Over the course of more than 40 years in the industry, “Weird Al” Yankovic has put the work in to cement himself in the entertainment landscape as much more than just a guy who plays an accordion and makes parodies about food. Instead, he’s become a pop culture icon in many ways, and an inspiration to comedians and musicians around the globe. So, it’s no stretch to say that his extended break from the airwaves over the course of the past 10 years, aside from his critically-acclaimed 2022 biopic, has been sorely noted. But lucky for us, now he’s back, and as cheerfully maniacal as ever.
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of his last full-length album, Mandatory Fun, Yankovic has unleashed “Polkamania!” today (July 19), and it’s as titanic of a return as you could imagine only “The Weird One” is capable of curating. Cutting up 12 of the biggest global smash hits to reign supreme on the Billboard charts since 2014, including songs from Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and more, the Lynwood, California native dusted off his trusty squeeze box, got the band back together, and has effectively tipped his cap (with his customary good faith requests for blessing) to the biggest names in music of the last decade in the way only he does best.
Not only does the new track bring Yankovic back into the mainstream after his absence, but it’s also setting off quite a few creative fireworks in his head – but we can’t talk about those just yet.
But after Vanyaland hopped on a Zoom call with Yankovic, what we can talk about made for a great chat with the evergreen legend: The new polka and its accompanying “ani-jam,” the recent anniversaries of Mandatory Fun, 1999’s Running With Scissors and 1989’s UHF, the excitement of getting back into the studio, and what exactly that means for the seasoned parody veteran going forward. Check out the full chat, and the new single, below.
Jason Greenough: Hi, Al! I’m so glad we could connect for such a fun and special reason. We’ve got Polkamania!, an all-new polka out on July 19. We’re pretty excited about it, but how are you feeling about getting back in the game by adding to the legacy with this new edition of such a sacred “Weird Al” institution?
“Weird Al” Yankovic: [laughs] It feels good. I don’t necessarily think of it in terms of “legacy” or anything like that, but it just felt like it was time to come out with something new because it had been awhile, and I wanted to have something new to play the next time I go out on the road. I also wanted to do something special for the ten-year anniversary of my last album Mandatory Fun, so that became a destination and I gave myself that deadline to release my new single that week. It all came together, and I’m very happy with how it turned out, I got all the clearances I wanted, and I worked with the same band that I’ve had for the last 40 years. It really felt like a homecoming, and everyone is still playing at the top of their game, it feels like we haven’t missed a step, and we’re back to doing it again.
You really love to hear it, man. With so much music to comb through in order to cover the last ten years, what went into the decision process of pinning down these specific songs to represent the last decade? Were there any songs that you had initially wanted to put into it that wound up not fitting in with what you envisioned?
Every song we went after was a song that I certainly thought deserved to be in the medley, and I thought would sound better done polka-style [laughs], but i narrowed it down because ten years of music is a lot to wade through, so I limited myself to songs that had actually hit number one on the billboard charts, so that narrowed it down already. Then I just went through it and picked some of the more major artists, and a big barometer for it was the fact that I’m older and I’m not as focused on pop culture as I used to be ten or twenty years ago. So I figured if I was familiar with it at my ripe old age, chances are it’s a pretty big hit. That was part of the decision process, but my daughter is twenty-one years old, so I ran the list by her and she approved of everything, so I knew I was good to go.
Accompanying this is a full “ani-jam,” where you enlisted some of your favorite animators and filmmakers to create the video. Whereas, in years past, if I remember correctly, you would splice together sped-up versions of the original videos. What sparked the idea to do something like that?
I had done it before with “Polka Face,” and it was inspired by a Canadian animator named Marv Newland who, back in the ’80s, I believe he coined the term ‘ani-jam’ by getting a bunch of his animator friends together, and they would work on a project together where they would each do ten seconds of this piece, so it become this wild thing where it was full of all of these different styles, very surrealistic. I loved the idea, and thought it would work really well with a polka medley that has twelve songs and twelve different animators, and it could be really fun.
So I had done it before, and we’re doing it again. I think this version is even better, where the animators are at the top of their game, and they did some really amazing pieces. I can’t wait, I’m very excited for people to see it.
We’re looking forward to it too. Of course, as you said, this polka is coming out in tandem with the celebration of 10 years since your last album, Mandatory Fun was released. It’s hard to believe it’s already been that long, but looking back on the journey and huge success that the album had from the jump, and in the spirit of being your own toughest critic, how do you see Mandatory Fun now that a decade has passed since it was born into the world?
That’s a good question. With every album I’ve put out, I’ve said it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, and I always would believe it at the time. Now with ten years of distance, if I’m looking over my entire oeuvre, I don’t know if it’s my best album, but I would still say it’s one of my best. I would say for sure that the last six albums that I produced are better than the first six, and I’d like to think I’ve gotten better at this over time. I think the songs are better crafted, and better overall.
So if it isn’t thee best album, I would still like to say it’s one of my best.
Speaking of big milestones in your catalog, we just eclipsed 25 years of Running With Scissors and the 35th anniversary of UHF just a few weeks ago. Now, UHF is a cult classic that more than deserves its flowers as such, but Running With Scissors was huge thing for a lot of your fans in my age group, and for me personally, and it was the first full-scale introduction to your work for a whole new generation of fans. And looking back, it really nailed it in touching on the cultural highlights of the time. With that milestone in mind, how did the success of that album impact your career and creative vision as you moved forward?
I would absolutely include Running With Scissors up among my favorite albums. I was really pleased with the way that one turned out. Looking back, it’s still very gratifying to see the fan reaction to those songs, and it feels like I really tapped into the zeitgeist on that particular album. I guess I hit your age group at the right time, and it goes with one of my favorite lines of ‘everyone’s favorite Weird Al album is the one that came out when they were twelve years old,’ and I don’t know how old you were at that time, but that was a very important album for me and it did very well. I was very happy about it on every level, so that gave me encouragement to go on to the next one.
In the summer of 1999, I was four years old, so you got to me early.
[laughs] Definitely below the curve then.
Do milestones like that hit you like how they hit your fans? I know people, like myself, who see a date on the calendar and think about how it’s been 25 years since Running With Scissors and we start to feel dated. Do they tend to hit you in any certain way?
They used to, but I’m just kind of used to being old now. It kind of rolls off my tongue when I talk about how I’ve been with my band now for 40 years, and while that is true, a lot of my fans aren’t even 40 years old.
That’s 40 years of dominance, though, so all the power to you. Obviously, you’ve said before that you’re not really feeling the urge for the full album treatment anymore, and given the way music is generally consumed today, that makes total sense. But did getting back into the studio to put this new song together bring back the itch to start writing parodies again, especially with the pressure of having to write a full album off the table now?
Well, it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed getting back into the studio and working with the band again, and going through the whole process. I’ve always enjoyed recording, and that’s never something I shied away from. It’s a lot of work, but I get a real kick out of it. It definitely reminded me how much fun it is, and hopefully it won’t be a long period of time before I’m back in the studio again. I have several things in development, all of which I’m not allowed to talk about quite yet, but all I will say is that it made me excited to do more.
We’re patiently waiting for what’s to come, that’s for sure. And while I have you here, I wanted to quickly express just how great the Weird movie was. At the top of my list of favorite films last year.
Oh, thank you so much. That means a lot!
Before I let you go, though, I gotta ask. You mentioned earlier about getting back out on the road at some point. So you’re saying there’s a chance that we see you back out there in the future?
Well, I mean… uh, sure. [laughs] I can’t say when or where, or anything like that, but the whole idea that, at some point, I’ll be back out on the road is kind of a given.
We love to hear that, and Vanyaland will be there to cover the excitement the next time you come through New England.
I appreciate that. Thank you, Jason!