Weird Al Yankovic Artist Spotlight

YOU WOULDN'T DARE DO SOMETHING THAT STUPID! I

AM RATGAR! I DARE TO BE STUPID! Oh, this is a

story about a guy named Al, and he lived in a

sewer with his hamster pal, but the Sanitation

workers really didn't approve, so he packed up

his accordion and had to move to a studio in

Ohio, where he lived in a tree, and he worked

in a name called deconjunction factory, and he

played on the company bowling team, and every

single night he had a strange recurring dream

where he was wearing leader hoes and an abattoir

cream, but that's really not important in the

story. Well, very next year he met a dental hygienist

with a special attitude on her arm, but he didn't

even touch any lawsuits. For what it's worth!

Hello and welcome to GeekCast Radio. This is

an artist spotlight which will kick off the 2000s

artist spotlights. Here in the epic music spotlight

we have planned here at GCR, I am one of your

hosts, DFJ and Mike, and joining me is Steve

Megatron. Hello. Hello. What the hell are you

doing here? You hate music. I look like Weird

Al. Yes. Today we are going to be talking about

that guy who dares to be stupid, Weird Al Yankovic.

Now, people might ask me, TFJ and Mike, why are

you putting Weird Al in the 2000s artist spotlights?

Simply because I did not discover, I knew, I

barely knew he did dare to be stupid for the

Transformers movie, but I did not actually discover

his parodies until late 99, early 2000. So, that's

why he's going here. Well, and to be fair, he

didn't really get into the mainstream limelight.

I mean, he was in there, but he wasn't in there

until the late 90s anyway. And he really hit

his stride in the 2000s. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So how

this is going to work is we have four topics.

We're going to do two at a time. Steve, really

quickly, what have you been up to lately? Just

podcasting stuff, additions to the website, and

of course, modifications there. Looking into

new works to where I might be able to afford

a little bit more and also Just working on some

voice stuff Awesome, and I am a this week specifically

I will be a podcasting whore and that's pretty

much all that there is need to be said about

that So we'll be back after this musical interlude

What do you like it, 1690? I wish him well, cause

I'll be laughing So first up on the agenda today

is basically, how did you first find out about

Weird Al while you were, well, for you it was

more of an adult, me it was growing up. Yes.

I think I had a bunch of friends that really

liked him. at the time I think it was, yeah it

was 99 with Running with Scissors when that came

out. You know, stuff like Pretty Fly for a Rabbi

and obviously Amish Paradise and everything else,

stuff like that. And I kind of recognized his

voice but I didn't really like, like when I first

saw Transformers the movie I loved all the music

in it, but I didn't know a single person as a

kid. I did not pay attention to who sang the

songs. I just knew I liked the songs that were

in the film. So there is that. And then, you

know, other stuff that he's done. I mean, I've

paid attention to him, but I haven't really at

the same time. It's just one of those things

where it like. you know people say oh here's

the new Weird Al parody and it'll be something

spoofing a Christina Aguilar song or a Britney

Spears song or you know something like that um

I like his music overall but it's not something

that I personally listen to all the time other

than dare to be stupid because it's Transformers

related yeah what about you Well, for me, I'd

heard about him in various forms around the same

period of time. And I would have to say I was

in, I believe, elementary school. My cousin actually

brought over the Bad Hair Day CD. And I, you

know, of course, copied it to a cassette in my

boombox so that I had a copy to listen to. Because

at that time, CD -burning or copying was not...

You know common because that was what the rich

people bought With you know your $600 burners

that are ridiculous, but anyways Yeah, so I heard

about it there. I was getting into transformers

about that time So I'd seen the transformers

animated film, so I heard of dare to be stupid

which I absolutely loved and still do And then

of course I'd seen the VH1 behind the music yeah

with Weird Al and all of his parodies and of

course they would show the original song and

then they would show the Weird Al version and

then I was like wow this is really cool and then

so I actually taped it and watched it over and

over and over. But that was pretty much my intro

to Weird Al. And then from there, I actually,

my first CD I ever bought was the Running with

Scissors CD. And then I've had all of them since,

and then I've since gone back and gotten the

rest of them. But I love all of the stuff that

Al has done from past to present. Right, yeah.

I'm sure, if not a extended length play or the

full song of Dare to be Stupid will be somewhere

in this episode. Oh yes, oh yes. But it's, you

know, very, very awesome. Very interesting guy,

actually. I mean, he started off with Dr. Demento,

so that was kind of cool. And then he had his

own band, new look. And the dude uses an accordion.

I mean, that's kind of cool. Yeah, he actually

was... The funny thing about it was he was in

college for... I can't remember what it was.

I think it was some kind of maybe architecture

or something like that. Yeah, it was something

big like that and he's a highly intelligent guy

which is funny because he just kind of can come

up with these spoofs and his parents taught him

how to play the accordion as a kid and so he

just kind of incorporated all that into his songs

and it's funny how just starting out on the Dr.

Demento show got him to where he is today. It

boggles my mind now granted some of his early

stuff like my balona and you know Another one

rides the bus are very very raw Yes Especially

when you listen to the original version that

was played on some of the late night shows Where

they're literally almost beating on a toaster

Yeah, and I think it was him and I can't remember

which member I want to say it was like I don't

know what member it was, I can't remember right

now, but they went playing his songs and although

I don't really care for a lot of his early stuff,

you've still got to give the guy props because

he started in 79 and he's managed to carry this.

He's pretty much the only one that's been able

to actually do this and make a living and carry

it on through today and still keep it relevant.

i mean stuff like my balona and you know white

nerdy i mean nineteen seventy nine to two thousand

nine he's a thirty -year career uh... that's

that's pretty awesome and you know now we're

we're in two thousand twelve i don't you know

people know this from listening to music spying

people that know me know this i'm not a fan of

rap music i'm just not but Hearing white and

nerdy is the first time I ever learned of uh,

ride in dirty The original song I was like, oh

wow, that's so cool I think the only rap songs

I actually like are ones that al has physically

parodied and turned it into a joke and I I love

how you know, he for whatever, you know, he's

doing kind of It can give it kind of this almost

the same vibe of the original music video But

putting the twist of the actual song into it

Yeah, so I just love watching his music videos

because I find them entertaining as hell They

just are I mean his music videos are just amazing

In 1989 he was in UHF Now, I believe, just skimming

this, wasn't this essentially his film? Didn't

he make this? Yes, he actually, he wrote, starred,

and I want to say, I want to say, I don't know

this for a fact, I want to say he directed it,

but I don't. Jay Levy directed it? Oh, okay,

Jay Levy did. But he had a lot of the input in

this, and he played a character called George

Newman. Yeah, and he had you know, Victoria Jackson

from Saturday Night Live and then you know, Michael

Richards from Seinfeld yeah, and and Dreshers

in this oh my god, I could not stand her but

anyways Just saying I know but and he had the

rest of his band in there and dr Demento in there

as you know whip cream eater and He had Jay Levy

playing Gandhi. I mean there was just so much

goofy shit in here. It was hilarious, but I just

I love this film. I know it's not like epic,

epically awesome, but it's a cult classic at

this point. And I just love how the whole thing

has to do with this, you know, classic UHF station

and they get to play all kinds of zany, crazy

crap that, you know, normal stations wouldn't

play. It was almost like a watching a fox. an

old -school Fox station or something. Essentially,

yeah. I'm reading through part of the plot. As

Channel 62's popularity grows, Fletcher becomes

furious that a UHF station is getting better

ratings than his network's programming. This

is all about television ratings and just having

something that's out there and that's outside

the box. outside -the -box kind of stuff is going

to get you more ratings than your standard network

programming. Well, I mean, they paired Indiana

Jones, Rambo, they got Wheel of Fish, Spatula

City, Raul's Wild Kingdom, and it all eventually

boils down to Spadawski. Stanley Spodowski with

his mop and then he gets on the clown show and

then gives them most of their ratings and you

know the You get just not to spoil it, but I

mean you've got aliens and then you've got this

bum that gets handed a some kind of a wartime

mint penny from Fletcher and He turns it in and

ends up giving you know these thousands of dollars

or whatever to the UHF station because they were

nice to him Yeah, and it just it's hilarious

because They you know, there's so many different

parodies and so many different things going on

in this film that it's just funny to watch It's

it's one of those shut your brain off and have

a good time I Almost wish there had been a second

one, but I just I couldn't see this ever happening.

I You know what I find with films like this I

mean, I'm fine with it being a one -shot, but

I mean it right. Yeah But what I was going to

say was what I find with films like UHF, you

know, people tend to go back to their roots after

they've had 30 years in Hollywood or in the music

industry and stuff like that. So you never know.

I mean, maybe he will come up with a UHF too.

I know that they were trying at one point. So

I don't know. But I do have this movie and I

love it. Yeah, another thing to note is he did

have a CBS TV show that didn't last very long

called the Weird Al show. Yeah Which I watched

it as well granted. I didn't like it as much

as UHF But it did have some you know decent people

in there. I mean He had the the skit with Harvey

the Wonder hamster Which they used a different

hamster per episode as if you know Which you

could have found out if you you know listen to

like the Nerdist podcast They talked about it

because of you know animal rights and all that

yeah You know they had guests such as you know

Patton Oswalt Victoria Jackson on their macho

man Randy Savage Just you know there was all

you know Dick Clark was on it at one point oh

Yeah, I mean, so I mean you you had some pretty

big names in there You had some bands in there

you you know so I mean it was it was funny little

half -hour shows, but There there wasn't I want

to say there was only yeah 13 episodes You know

that's a whole season set so you know whatever

he at least got to go a whole season unlike shows

today where they go like two episodes and then

cancel it but Especially now in CBS But yeah,

so I mean, it was a good show. I remember a little

bit here or there of it. But I would definitely

say his main staple has been, you know, his various

guest appearances in other films or his UHF.

I especially loved him in Spy Hard, where he

sang the title theme song. The Leslie Nielsen

film. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was kind of cool.

And then they blew his head up. at the end of

it. But, you know, Al's been in all kinds of

films. I mean, he was even in the Shitty Rob

Zombie Halloween 2. I only say it's shitty because

they damaged the plot of the original films.

And I didn't care for Halloween all that much.

But suffice it to say he's had a wide range of

TV and film roles. Yeah His I wanted to go with

with weird Al I mean in the in in the in the

upcoming spotlights with the other bands that

we're gonna be doing here in the 2000s where

we go by album when we talk about the career

but for weird Al we have to go by song because

it's just that's just the way that it has to

be because For me, it's more about the songs

than it is about the actual albums I'm just going

down the list here And looking at alternative

polka from Bad Hair Day, he... That was such

a great, great polka song. Instead of something

like Addicted to Spuds, which is a parody of

Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer, with the alternative

polka, he managed to combine tons of bands. It's

a polka medley... of Loser by Beck, Sex Type

Thing by Stone Temple Pilots, All I Wanna Do

by Sheryl Crow, Closer by Nine Inch Nails, Bang

and Blame by REM, You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette,

Bullet with Butterfly Wings by The Smashing Pumpkins,

My Friends by Red Hot Chili Peppers, I'll stick

around by the Foo Fighters, Black Hole's Son

by Soundgarden, and Basketcase by... He managed

to incorporate like 10 songs into a polka track.

Well, and what's funny about it is he jumps from

one to another almost seamlessly, and it's basically

sped up versions of the original songs, and he

goes through part of the chorus of each one,

and it's... And then he always ends with one

song where he kind of goes really polka by the

end of it. So I mean, he definitely has a knack

for it. I love when he has the original polka

songs on each album. I mean, I love the various

songs that he does that he's parodying, but I

also love when he has some kind of a polka song

on there along with them. One of his huge ones

in 1996, obviously, was Amish Paradise, which

is a parody of Gangsta's Paradise. This song

was everywhere. There are a couple times I remember

in 1996 hearing Gangsta's Paradise played on

a Top 40 station and then hearing this Amish

Paradise played right after it. I swear I remember

stations doing that. Um... And then you have,

oh go ahead, what were you going to say? I was

going to say that there was a kind of a controversy

around that time. Yes. With that song being that

the record label told Al that they got the okay

for it and actually didn't. Yeah. So he felt

pretty bad about that at the time. And it still

does, I'm sure. And I think he switched record

labels after that when he went to Running With

Scissors because of the... Screw up on their

their part I'm not a hundred percent sure I think

yeah He stills he was with volcano at both times,

but he got rid of the Scotty brothers after that

So um, but yeah, so And there was of course some

other good songs on here like gump Gump it was

force gulp. It was it was great and They had

a guy that looked like force gump in there. Yeah,

so it was it was pretty funny Yeah His like outside

of the actual parodies so far just looking down

this list his pokas are the most interesting

thing to me the angry white boy polka which is

a compilation of Papa roach system of a down

the vines the hives the white stripes strokes

Disturbed rage against the machine limp biscuits

stained kid rock pod and M &M That's a lot of

very unique artists right there in one song.

The funny thing about his latest album of Alpocalypse,

which is such an interesting name for a CD and

I love the art that goes to it which will be

featured in the art for the actual podcast episode.

He has some pretty good... Songs in here some

of them had been released over the internet over

the past year and a half Craigslist Yes Craigslist

CNR Skipper Dan Ringtone and then whatever you

like was actually the first one Some of the other

songs on that album are TMZ Which is like a knockoff

of a Taylor Swift song, which is actually pretty

funny He has performed this way which is directly

knocking Lady Gaga and it's such a that is a

disturbing ass video Because it's his head on

a chick's body And mimicking everything he's

he's saying, you know, like having a meat suit

and all this other interest it was it was weird

Then there's polka face which has a bunch of

different rap songs Mixed into it and he makes

them sound ridiculous because they're gonna in

a polka instead of a rap. Well, the whole point

of this, besides the fact that it's a polka medley

of his, it is essentially, um, the title is a

direct takeoff of Lady Gaga's poker face. Oh

yeah, oh yeah. So, and that's what he starts

out the song with. Oh man. And one of my favorites

off there is he's got party in the CIA, which

is actually a Miley Cyrus knockoff. I just love

the fact that the video is hilarious to watch

because it's it's animated but it's of him running

through as a CIA agent busting a cap on people

and then getting his ass killed by the end but

uh yeah there's so many good songs on on any

of his albums that it's just it's hard to choose.

Taco Grande? Oh, that's hilarious. I love that.

Oh, it's a parody of Rico Suave. OK, I was like,

what the hell? I like the... That's on the food

album. Yeah. Which, actually, funny enough, the

food album is not actually a CD. I don't believe.

It may... Oh, yeah, it did go to CD eventually.

It did, yeah. Yeah. I should remember that. I

actually own the damn thing. Just haven't actually

pulled out the CDs in forever. I like the theme

from rocky eight or rocky 13 I mean, that's that's

not there the Ryre the Kaiser. Yeah It's it's

yeah, that's I love that but one of my old favorite

songs that his was fat and eat it Yeah, fat need

it were great the videos were awesome for them,

too. So Yeah, he got can eyes bit by the end

of the eat it so it was almost like thriller

Yeah, and then Fat he got insanely huge and then

he couldn't get back to normal size by the end

of the video because he snapped his fingers to

get fat Yeah, um, I think the one that I have

to seek out that I did not know he even did Sadly

is off the off the deep end and off the food

album The white stuff which is a parody of new

kids on the block. You got it the right stuff.

Oh god I'm not gonna break into song like Chuck

I Know I can't sing so I'll save everyone's ears

You know and and stuff like you don't love me

anymore, which is that song It kind of grades

on yeah, I can listen to it every now and again

But um it's it's original in the style of James

Taylor the video is inspired by the video for

more than words by extreme now originally before

I read that and Read that notation here on the

wiki. I thought it was a James Taylor Parody

and if if if weird Al can parody a James Taylor

song regardless of anything else he has done

that we've talked about so far That would make

him even more amazing than he already is He can

pretty much parody anybody. Yeah, he's got the

the ear for it. He's got the eye for it I mean

he can really he could really seek it out and

think it out and and come out with you know these

amazing words like I was at a concert, and I'm

going to include this because I do not want it

ever getting lost. It took me forever to find

it. He turned that Celine Dion song from the

Titanic film. My heart will go on, yes. Into

a pizza delivery song. What? Now, mind you, it

was not a full song. He only sang it in concert

because I think he couldn't get full permission

to actually publish it on a disc. Right. he has

various other ones like he did a green day you

know the it's laundry day like he did that I

have that as well which I'll include too because

they're only short like 45 second things the

pizza delivery one he comes out and full get

up in Domino's and with a delivery bag and in

Domino's uniform and you know he's singing about

you know pizza delivery and Toppings on it. It

was it was hilarious to me back in the day and

then as I worked at a pizza place I was like

man I wish that was an actual song because it

would be hilarious to play and I just In the

the only reason that stuck with me is because

I actually saw him in concert. Oh sweet it back

in 99 so that Was one of the things that he sang

and I'm like, holy shit and then I looked and

it didn't exist So I actually had to go into

massive wiki I'm digging to find out what year

that freaking song came from so that I could

track it down and find it on YouTube. I would

say kind of transitioning over into his rise

to stardom. I would say Amish put him more on

the map than... The previous work is great, it's

all well and good, and I'm sure the Michael Jackson

thing put him on the map, but in 96, Gangsta's

Paradise, because of what it was and because

of it being in dangerous minds, was everywhere.

And when he parodied that, it literally jackhammered

a pin into the map for people to know who the

hell Weird Al Yankovic was. Oh yeah, this album

definitely, because it sold over a million copies,

it definitely helped him stay on the charts and

in public eye because of that song. It's actually

the last time you see him with his glasses on

an album or music video. Yeah, but that's okay.

I mean no I mean he was he was changing for the

new times, but I mean yes it was like kind of

the last hurrah the old stuff with mesh of what

he was going to do and He he had I mean and he

had four original songs on this album too, which

I think kind of helped and They were really good

actually Calling in sick to work basically yeah,

everything you know is wrong I remember Larry

where you know he's telling the story of a neighborhood

bully who basically is brutally murdered by the

narrator and then the night Santa went crazy

which there are multiple versions of that song

one which is the clean happy -go -lucky song

that is actually on the album and one that he

does in concert where Santa is shot in the face

Yes, Santa Santa is killed by the the FBI and

he dies and yeah Then the song goes on as if

he were never dead. So it's kind of strange That's

so funny. I'll just put that particular part

in but he's I would definitely agree that this

album has definitely pushed him into major stardom

and then the next time he got a boost was from

the Straight out of Linwood Album where he had

white nerdy which really pushed him over the

edge. Oh, yeah Yeah, I mean it pushed him over

the edge so much that chameleon air or chameleon

air However, they say that stupid rapper his

name Actually put that on his own myspace page

before Al even put it up on his myspace page

at the time so you know Mean that's that's kind

of dedication when someone likes the parody of

your own song And I guess with stardom also comes

some Negativity there have been a ton of people

that have absolutely loved his His parodies presidents

the United States were so pleased with gump Yankovic's

parody of their song lump Comiliener was also

very pleased even putting Yankovic's parody white

and nerdy as I said up on his Myspace page before.

Let's see. Yankovic was briefly denied permission

of Harry Lady Gaga's Born This Way for his song

Perform This Way for release on his next album,

but through his release of the song on YouTube

and subsequent spread via Twitter, Lady Gaga

and her staff asserted that her manager had made

the decision without her input. So that always

happens. As far as the negative stuff, we're

just gonna cover this a little bit, but really

the only thing is, you know, we already mentioned

the Coolio thing where apparently Coolio hadn't

given him permission, but the record label said

that he did. Also, in 2003, Yankovic was denied

permission to make a video for Coach Potato,

his parody of Eminem's Lose Yourself. Last year,

Eminem forced me to halt production on the video

for my Lose Yourself parody because he somehow

thought that it would be harmful to his image

or career. Are you fucking kidding me? If nothing

else, all Al does is basically influence people

to buy the original as well as his own. Exactly.

Because people want to hear what the original

song was. Just because he parodied it Like for

instance in 2006 for his straight out of Linwood

He wanted to it was delayed because he wanted

to release you are pitiful a parody of James

Blunt's you're beautiful Which you know he recorded

it was removed at the request of blunts label

Atlantic Records And then I'll just put it as

a free -for -download single on the internet

Which, you know, it's sad when things like that

have to happen because usually I believe most

of the time it's the labels basically saying

no. I'm sure the artists see the artistic difference

in the ingenuity that's put into it by Al and

it's basically self -promotion. Yeah, I don't

know if they really see it, because as far as

refused parody goes, numerous occasions Prince

has refused Yankovic's permission to record parodies

of his songs. Yankovic has stated in interviews

that he has approached him every few years to

see if he'll lighten up. Yankovic related one

story where prior to the American Music Awards,

where he and Prince were assigned to sit in the

same row, he got a telegram from Prince's lawyers

demanding he not make eye contact with the artist.

Oh god, Prince is such a douche nowadays. Yeah,

that's why he was only in one Batman movie. Yeah,

exactly. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is

a self -proclaimed Yankovic fan, but when Yankovic

wished to create a polka medley of Led Zeppelin

songs, Page refused. Yankovic was, however, allowed

the very rare opportunity to re -record a sample

of Black Dog for a segment of Trapped in the

Drive Thru. Paul McCartney also... Supposedly

a Yankovic fan refused Yankovic permission to

record a parody of Wings' Live and Let Die titled

Chicken Pot Pie because McCartney is a vegetarian

and found the parody in bad taste. Okay, I'm

sorry, if someone like Paul McCartney who at

this stage in his life is essentially... strewn

aside I mean you know no disrespect to the guy

in his career in the early days and everything

else with Beatles but I mean really the only

thing I've heard about Paul McCartney in the

last six years is his multiple marriages and

divorces you know if someone wants to make a

parody of your song you know sure you you have

your you know being a vegetarian or what whatever

belief that's fine but if it's gonna make you

money or if it's gonna get you you know attention

Why not? The thing about Al though is he's obviously

doing something right because despite his career

spanning three decades, he's amassed 30 gold

and platinum albums, seven gold and platinum

certified home videos, and three Grammy Awards

with 11 nominations. So this guy knows what the

hell he's doing. Yeah. Apparently, in 2006, Weird

Al got permission to do Your Pitiful, which is

a parody of James Blunt's You're Beautiful. Apparently,

Blunt gave him permission. to do the song but

Blunt's label Atlantic Records denied this and

then his own Weird Al's own record label did

not want to go to war with Atlantic so he eventually

just put it out on his MySpace page for free

and he plays at his concerts because essentially

Blunt gave him permission to do so but they couldn't

it was pulled from the Linwood album so overall

the dude is had an amazing career. He's done

amazing stuff. In 2008, 2009, he was the voice

of Rekgar in Transformers Animated. That's freaking

cool. Which is a direct homage to his Dare to

be Stupid being in the junkions in the original

film. Yup. Yup. Overall, He's just a great great

artist. He makes You know people laugh. He makes

people think of songs in a different way and

It's just very very interesting Funny thing is

they're very inventive and they're clean Yes

It's not like he's cursing all over the place

My last topic here is the greatest parodies ever

we've kind of already gone through his song list

Do you have a personal a couple of favorites

like a like a top three or a top five or anything

like that of his? You know, it's kind of tough

for me to decide because he has so many good

ones. Yeah, I would definitely say white nerdy

is among within my top five I would also have

to say that As I pull up the rest of my list

I would have to say that I like Skipper Dan.

My current list technically shifts every time

he releases an album, because I've had favorites

from each album. There are probably five of each

album I've really liked, and then I'll wear the

hell out of them. His current album right now,

I like The Party and the CIA. Skipper Dan Perform

this way without watching the video Because it

disturbs my mind. I just can't watch it You know,

so then there's the white nerdy and then I have

to go back to some of his old stuff. I like You

know smells like teen spirit Amish paradise fat

eat it All about the Pentiums Yeah, there's there's

just so many that I can't count them all. Yeah,

you just yeah I mean, it's like, you know, hey

do a top 20 list of your favorite word out songs

Well, there are more than 20 so, you know, it's

one of those things There are two that are that

are kind of interesting that are okay to listen

to once in a while but I just can't sit through

them very much because they're both like between

8 and 12 minutes long one being Albuquerque Yeah,

which is him, you know, just telling a story

and It's you know, it's kind of based on a Monty

Python sketch in this in a sense but it's The

gist of the entire 12 minute clip there is he

hates Sauerkraut. That's the entire thing It's

around he starts out with it and then he ends

with it and that's just a roundabout roundabout

way of everything happening in between and Then

of course, there's the other one genius in France

on his poodle hat CD, which I like the album.

It's a little goofy for me. I That one's like

nine minutes it's supposed to be like a Frank

Zappa type song and Talking about how he's a

moron here, but he's like King of the world and

in France because they're so dumb So I I can't

really listen to either one of those very often

but I I gotta give the guy props. He does some

good stuff So I think that's I think that's gonna

do it unless you have anything else we can go

to a commercial break or something like that

Did you have anything else you wanted to say

about him? No, I think that about cuts it for

me Yeah, so we're gonna take a quick break. You're

gonna hear some ads and some musical interludes

and we'll be back to close the show Grab your

helmets because it's time to assemble M .A .S

.K .E. The GeekCast Radio Network has launched

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Once you've done this, just scroll to the section

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for episode 34 to see which show becomes our

very first Listener's Choice. That does it for

now. This has been Optimus Solo from the Telecast.

You're craving some pizza Let me be the one that

you call Olives or anchovies, perhaps pears I'm

gone. We are back and to close out the Weird

Al Spotlight. You know, as we said, he's an amazing

artist. I know Steve absolutely loves the majority

of his songs. I like a lot of his stuff. I don't

listen to him as much as Steve does, but he's

a very inventive artist and it's one of those

things. I kind of... equate him to or I kind

of not really equate him to but I kind of I kind

of lump him into like the same type of not style

but the same type of genre as like Rock Sugar

even though Rock Sugar is a full -on you know

mash -up kind of rock parody band but it's they're

that both of them weird Alan Rock Sugar are that

damn good so I don't know Yeah, I definitely

have to agree. Like you said, I pretty much love

everything that this guy's got on there. I definitely

recommend that you pick up at least his newest

two albums just to kind of get the vibe of some

of the stuff he does and then go back and check

out some of his older stuff as well. I mean,

even if people don't want to pick up his albums,

they can just go search out the individual songs

on iTunes or wherever they buy music. Or watch

him on YouTube to begin with. He does have a

compilation CD with pretty much all of his greatest

hits on it, so I would pick that up. It's like

a 26 song, two CD thing. Yeah, that's pretty

cool actually. So I think that's gonna do it.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of GeekCast

Radio, which you'll join us next time when we'll

be talking about another artist in this 2000s

spotlight of artists that we have in Nickelback.

For now, I am TF2 and Mike with Steve Megatron

Phillips. Thank you for listening. Until next

time, keep rockin' on. Polka dot? Sure, why not?

Everywhere I see them there, I stop and stare

at patterns. I don't care, I must declare, I've

got a flair for patterns. On my hair, the clothes

I wear, my sad welfare is patterns. All I see

is patterns, the patterns that repeat. on the

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