World of Weird Al Yankovic

I agree with what mrmeadows said....I guess what I meant about the racism/sexism thing was if Al resorted to it to get a cheap laugh, or something....kind of like the way rappers do....but we don't have abything to worry about, because Al is so far above that stuff he is able to poke fun at it. He wouldn't be able to do that if people thought he was being serious....I guess the whole point I'm trying to make is, this discussion is pointless, I was tired when I started it.





Albuquerque is awesome, and I never realised that it would be hard to sing live because it's so hard on Al's voice

Of course, there are overly-touchy people out there who might object to a song like "Taco Grande", since Al is obviously a caucasian guy singing in a sort of "Mock-Spanish" kind of accent. These would be the same types who grumble about a movie like "Nacho Libre" being racist since Jack Black isn't really Mexican, and that the movie is getting laughs by turning Mexicans into buffoons.

Well, I'm part Mexican, and I find neither "Taco Grande" nor "Nacho Libre" to be racist. In the case of NL, buffoonery IS comedy, and Cantiflas was a Mexican comedian back in the 50's & 60's whose schtick was pretty much along the same lines as Jack Black's character (the "loveable shmuck/loser" who wins in the end). As far as Black not really being Mexican, hey. . .this happens in Hollywood all the time. As an example, Andy Garcia ain't Italian, but he played one in "Godfather III" and no one seemed to mind!

As for "Taco Grande", there isn't one thing hateful about it. Al isn't saying Mexicans are stupid, or they should all go back to Mexico or any of that claptrap. He's singing about how delicious their food is! The worst thing he says is "don't drink the water", which I think even people in Mexico would go along with. I firmly believe that Al doesn't have a hateful bone in his body.

As for the swearing issue, I don't have one thing against profanity (I do my fair share of swearing), but it would be weird to hear Al go that route. As much as I do enjoy comedians who don't shy away from adult language (Bill Hicks, George Carlin, etc.), I kind of admire how innocent Al's humor has managed to remain over the years. While he may get a touch edgy at times, he has never crossed the line into offensive, unless you're ultra-sensitive about things like sex, in which case a song like "Jerry Springer" might make you wince. But even then, Al didn't INVENT Jerry Springer. . .Springer had already imbedded himself and his show solidly into our culture long before Al decided to comment on it. It would be impossible to sing about JS without descending into the seedy, exploitive world JS foisted upon us. Even then, I think Al showed enough restraint that it was merely a PG-13 song, not R-rated.

So Al "working blue" wouldn't make me lose respect, I just don't think it would become him. And for what he does, it isn't necessary.

Am I rambling? Sorry.

Meadows

KnottyEmily Posted: Jul 1 2006, 06:23 AM 
  ...What do people think now that they've learned that only one of Al's originals [HS]is even remotely close to being an 'original' original?

Personally, it makes no difference.

Doesn't bother me either. But Al was obviously very proud of Hardware Store

What is the one thing that would make you lose all respect for Al?

Ohh, no. That info is too dangerous to divulge and we are talking about his music only, right? If each of us post where that line is drawn, he might be tempted to use it to get rid of some of us more annoying fans (And I'm in no way implying you are one of them, KnottyEmily. Just speaking in general.)

The one thing that could make me lose respect for Al would be if he made a commercial. He turned down the beer deal and that just shows me how much integrity he has. Somehow when a star does a commercial for ANYTHING I never feel the same about them.

It seems to me that all music is derivative, in some respect, so style parodies don't bother me in the least. Was that the subject? I sort of forgot where I'm posting....

jerAL, that doesn't seem very fair. Suppose Al did an ad for a company he strongly believed in. For example, Al was involved with advertising that encouraged kids to read a few years back. Would you consider this a negative thing?

I think what he meant was that if Al was in a commercial just for the money or an ad for something like beer. I think Al being involved in good ads is a great idea.

jerAL @ Jul 6 2006, 07:41 AM wrote: The one thing that could make me lose respect for Al would be if he made a commercial. He turned down the beer deal and that just shows me how much integrity he has. Somehow when a star does a commercial for ANYTHING I never feel the same about them.

But hasn't Al already been in a commercial?

mewrio @ Jul 5 2006, 07:10 PM wrote: But hasn't Al already been in a commercial?

Well, the Sam Goody campaign was more of an in-store thing as opposed to an actual ad campaign.

Al did appear, however, in a Diet Coke commercial back in 1984, which was done in part to parody Michael Jackson's association with Pepsi at the time. And even more recently, Al made a cameo in a "Jeopardy!" commercial.

I loved the Jeopardy ad, even though I never actually saw it on tv. Someone here made a video file so that everyone could see it. I heard about the Diet Coke ad. That doesn't bother me. No respect lost there.

As far as encouraging kids to read, were you talking about the READ poster Al did, TMBJon? That's not really an ad, either. It's more like a public service type thing. That benefitted the American Library Association. Respect gained in this case.

Wasn't this thread about Dick's Automotive? I already said I didn't lose respect for Al when I found out Albuquerque was a style parody of The Rugburns.

algonacchick @ Jul 5 2006, 08:24 PM wrote: I loved the Jeopardy ad, even though I never actually saw it on tv. Someone here made a video file so that everyone could see it. I heard about the Diet Coke ad. That doesn't bother me. No respect lost there.

Yeah, I don't mind those either. In those cases it's just Al acting goofy, either by dressing up as Michael Jackson or merely playing his accordion.

Now, if he instead did something like, for example, appear in a TV spot for Arby's and resurrected "We Got the Beef," then yeah, that would be pretty lame.