's new band provides the soundtrack to our slo-mo, Spandau Ballet dreams. Always with the Capezios!
8. Michael Jeter: Late character actor gets inadvertent shout-out on CBS News' Twitter feed during MLB All-Star Game. Sure, they meant Derek, but Michael's always had better range.
9. SNL's Exodus: Sketch show sheds several bit players. Great, now where will we get our fill of John Milhiser?!?
10. Sex Tape: God-awful Cameron Diaz/Jason Segel "comedy" limps into theaters on Friday, will be forgotten about by Monday. At least until Award season.
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'Weird Al' Wards off Illuminati, Sandwich Mold in Lorde Parody Video
The 'Foil' clip features a cameo from comedian Patton Oswalt
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ByRYAN REED JULY 16, 2014 12:10 PM
As "Weird Al" Yankovic demonstrates in his new music video for "Foil," a parody of Lorde's minimalist electro-pop smash "Royals," aluminum foil serves two handy purposes: protecting your sandwiches from mold and your thoughts from alien visitors. The "Foil" clip, which premiered Wednesday via College Humor, is the third released so far this week (in a series of eight), all promoting his new LP, Mandatory Fun.
The goofy clip finds Yankovic hosting a TV cooking show with comedy friend Patton Oswalt playing a frustrated director. "That kind of wrap is just the best / to keep your sandwich nice and fresh," Yankovic sings in the first verse, mimicking Lorde's sultry croon. But the second verse finds the parody master shifting his focus, teaching viewers how to shield their thoughts from government spying and the Illuminati with an aluminum foil hat.
25 Things You Didn't Know About 'Weird Al' Yankovic
Yankovic's first video was "Tacky," a parody of Pharrell's funky smash "Happy." That clip pointed a critical finger at such annoyances as live-tweeting a funeral, proudly displaying a YOLO license plate or printing a résumé in Comic Sans, with featured guests Jack Black, Margaret Cho, Aisha Tyler, Kristen Schaal and Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet all grooving through Los Angeles' Palace Theatre in garish outfits.
Yankovic talked about the challenges of filming that video in a Reddit AMA held earlier this week.
"While it looks like there MIGHT have been an edit somewhere, I absolutely guarantee you, that was all done in ONE CONTINUOUS SHOT," he said. "That was a bit of a challenge for me, because I start the video on a 5th floor fire escape, and I reappear on street level wearing completely different clothes. That means - for EVERY TAKE - as soon as the camera was off me I had to run down 5 flights of stairs WHILE CHANGING MY CLOTHES so I could be on camera again at the end. Definitely got my workout THAT day!"
On Tuesday, Yankovic focused his parody skills on "Word Crimes," a grammar-centric send-up of Robin Thicke's ubiquitous single, "Blurred Lines." In that hashtag-filled clip, Yankovic highlights the evils of improper punctuation, noting the crucial difference between "whom" and who." Thicke himself gave the seal of approval, tweeting, "You should never write words w/ letters unless you're 7, or your name is Prince." Wise words @alyankovic."
In a recent interview with Diffuser, Yankovic talked at length about his "eight video" strategy, which was inspired by the fleeting nature of viral culture. "Things burn really quickly, things tend to go viral for a day, and I figure, 'Well, OK, I'll let each of my videos go viral for day,'" Yankovic said. "Nowadays everybody's trying to figure out what works, and I'm not like every other artist. I'm a special case and there's really no precedent. So I'm just trying to see what works and this seemed like a fun thing to try."
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'Weird Al' Gets 'Handy' Around the House in Iggy Azalea Spoof
For his next trick, the pop parody master takes on "Fancy" while fixing an overflowing toilet
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ByJON BLISTEIN JULY 17, 2014 11:35 AM
"Weird Al" Yankovic has already corrected your grammar and foiled the Illuminati this week — now he's here to fix your dishwasher. In the latest video from his new album, Mandatory Fun, the prince of pop parody sets his sights on Iggy Azalea's ubiquitous "Fancy," turning it into "Handy," an ode to a contractor's myriad skills, from repairing busted windows to installing formica countertops. He's got 99 problems, but a switch ain't one.
25 Things You Didn't Know About 'Weird Al' Yankovic
For the clip, "Weird Al" sports a ridiculous blonde wig and matching mustache, plus a denim-heavy outfit that's crucial if you're trying to do any work around the house. The video co-stars comedian Eddie Pepitone as an innocent homeowner stricken by overflowing toilets, a stinking refrigerator and outrageous heating bills, which Yankovic promises he can fix with some duct tape and some caulking. "Still rocking my screwdriver, got the whole world thinking I'm MacGyver," "Weird Al" spits in classic form.
With "Handy," "Weird Al" has hit the halfway mark of his Mandatory Fun release-week celebration, during which he's dropping eight new music videos. So far he's taken down the scourge of sandwich mold and the Illuminati in "Foil," his parody of Lorde's "Royals"; released a screed against poor grammar in the Robin Thicke-aping "Word Crimes"; and taken on 21st century faux pas in "Tacky," his send-up of Pharrell's "Happy."
While the "Word Crimes" clip was a hilarious, meticulously animated lyric video that'll make you laugh and teach you how to diagram a sentence, for "Foil," Yankovic took on the role of a TV cook expounding the usefulness of aluminum foil and exposing the shadow lords controlling our world — much to the chagrin of his director, played by Patton Oswalt. Meanwhile, the clip for "Tacky" was not only shot in one continuous take, but featured cameos from Yankovic's comedy friends Jack Black, Margaret Cho, Aisha Tyler, Kristen Schaal and Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet, all grooving through Los Angeles' Palace Theatre in garish outfits.
Yankovic talked about his unique "eight video" strategy during a recent interview with Diffuser, saying it was inspired by the fleeting nature of viral culture. "Things burn really quickly, things tend to go viral for a day, and I figure, 'Well, OK, I'll let each of my videos go viral for day,'" Yankovic said. "Nowadays everybody's trying to figure out what works, and I'm not like every other artist. I'm a special case and there's really no precedent. So I'm just trying to see what works and this seemed like a fun thing to try."
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