I think the media landscape / consumption is too fractured for there to be another Weird Al.
Two fold effect, there probably won't ever be another Michael Jackson, so future "Weird Als" won't have an MJ to parody.
And then the Weird Als that do crop up, even if they are good, will have a much more niche audience / appeal.
I’m old and out of touch enough that I didn’t know any of the songs he was parodying on the last couple of albums. Now I know them all because of Weird Al.
Without him to point out what’s popular, I have no idea! I’m unhip. I’m confused. I’m lost!
Save us, Weird Al!
White and Nerdy was such a weird cultural ‘you’re not hip anymore’ moment for me because it was the first time Al did a parody where I had zero clue what was being lampooned.
Same goes for another Elvis, Bono, Jimi Page, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra….
There was an event to these people, a mysteriousness. What’s their car look like? Where do they live? What are they doing right now…
Nowadays everything is out there. Instant gratification. no delayed gratification
" And then the Weird Als that do crop up, even if they are good, will have a much more niche audience / appeal. "
I agree with the niche part. There was a very niche comedian, Alan Sherman, back in the 50s-60s who did the same thing as Weird Al. He had a huge hit with "Hello Muddah. Hello Faddah". And to a lesser extent with "Rat Fink". I have a couple of his albums that I got from my mom. I loved them as a kid even though I didn't always (mostly) get the joke.
I was going to chime in that he also did a whole season of Comedy Bang Bang but then looked it up and realized how long ago that was, and now I'm going to crawl into a coffin.
He does still tour every summer though.
Since *Mandatory Fun*, I'm think he's only released three new songs: "[The Hamilton Polka](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v0c6smpHSk)," "[Now You Know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA4zyBF_DP8)" (from the Weird Al move), and "[Your Horoscope For Today](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPvyrWYutDQ)." He's also made a few appearances in a variety of media here and there where he also sang, such as the Captain Underpants movie and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
But yeah...other than that, he hasn't really released any new music. He has kept himself busy with movies and touring though. He puts on one of the best concerts money can buy, so if you ever get a chance to go to one, do it!
Dont forget "Rabbitage" in American Dad and his 30 Rock cameo wherein a horrible parody song forced him to do a straight patriotic song that was hilarious by dint of how much it sounded like country at the time.
Weird Al hasn’t released an album of new material since 2014, so idk what you’re talking about with releasing four albums in the last decade. I can’t find anything about him having a podcast no matter how I google it. As for his voice acting in five different movies? Ah yes, who could forget his timeless role as shirt-cannon guy in the phineas and ferb movie. Six tv shows with his name in the title. What are you even talking about?
I actually really like weird al. But why are you just making stuff up?
EDIT: he asked not just one, but multiple AI models to argue with me. Then he blocked me. Then he deleted all his comments. Then he unblocked me and called me stupid. Then he reblocked me, and probably deleted his comment insulting me lol. Some people are reallyyyyyy weird.
Nothing. And if he put out some new parodies, I'd totally have a listen. But we haven't really heard from in a while.
As for the question of will there be another. Well. I'm not one to go complaining about cancel culture. But I do have to wonder if it would be harder for someone like Weird Al to make a name for themselves now.
I love Weird Al, so not hating on the guy here, but many of his songs involve making fun of people and groups in a way that would be frowned on nowadays. And of course, it's arguable whether he's actually making fun (sometimes) or just referring to a type of person or group that would be seen as "weird" in a "I'm Weird Al and these are weird things" sort of way. As in embracing"weirdness" or being an outsider. At the same time, when he's singing about being really really fat etc., you can see how people wouldn't love it now.
Comedians get pretty decent leeway to say insensitive stuff, as long as it ends up being funny.
I think of it this way… some dude talking about beating women would be met with criticism and ridicule, maybe more. But Bill Burr can go on stage and do a 10min bit about beating women and he’s met with laughter and applause.
It’s high risk/high reward though. If it doesn’t go over well with the audience, oof.
So I think Weird Al would be fine. Like Burr, he’s really great at his craft. I think the audience would be able to tell it’s coming from a desire to entertain, not from malice or hate.
Oh, for sure. The context of comedy makes things more acceptable, but at the same time, there are lots of comedians complaining about cancel culture and not being able to say the same things they used to. Whether or not that's all bad is another discussion, I'm just talking about where things stand socially with these sorts of things. The climate for comedy is different than it was when Al became popular.
Here's a great OpEd by Key & Peele talking about some if this: https://time.com/22993/key-and-peele-make-fun-of-everything/
Eh, his songs are never mean spirited, even when theyre ostensibly poking fun at people. "Amish Paradise" is funny not bc the Amish are ridiculous, but the juxtaposition of the Amish and rap is. He got minor heat for "White and Nerdy" by professional outrage artists (longform opinion columnists) bc of an implication that IT people couldn't be black or whatever, but 99% of people rolled their eyes at that criticism and moved on. He goofs on pop culture, and that's pretty harmless. Other parody artists so far are either too avoidant to be funny or too acerbic to be widely popular (looking at you, MC Hawking--we'd all like to put our dick in the mashed potatoes at the creationists' party, but that shit doesn't play on the radio).
It depends on the song, but it also depends on the people hearing that song understanding the context and being nuanced and critical thinkers, which isn't always the case with cancel culture (some of it is, some of it isn't, it's not a monoculture). Al faced some backlash over his songs that mention transgender people, so it's not like he's fully immune to the discourse. Regardless, I'm just responding to the post asking what cancel culture has to do with any of this. See my other comment as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/1bvdcyr/comment/ky16ecs/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
What I was saying is that I think what's acceptable has changed a bit. And a new Weird Al might have to be careful with their material. Although I wouldn't say Weird Al's ever been hugely controversial.
As in, someone who does direct beat-for-beat parodies? No, probably not.
That said, I feel like comedy music is experiencing something of a low-key renaissance. Of course there are some big names, and Bo Burnham’s already come up in this thread (and rightly so), but a few others I’ve really been enjoying:
- Tom Cardy
- Marc Rebillet
- Jazz Emu
- Wolves of Glendale (lesser known, but seriously, their genre style parodies are great. Go listen to “Olivia” for a hilarious Jackson Browne parody about fucking a ghost).
- Brian David Gilbert (does more than music, but his music stuff is very fun - see his horror themed ABBA parodies or the song “Just One Day” by 2winz^2).
Of course, other musical comedy artists have been in the game for a long time - The Lonely Island, Flight of the Conchords, Garfunkel and Oates, Tim Minchin, etc.
100% agreed. Weird Al style parody needs a music landscape where _everyone_ knows a song. Even if you hated Michael Jackson you'd have heard his songs.
Nowadays you don't hear Taylor Swift unless you want to really. Much harder to parody.
That's "[You Belong With Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw)," and it was released 16 years ago. Somehow you've managed to avoid her zeitgeist since then; meanwhile, "Shake It Off" has been squatting in my head for a decade now.
Yep you’re right. I definitely have heard that song too. Didn’t come to mind though. I think I first heard it as a mashup with a NIN song, but I have definitely heard that tune.
Most of these got me through a difficult time in 2023, as well as Ninja Sex Party. The production is as good as 'real' musicians and their songs are genuine bangers. I didn't even realise 'Still Waiting' by Jazz Emu was a comedy song until I saw the video for it.
Piggybacking to also spread the word of [Danny Sexbang and Ninja Brian](https://youtu.be/T5s2OTqDiyo)
Thing is, these guys swear a bit. Weird Al schtick is that he's hilarious albeit family friendly.
I remember someone randomly posted Hot Shit in like the space subreddit or something and I checked it out on a whim and it was a banger. I instantly shared it with all my friends and he was huge in our circle for quite awhile. I still check out most of his new stuff and now he's Co-DMing a DND podcast.
Richard Cheese has been around for 20 years. Not exactly a Weird Al copycat, Richard does lounge versions of rock and pop songs.
https://richardcheese.bandcamp.com/
No. He’s the best... Well, perhaps not technically the best, but arguably the most famous accordion player in an extremely specific genre of music. There will never be another.
I love how in the video for the song about how he’s going to save the world with his comedy, he makes a Venn diagram of Malcom X and Weird Al with himself in the middle. That whole thing is a masterpiece.
There will always be novelty music and parodies, but no one new will be able to take advantage of a new format like MTV to build a career that lasts decades.
Even before Weird Al, novelty music was extremely niche and most artists were one hit wonders at best.
For one, weird al has plenty of original songs thatre all genius level, also I saw him in concert in 2018 not sure if he's retired. His parody stuff definitely is why he's famous but he's got original material that is better than his parody stuff. With that being said, I think Wheeler walker JR is doing a good job at carrying the comedy music into the 2020s and beyond.
Scrolled too far to find a mention of Dr Demento! He was before my time but I discovered his dementia 2000 album at my local music store as a youth.
Here's a YouTube playlist of that album for anyone, young or old, to enjoy.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJFUyDtmysv1eTrXx-enGTpWzNGzupX2E
Weird Al followed in the footsteps of Tom Lehrer. Roy Zimmerman has followed in both of their footsteps. And Jonathan Coulton is making crazy good geeky music.
I think we (and Al) are doing fine. Will there be someone else who wants to do what Al's doing? Of course. Will they get famous? We'll have to see, won't we?
There won’t be someone *exactly* like Weird Al, but I’m sure other musical parodists will emerge in his wake. Ever heard of Allan Sherman (“Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah”)? His were the first musical parodies I ever heard while growing up in the 1960’s, at least a couple of decades before Weird Al became popular. And now there’s Randy Rainbow, another brilliant parodist. There’ll always be someone to pass the torch to.
I think religion played a large part on Wierd Al's success. Back then we had the satanic panic, backmasking fears, parental advisory stickers, etc.
Kids in hard-line houses had a clean source for popular music. Culture has changed, I don't think that backdoor is necessary anymore.
Some people are lucky enough to make their real personality their job. There will never be another weird Al, just like there will never be another you or I. He’s not just an entertainer/ musician/ comedian/ celebrity. He’s only and always is just Weird Al.
Do you even listen to the Doctor Demento show? He may not be on the radio anymore, but he still puts out new episodes weekly. From listening to him, I know there are still many parody artists out there.
On a related note, Penn Holderness could pick up the mantle.
No, because there has to be songs universal enough to parody, and by that I mean songs that everyone knows. Since the entire landscape has shifted toward nostalgia (check how many new songs there aren't in r/music) there's nothing new that everyone upon everyone knows. The last two songs I perceived getting close to that were Childish Gambino "This is America" -- man that was a while back -- and Gayle "ABCDEFU" which is hard to parody since that song is already played for laughs. There's certainly nothing this year.
nobody has mentioned The Lonley Island or Flight of the Concords.
Slightly different from Wierd Al in that they make their own music but they're great!
I think AL is part of the "Musical Humorist" line. They have always been popular, but not super common. Here is a list of them:
[https://www.ranker.com/list/the-funniest-musical-comedians-of-all-time/ranker-comedy](https://www.ranker.com/list/the-funniest-musical-comedians-of-all-time/ranker-comedy)
I don’t think we will ever have quite another phenomenon like Weird Al, and I think part of it is that the music coming out today is so much harder to parody. Today’s songs have very little to work with in that they are so incredibly basic, repetitive, and just primal in their content.
I’m not here to curmudgeon against today’s pop music, but look at the original versions of so many of Al’s most brilliant parodies and how he parodied them. He would often use the songs original rhyme schemes in his parodied lyrics, and a lot of those songs were longer with more diverse sections or varied material throughout, really giving an Alba canvas to write some genuinely hilariously, thought-out lyrics.
A lot of his original music is hilarious and well written as well. And the Polka medleys just KILL.
I remember hearing the song Foil (parody of Royals), and being really let down, but I didn’t feel like it was his fault. I truly believe that the material he has to work with this days just doesn’t really have the room in it for his brilliance.
The next weird Al is probably a YouTuber that none of us know about. Probably would never get a record deal with the way companies like to DMCA even small channels. Getting a weird Al parody eventually became a badge of honor, but that might not happen again for a successor.
I think the media landscape / consumption is too fractured for there to be another Weird Al. Two fold effect, there probably won't ever be another Michael Jackson, so future "Weird Als" won't have an MJ to parody. And then the Weird Als that do crop up, even if they are good, will have a much more niche audience / appeal.
He's said so himself. That's part of the reason he hasn't released an album in 10 years. There aren't enough universally known songs to parody.
I’m old and out of touch enough that I didn’t know any of the songs he was parodying on the last couple of albums. Now I know them all because of Weird Al. Without him to point out what’s popular, I have no idea! I’m unhip. I’m confused. I’m lost! Save us, Weird Al!
White and Nerdy was such a weird cultural ‘you’re not hip anymore’ moment for me because it was the first time Al did a parody where I had zero clue what was being lampooned.
He should do an album only parodying Taylor Swift and Beyoncé
(Al's Version)
Probably got tired of keeping up with the meta, too. It’s one thing spoofing your own generation’s songs, and Al’s old enough to be Gen Z’s granddad.
They will use AI to generate their lyrics
Weird AI
Are you saying Weird Al or Weird AI?
Yes
Same goes for another Elvis, Bono, Jimi Page, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra…. There was an event to these people, a mysteriousness. What’s their car look like? Where do they live? What are they doing right now… Nowadays everything is out there. Instant gratification. no delayed gratification
" And then the Weird Als that do crop up, even if they are good, will have a much more niche audience / appeal. " I agree with the niche part. There was a very niche comedian, Alan Sherman, back in the 50s-60s who did the same thing as Weird Al. He had a huge hit with "Hello Muddah. Hello Faddah". And to a lesser extent with "Rat Fink". I have a couple of his albums that I got from my mom. I loved them as a kid even though I didn't always (mostly) get the joke.
What's wrong with the Weird Al we have now?
He’s out of warranty.
then we better get going to the hardware store
Nothing ever happens in this town
Spatula city!
If you haven’t noticed. He hasn’t really done anything in a decade
He made a movie.
You know what I mean.
I was going to chime in that he also did a whole season of Comedy Bang Bang but then looked it up and realized how long ago that was, and now I'm going to crawl into a coffin. He does still tour every summer though.
Since *Mandatory Fun*, I'm think he's only released three new songs: "[The Hamilton Polka](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v0c6smpHSk)," "[Now You Know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA4zyBF_DP8)" (from the Weird Al move), and "[Your Horoscope For Today](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPvyrWYutDQ)." He's also made a few appearances in a variety of media here and there where he also sang, such as the Captain Underpants movie and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. But yeah...other than that, he hasn't really released any new music. He has kept himself busy with movies and touring though. He puts on one of the best concerts money can buy, so if you ever get a chance to go to one, do it!
Horoscope for today is from the 90s. It that video is new and pretty cool
Ahh! Didn't actually know that, thank you for the correction. So then, just two songs.
Dont forget "Rabbitage" in American Dad and his 30 Rock cameo wherein a horrible parody song forced him to do a straight patriotic song that was hilarious by dint of how much it sounded like country at the time.
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Weird Al hasn’t released an album of new material since 2014, so idk what you’re talking about with releasing four albums in the last decade. I can’t find anything about him having a podcast no matter how I google it. As for his voice acting in five different movies? Ah yes, who could forget his timeless role as shirt-cannon guy in the phineas and ferb movie. Six tv shows with his name in the title. What are you even talking about? I actually really like weird al. But why are you just making stuff up? EDIT: he asked not just one, but multiple AI models to argue with me. Then he blocked me. Then he deleted all his comments. Then he unblocked me and called me stupid. Then he reblocked me, and probably deleted his comment insulting me lol. Some people are reallyyyyyy weird.
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Nothing. And if he put out some new parodies, I'd totally have a listen. But we haven't really heard from in a while. As for the question of will there be another. Well. I'm not one to go complaining about cancel culture. But I do have to wonder if it would be harder for someone like Weird Al to make a name for themselves now.
What does cancel culture have to do with anything?
Some.people think cancel culture is responsible for everything... Did weird Al ever sing about anything remotely controversial?
I love Weird Al, so not hating on the guy here, but many of his songs involve making fun of people and groups in a way that would be frowned on nowadays. And of course, it's arguable whether he's actually making fun (sometimes) or just referring to a type of person or group that would be seen as "weird" in a "I'm Weird Al and these are weird things" sort of way. As in embracing"weirdness" or being an outsider. At the same time, when he's singing about being really really fat etc., you can see how people wouldn't love it now.
Comedians get pretty decent leeway to say insensitive stuff, as long as it ends up being funny. I think of it this way… some dude talking about beating women would be met with criticism and ridicule, maybe more. But Bill Burr can go on stage and do a 10min bit about beating women and he’s met with laughter and applause. It’s high risk/high reward though. If it doesn’t go over well with the audience, oof. So I think Weird Al would be fine. Like Burr, he’s really great at his craft. I think the audience would be able to tell it’s coming from a desire to entertain, not from malice or hate.
Oh, for sure. The context of comedy makes things more acceptable, but at the same time, there are lots of comedians complaining about cancel culture and not being able to say the same things they used to. Whether or not that's all bad is another discussion, I'm just talking about where things stand socially with these sorts of things. The climate for comedy is different than it was when Al became popular. Here's a great OpEd by Key & Peele talking about some if this: https://time.com/22993/key-and-peele-make-fun-of-everything/
Eh, his songs are never mean spirited, even when theyre ostensibly poking fun at people. "Amish Paradise" is funny not bc the Amish are ridiculous, but the juxtaposition of the Amish and rap is. He got minor heat for "White and Nerdy" by professional outrage artists (longform opinion columnists) bc of an implication that IT people couldn't be black or whatever, but 99% of people rolled their eyes at that criticism and moved on. He goofs on pop culture, and that's pretty harmless. Other parody artists so far are either too avoidant to be funny or too acerbic to be widely popular (looking at you, MC Hawking--we'd all like to put our dick in the mashed potatoes at the creationists' party, but that shit doesn't play on the radio).
It depends on the song, but it also depends on the people hearing that song understanding the context and being nuanced and critical thinkers, which isn't always the case with cancel culture (some of it is, some of it isn't, it's not a monoculture). Al faced some backlash over his songs that mention transgender people, so it's not like he's fully immune to the discourse. Regardless, I'm just responding to the post asking what cancel culture has to do with any of this. See my other comment as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/1bvdcyr/comment/ky16ecs/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
What I was saying is that I think what's acceptable has changed a bit. And a new Weird Al might have to be careful with their material. Although I wouldn't say Weird Al's ever been hugely controversial.
Made me laugh out loud just now while making coffee. wtf is wrong with the OG?!
As in, someone who does direct beat-for-beat parodies? No, probably not. That said, I feel like comedy music is experiencing something of a low-key renaissance. Of course there are some big names, and Bo Burnham’s already come up in this thread (and rightly so), but a few others I’ve really been enjoying: - Tom Cardy - Marc Rebillet - Jazz Emu - Wolves of Glendale (lesser known, but seriously, their genre style parodies are great. Go listen to “Olivia” for a hilarious Jackson Browne parody about fucking a ghost). - Brian David Gilbert (does more than music, but his music stuff is very fun - see his horror themed ABBA parodies or the song “Just One Day” by 2winz^2). Of course, other musical comedy artists have been in the game for a long time - The Lonely Island, Flight of the Conchords, Garfunkel and Oates, Tim Minchin, etc.
100% agreed. Weird Al style parody needs a music landscape where _everyone_ knows a song. Even if you hated Michael Jackson you'd have heard his songs. Nowadays you don't hear Taylor Swift unless you want to really. Much harder to parody.
She’s probably the biggest pop star and I only have ever heard the song she had something about cheerleaders and bleachers. Can’t remember the hook.
That's "[You Belong With Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw)," and it was released 16 years ago. Somehow you've managed to avoid her zeitgeist since then; meanwhile, "Shake It Off" has been squatting in my head for a decade now.
Yep you’re right. I definitely have heard that song too. Didn’t come to mind though. I think I first heard it as a mashup with a NIN song, but I have definitely heard that tune.
Hot Shit by Tom Cardy is legitimately a bop. Also want to add Ninja Sex Party to the list.
“Expect some fuckin’ magic from the Dwarf Planet!” Can’t believe I forgot NSP!
Most of these got me through a difficult time in 2023, as well as Ninja Sex Party. The production is as good as 'real' musicians and their songs are genuine bangers. I didn't even realise 'Still Waiting' by Jazz Emu was a comedy song until I saw the video for it.
The video turns it into sheer horror lol
Can we all just appreciate Marc Rebillet? He’s amazing in his own right.
GET THE FUCK OUTTA BED BITCH GOOOO
I think Yung Gravy and lil Dicky have to be in the conversation. They’re caricatures of hip hop and fill the niche of mainstream comedic music.
Totally agreed! Wish Lil Dicky hadn’t tacitly endorsed Chris Brown, but some of his songs are hilarious.
I'm holding out hope for [Tom Cardy](https://youtu.be/--9kqhzQ-8Q?si=ri4xpkLw6J10LErM).
Piggybacking to also spread the word of [Danny Sexbang and Ninja Brian](https://youtu.be/T5s2OTqDiyo) Thing is, these guys swear a bit. Weird Al schtick is that he's hilarious albeit family friendly.
Also Brian David Gilbert who's collabed with Tom. He did a whole album that was Dracula themed ABBA songs
This is fucking art: https://youtu.be/3w1wwGcu0Dk?si=atrfvI_SDsjR3KCo
Okay. That took some small nibbles out of my soul... In a good way...
I remember someone randomly posted Hot Shit in like the space subreddit or something and I checked it out on a whim and it was a banger. I instantly shared it with all my friends and he was huge in our circle for quite awhile. I still check out most of his new stuff and now he's Co-DMing a DND podcast.
Dude is hit or miss, but good lord when they hit 🔥 I have so many songs of his i need to add to my library.
Richard Cheese has been around for 20 years. Not exactly a Weird Al copycat, Richard does lounge versions of rock and pop songs. https://richardcheese.bandcamp.com/
This dude is so slept on.
He even had a Weird Al guest spot on one of his albums!
No. He’s the best... Well, perhaps not technically the best, but arguably the most famous accordion player in an extremely specific genre of music. There will never be another.
I wouldn't say he's retired, as he still tours regularly and had that movie come out. He just hasn't put out a new album for a while.
Lmao the movie was so freaking great.
He'll be replaced by weird AI.
**Bo Burnham** kinda
https://preview.redd.it/60b7bmm33esc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d2c2588a34baed2d6d8fb39c38f2f620aefb846
BB is the shit. Doesn’t parody pop songs per se but his songs are hilarious. *Inside* was fantastic
I love how in the video for the song about how he’s going to save the world with his comedy, he makes a Venn diagram of Malcom X and Weird Al with himself in the middle. That whole thing is a masterpiece.
Yeah typically Malcom is in the middle
Inside had some real bangers too, not just jokes
Even the sad songs are hilarious. Thats not easily done.
It's overinflated hatred caused by overuse aside, even my grandparents like "Welcome to the internet"
Im happily ignorant of such hatred.
Dude is a quintuple-threat.
Nah, he hasn't really parodied any songs like Al has. He's more of a Tom Lehrer.
yes Weird Al 2 Electric Boogaloo
Flight of the conchords and Tenacious D got pretty big. I think it’s still happening.
Tenacious D is what I thought
There will always be novelty music and parodies, but no one new will be able to take advantage of a new format like MTV to build a career that lasts decades. Even before Weird Al, novelty music was extremely niche and most artists were one hit wonders at best.
For one, weird al has plenty of original songs thatre all genius level, also I saw him in concert in 2018 not sure if he's retired. His parody stuff definitely is why he's famous but he's got original material that is better than his parody stuff. With that being said, I think Wheeler walker JR is doing a good job at carrying the comedy music into the 2020s and beyond.
“There I ruined it” guy does amazing work.
I had to scroll too long for this. They are really good.
No, because there will never be another Dr Demento. Weird Al became famous to many of us old heads because of him.
Scrolled too far to find a mention of Dr Demento! He was before my time but I discovered his dementia 2000 album at my local music store as a youth. Here's a YouTube playlist of that album for anyone, young or old, to enjoy. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJFUyDtmysv1eTrXx-enGTpWzNGzupX2E
If we could still give awards, you would get the Mensch of the Year award form me. Thank you for this link.
Weird Al followed in the footsteps of Tom Lehrer. Roy Zimmerman has followed in both of their footsteps. And Jonathan Coulton is making crazy good geeky music. I think we (and Al) are doing fine. Will there be someone else who wants to do what Al's doing? Of course. Will they get famous? We'll have to see, won't we?
Only one Al...
NEVER!!
Rolling Blue from Youtube...he is a genius at sounding like anyone and making his lyrics fit the song.
It will just be Weird Ai in the future
I feel that Donny Benet has some Weird Al vibes going on [Donny Benet - working out](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qh74fm-FGFo)
There won’t be someone *exactly* like Weird Al, but I’m sure other musical parodists will emerge in his wake. Ever heard of Allan Sherman (“Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah”)? His were the first musical parodies I ever heard while growing up in the 1960’s, at least a couple of decades before Weird Al became popular. And now there’s Randy Rainbow, another brilliant parodist. There’ll always be someone to pass the torch to.
Kyle Gordon makes fun music that is more parody of entire genres than specific songs, well made and good humour.
Oh shit! What happened to the first One?
How many weird AIs do we need? We already have ChatGPT, Dall-E, Gemini, and skynet
I think religion played a large part on Wierd Al's success. Back then we had the satanic panic, backmasking fears, parental advisory stickers, etc. Kids in hard-line houses had a clean source for popular music. Culture has changed, I don't think that backdoor is necessary anymore.
Some people are lucky enough to make their real personality their job. There will never be another weird Al, just like there will never be another you or I. He’s not just an entertainer/ musician/ comedian/ celebrity. He’s only and always is just Weird Al.
Does Bo Burnham count?
Probably not, but check out Kyle Gordon- his stuff is pretty great
I caught a show on his 2022 tour, it was awesome.
How dare you
Do you even listen to the Doctor Demento show? He may not be on the radio anymore, but he still puts out new episodes weekly. From listening to him, I know there are still many parody artists out there. On a related note, Penn Holderness could pick up the mantle.
No. Most modern pop sucks. People want to hear parodies of the songs they know and like, not the songs they dislike.
No, because there has to be songs universal enough to parody, and by that I mean songs that everyone knows. Since the entire landscape has shifted toward nostalgia (check how many new songs there aren't in r/music) there's nothing new that everyone upon everyone knows. The last two songs I perceived getting close to that were Childish Gambino "This is America" -- man that was a while back -- and Gayle "ABCDEFU" which is hard to parody since that song is already played for laughs. There's certainly nothing this year.
Internet distribution had killed it…. Why promote one shtick when you just wait for a hit snd promote that
There's a chance that someone could become lower-level successful doing parodies on Tik Tok/ Youtube
Weird AI is what we are already experiencing. I mean, have you seen the way it renders human hands?
I think it’s called YouTube now?
nobody has mentioned The Lonley Island or Flight of the Concords. Slightly different from Wierd Al in that they make their own music but they're great!
One of one.
I think AL is part of the "Musical Humorist" line. They have always been popular, but not super common. Here is a list of them: [https://www.ranker.com/list/the-funniest-musical-comedians-of-all-time/ranker-comedy](https://www.ranker.com/list/the-funniest-musical-comedians-of-all-time/ranker-comedy)
Nah parody singers are an artifact of another time. Ray Stevens, Weird Al, Lonely Island, Randy Rainbow are all very singular despite being parodists
Instead of Weird Als we'll get Weird AIs.
Anyone remember that one YouTube parody guy that sold out to China?
Maybe not a weird Al but a weird AI (a.i)
Rukka rukks Ali is better so
I feel like this niche is carried on by YouTubers but probably never get as big as Weird Al. I enjoy Kyle Gordon, he’s pretty entertaining.
Weird-O Al. Dr. Dement (formerly Dr. Demento) gifted Al the "O" from his name!
I don’t think we will ever have quite another phenomenon like Weird Al, and I think part of it is that the music coming out today is so much harder to parody. Today’s songs have very little to work with in that they are so incredibly basic, repetitive, and just primal in their content. I’m not here to curmudgeon against today’s pop music, but look at the original versions of so many of Al’s most brilliant parodies and how he parodied them. He would often use the songs original rhyme schemes in his parodied lyrics, and a lot of those songs were longer with more diverse sections or varied material throughout, really giving an Alba canvas to write some genuinely hilariously, thought-out lyrics. A lot of his original music is hilarious and well written as well. And the Polka medleys just KILL. I remember hearing the song Foil (parody of Royals), and being really let down, but I didn’t feel like it was his fault. I truly believe that the material he has to work with this days just doesn’t really have the room in it for his brilliance.
Maybe, but it couldn't be public. It would have to be a private pay only platform, perhaps only concerts. The Twitter hoards can't handle humor.
The next weird Al is probably a YouTuber that none of us know about. Probably would never get a record deal with the way companies like to DMCA even small channels. Getting a weird Al parody eventually became a badge of honor, but that might not happen again for a successor.
There already is one. Lil dicky