World of Weird Al Yankovic

like_im_27again @ Aug 18 2008, 05:58 PM wrote: I'd love to smack the person who commented, though, and said Al is a novelty.  How can you be a novelty with such a successful career spanning almost 30 years?

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but since the release of SOL, I've seen the N-word used less and less in serious context with Al.

Now, that could be because modern music journalists simply aren't aware of the term or what the "genre" amounted to, or it could mean that the label just doesn't have any meaning anymore (I mean, after all, is what Al does any more of a "novelty" in a pop music world where a singer can embark on an entire tour as her TV character?), or it might just be that Al is at a point in his career where the word just doesn't apply anymore, even in an unfair light.

As for the "his fifteen minutes should have been over with Doctor Demento" part, well, the commentator is certainly entitled to his opinion, but I'm not interested in merits in alternate universes. The fact is that Al has been around this long, despite however long he "should have" lasted, and each new release keeps topping the previous one either commercially or critically. This is not the mark of a "novelty" artist or one whose fame is only tenuous. The fact remains that mainstream rock and roll has nobody else like Al right now (nor for the last three decades, for that matter), and it's high time he be recognized for that.

Agreed!

Regarding 'novelty', all I could think of was Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

I am glad that they really aren't using that word in relation to Al as often these days.

like_im_27again @ Aug 19 2008, 11:07 AM wrote: Regarding 'novelty', all I could think of was Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means." 

Switching gears a bit, I just wanted to officially announce our latest celebrity supporter. This has been on the main web site for a while now, but I realized that I had yet to post about it, either here or on the campaign blog.

It's none other than....

BEN FOLDS!

I had really wanted to find on YouTube the clip of Al and Ben on "The Tonight Show," but it seems as if NBC does a pretty good job keeping their content off the online behemoth.

Speaking of YouTube, I just wanted to assure everyone that I'm still hard at work on this campaign, despite my decreased online presence here (but that's just for other reasons). I'm currently in the middle of something really cool and really fun that will hopefully help get the word out big time.

And also, there's still plenty of time for folks to submit video testimonials for inclusion in the documentary if they want to (though it would have been nice if a few more shows had been covered). If you're interested, please PM or e-mail me to discuss.

Sorry Scranton didn't work out Greg but the weather was really awful. Columbus was awesome though. You must have a fair amount of footage from that.

ludovica64 @ Aug 19 2008, 01:43 PM wrote: Sorry Scranton didn't work out Greg but the weather was really awful. Columbus was awesome though. You must have a fair amount of footage from that.

Oh, you're quite right. I'm pretty sure I have enough footage to put together a ninety-minute movie just based on the Columbus interviews alone...I won't, but no, thankfully, amount of interview footage won't be a problem, and that doesn't even include all the footage James shot at his concerts and the random couple of others I had shot elsewhere, and of course the more slideshow-like pieces and other video segments I want to do.

I had really wanted to find on YouTube the clip of Al and Ben on "The Tonight Show," but it seems as if NBC does a pretty good job keeping their content off the online behemoth.

It's not on YouTube, but someone a long time ago uploaded it to somewhere else, and I recently found the link on an old post in this very forum.

Anyway, the point I'm trying make is... click here if you want to see something EPIC.

Thank You! I wanted to see that for awhile now.

Great news about Ben Folds, Greg! As far as the clip, I should have just come here instead of searching thesuburbs.uk.org for it, but I found it, anyway. I needed it back in my collection after my rehaul. Great stuff, and thanks, Ben, for your support!

like_im_27again @ Aug 18 2008, 11:58 PM wrote: This guy (blog) thinks Al should be in the Rock Hall:
http://brocknroll.wordpress.com/2008/08 ... l-of-fame/

I'd love to smack the person who commented, though, and said Al is a novelty. How can you be a novelty with such a successful career spanning almost 30 years? Idiot.

I added my own comment... it's waiting 'moderation.'

New "Make The Rock Hall Weird Campaign" ad

Nice One Greg!