Did Madonna really make Weird Al Yankovic parody her music?
And did he really compose his first songs in the bathroom?
Here's what the bizarre sort-of-biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story actually manages to
get right.
"Hope you guys are ready for this.
YAHHH!"
Al’s parents Nick and Mary Yankovic are depicted as harsh and authoritarian in Weird:
The Al Yankovic Story.
The portrayal is greatly exaggerated for comic effect, but there is some truth to their strictness.
According to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, Al’s religious upbringing caused him to
abstain from drugs, alcohol and even swearing.
Mary controlled her son in other ways, too.
The young Al — short for Alfred — was not allowed to visit friends’ homes or have sleepovers.
And he was only permitted to ride his bike to his aunt’s house just half a block away.
Even then, Mary would watch from the front lawn, embodying the term "helicopter parent"
some 20 years before it entered common parlance.
However, despite her best efforts, Mary could not come between Al and his favorite disk
jockey Dr. Demento, whom she considered "inappropriate."
To avoid her earshot, Al lowered his radio’s volume and took it under the bedsheets.
The film depicts a door-to-door salesman visiting the Yankovic home and introducing the young
Al to guitars and accordions.
This is true, according to the New York Times Magazine, although it was not Al’s choice
of instrument.
In real life, that decision was made by his mother Mary, who chose the accordion because
Frankie Yankovic, no relation, was America’s reigning "Polka King."
Guitars may have been cooler, but Al really took to his accordion.
The first lesson was on October 22, 1966, the day before Al’s seventh birthday, and
his teacher showed him the difference between the beginner, intermediate, and adult sized accordions.
With so much time spent at home, Al made quick progress with his accordion and, by early
adolescence, he was able to play along to some of his favorite albums.
Al’s accordion also helped him overcome his shyness.
At college, Al would perform in the dorm room at his roommates’ behest, breaking awkward
barriers in the process.
"Anyone got an accordion?"
Al’s conception of "My Bologna" is one of the film’s funniest sequences.
The curly maestro is making sandwiches for his housemates when inspiration strikes.
As The Knack’s "My Sharona" plays on the radio, Al’s eyes meet with a pack of bologna
and, as if through divine intervention, the DJ’s record appears to stick and repeats
the chorus several times.
Yankovic’s inspiration gets stronger with every repetition and, before his friends have
time to change the station, Al rushes to his accordion to give the first performance of
"My Bologna."
Enthralled, Al and his bandmates rush to make a recording and they choose a bus station
toilet because of the favorable acoustics.
This is true, although it wasn’t at a bus station.
Al actually made the recording in a men’s bathroom at California Polytechnic State University.
Yankovic likely got some strange looks but the unorthodoxy was worth it.
"My Bologna" did so well on the Dr. Demento show that it reached The Knack, whose song
"My Sharona" had inspired Al’s goofy cover.
Some time later, Yankovic met with the band during a show at Cal Poly.
Lead vocalist Doug Feiger received Al warmly, praising his cover as a "really great song"
and advising Rupert Perry, the then vice president of Capitol Records, to get Yankovic on board.
It was at this moment that Weird Al believed he had a shot in the business.
The film sees "Weird Al'" perform his first show in a rough punk joint full of heckling thugs.
After an unpromising start, Al hits his stride and the crowd goes wild.
This scene is a mix-up as far as accuracy is concerned.
Al did stir crowds early in his career, but the first instance occurred on campus at Cal
Poly, not a boozy dive bar.
It was an open-mic night some time in 1977.
After his countercultural peers did their thing, Al took to the stage with his friend
Joel Miller and played an eclectic 10-minute medley that was supposed to be a cover of
every song in history.
The crowd loved it.
There were cheers, applause and a standing ovation.
It was the first time that Yankovic had ever had such “positive reinforcement," according
to an interview in the New York Times Magazine.
Consequently, with the help of an LA manager, Al landed a show that bore a greater resemblance
to the dive we see in the film.
The venue was a large nightclub in Phoenix and, like at Cal Poly, the audience loved him.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing.
When Al and his band opened for Missing Persons at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, they
endured 45 minutes of abuse.
Instead of applause, there were cries of “Get off the stage!” and “YOU SUCK!”
With his top hat and eccentric demeanor, Dr. Demento may strike the unfamiliar viewer as
another figment of Yankovic’s lively imagination.
But Demento is a real individual and he really did "discover" Yankovic.
He didn’t meet Yankovic at a live event, though, but on the airwaves.
In 1976, Yankovic sent Demento a recording of "Belvedere Cruising," a song he wrote about
his family’s rickety old car.
Demento accepted it, playing the jingle on air.
Yankovic followed this up with numerous other mixtapes, namely the aforementioned "My Bologna,"
which was a hit on Demento’s show and then with listeners nationwide.
"That became viral in the days before things went viral."
In Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Madonna is depicted as a musician of secondary status
who latches on to Yankovic to further her own career.
The inverse is true, but it’s all part of the film’s rise and fall farce.
There is no proof that Madonna and Weird Al have even met.
"It's obvious that there's something going on with me and Madonna, so everyone's like,
'Did that really happen?'"
However, there is a sliver of truth in how the film shows Madonna inquiring about a Weird
Al cover of her song, "Like a Virgin."
In an interview with Soundcheck, Yankovic said,
"Madonna was actually the person who suggested that I do the parody 'Like a Surgeon.'"
Apparently, Madonna was walking with a friend when she mentioned Weird Al, suggesting that
his cover could be "Like a Surgeon."
Fortunately, this friend knew Al’s manager.
Yankovic has made a point of conceiving his own cover lyrics, but Madonna's rhyme was
just too good.
The parody single was released in the summer of 1985, reached number 47 on the Billboard
100, and became one of Yankovic’s most enduring songs.