‘Weird Al’ Yankovic on ‘Polkamania!,’ Why He Won’t Release Another Album
“Weird Al” Yankovic is back with “Polkamania!,” his first new song since 2022’s “Now You Know.” It’s a four-minute medley, featuring 12 pop hits from the past decade, ranging from Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.” It also rips through a series of other recent tracks including Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito,” and Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP.”
Since his 1979 breakout hit “My Bologna,” a reimagining of the Knack’s “My Sharona,” Yankovic has held a unique position in music, crafting intricate, accordion-driven parodies of popular songs. He rose to fame with support from outsider comedy broadcaster Dr. Demento and Los Angeles radio station KROQ, then sold millions of albums.
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Over the years “Weird Al” had great success covering Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” as 1984’s “Eat It,” Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” as 1985’s “Like A Surgeon,” and Chamillionaire’s “Ridin'” as 2006’s “White & Nerdy.” Along the way, if “Weird Al” reworked one of your songs, it became a new kind of sign an artist had truly made it into the zeitgeist. Many musicians were vocal fans, including Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, after Al approached him for a version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1992’s “Smells Like Nirvana.” But some didn’t find it amusing, most notably rapper Coolio, who was initially unhappy with “Amish Paradise,” Al’s take on 1995’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.”
Now it’s been a decade since “Weird Al released a full-length album (2014’s Mandatory Fun) and over six years since 2018’s “The Hamilton Polka,” his last polka medley.
SPIN caught up with the king of comedy music over Zoom from his home in Los Angeles to discuss his new track and lengthy career, spanning four decades and five Grammys.
SPIN: For “Polkamania!,” how did you choose those songs and the song order?
“Weird Al” Yankovic: I wanted to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of my last album by doing a medley of what I thought were a dozen of the biggest songs of the last 10 years. I just kind of went through the charts. Every song in the medley is a No. 1 song and pretty iconic. And they just seem like the likeliest candidates to me. As far as the order, you have to end strong with Taylor and start strong with Billie. Other than that, I had to play around with my accordion to see what chord progressions led to other chord progressions the easiest. So, it’s just a little bit of a puzzle, as it always is.
Is it the “Song of the Summer?”
“Polkamania!?” Absolutely.
It’s been 10 years since 2014’s Mandatory Fun It was your first Billboard No. 1 Song in the U.S. Why did you take a break from making albums and is there another on the way?
I said it at the time and I am sticking with it: Mandatory Fun is most likely going to be the last traditional album that I ever release. I just wanted to focus on other things. I haven’t retired from making music. My output in the last 10 years has not been terribly prolific but I’m still putting things out here and there. I am just tired of the album format because there were so many limitations for me, one being that a lot of my humor is topical. And if I get a great idea for a song and it’s topical, I then need to come up with 11 more songs to release the whole album. So, releasing singles seems to be a better way for me to go.
“Polkamania!” might be an entry point for younger fans to hear polka for the first time. Who are some polka artists that they might enjoy?
Well, obviously Frankie Yankovic (“America’s Polka King”), no relation. Myron Floren, who was the lead accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show. Famous Canadian accordion player, Walter Ostanek. Jimmy Sturr won a ton of Grammys back in the day. And the sex symbol accordion player of the 1950s, Dick Contino. But I will say my polka medleys actually owe as much to (1940s bandleader) Spike Jones as they do to actual polka music.”
What about the video for “Polkamania?”
It’s an ani-jam. Did you see the “Polka Face” video? Yeah, so it’s sort of like that. For every song in the polka medley, I hired a different animator to animate it.
Do you miss the days when MTV played videos?
Yeah, I mean, of course. I’d still like to watch something similar to the old-school MTV. Now I think there’s still a market for a channel that plays music videos. Maybe that’s on some cable service or satellite service? I don’t know. But yeah, I miss the days when you could turn on MTV and have that be your video wallpaper. Just have it in the background as you live your life.
Do you know that on YouTube, there’s a great Binging with Babish cooking video with almost 4 million views featuring a recreation of the Twinkie wiener sandwich from (your 1989 cult hit film) UHF?
I should have known that but I don’t. Binging with Babish? I’ll have to check that out.
You’re a vegetarian, right? Have you ever had a vegetarian or vegan Twinkie Wiener sandwich?
I think I might have had one at some point. I don’t know if Twinkies are even vegetarian when it comes right down to it. But yeah, you know, if you’ve ever had a Twinkie wiener sandwich, I will say, it’s better than you think. And yet, still not that great.
You’ve done so much TV and film work. You had your own Saturday morning series, 1997’s The Weird Al Show. Do you have a favorite memory from playing yourself on that show?
You know, that was a difficult project. There was kind of a lot on my shoulders. My name is in the title and I was in charge of a whole writing room. I had great people working on it but I just remember it being a lot of pressure and a lot of sleep deprivation. And putting out a lot of fires constantly, always battling with CBS over what’s appropriate for children’s television. So, if you listen to the commentary track on that show, it’s probably more entertaining than the actual show.
Your parody biopic, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which you co-wrote with director Eric Appel, came out in 2022 to rave reviews. What was it like watching Daniel Radcliffe play a fictional version of you?
It was kind of an out-of-body experience. It was such a joy. Daniel’s the nicest guy in the world. He’s so talented and just so dedicated and focused. He’s like, exactly the person you’d want to work with on anything. I can’t sing his praises enough, just a joy and so funny. And I knew when we cast him that he was the guy because, you know, it’s obviously comedy. So, it had to be somebody who understands and can do comedy, but it’s not really supposed to be played like a comedy. It’s supposed to be played very serious and straight. And I’ve seen him do that as well. He’s got an incredible range as an actor. He’s one of the few people that I thought could really pull off the role, which I think he did brilliantly.
Have you all talked about making a sequel to it?
There’s talk about that. I don’t like to talk about things that are sort of in development because you never know which way they’re gonna go. But, yeah, that’s being bandied about. It might be the first-ever biopic with a sequel.
You were in all three Naked Gun movies. Are you going to be in Akiva Schaffer’s forthcoming reboot?
Well, I will say that 30 minutes after the Naked Gun 4 got greenlit and I read it on Deadline I emailed Akiva and said: “You know it’s not really a Naked Gun movie unless there’s a ‘Weird Al’ cameo.” And he went: “Yeah, OK. OK. OK.” So, well, we’ll see.
Are you going to tour to support “Polkamania!?”
Well, not specifically. We will be touring at some point in the future. That’s another reason that I did the song. It’s nice to be able to play new material when you’re doing a show. So, now we’ll have this to incorporate in the setlist.
There have been so many petitions for you to play the Superbowl halftime show. When they finally come calling, will you accept their offer?
Well, I’d have to seriously consider it. (Laughs.) Yeah, I’m not gonna worry about that. Because I sincerely doubt I will ever be on the NFL shortlist. There was maybe a time after Mandatory Fun came out where I was thinking there might be a possibility but I think that moment has come and gone. Maybe I’d be a special guest? But, yeah, you know, obviously I would have to consider that.
One of your first big shows was opening for the Los Angeles new wave band Missing Persons (in 1982 at the Santa Monica Civic Center). What was that experience like? Did the audience immediately accept you?
I’ve never even seen an opening act treated as poorly as we were treated. I kid you not, we were being paid a total of $500 to play for 45 minutes. And, as soon as the curtain went up, we were pelted with anything that wasn’t nailed down. Just stuff thrown at us continually. But I wasn’t gonna leave the stage because I was getting my $500, you know? They wouldn’t even applaud. At the end of each song, they would just yell ‘Get off the stage!’ I remember at the end of our set the band was on the floor picking up the loose change.
You’ve toured with the same band forever. What makes that connection so special?
I’ve been with my drummer since 1980. And my guitar player and bass player since 1982. My touring keyboard player has only been with us since 1992. So, he’s the new guy. We’re still giving him hard time on the road. I don’t know what to attribute it to. I got very lucky early on because I found a great group of guys that are not only some of the best musicians in the world, but they’re just incredibly sweet down to earth guys. There’s no drama. We all get along. We’re all friends. We don’t have any Behind the Music-kind of drama or energy. It’s just all worked out for us that way. I still have a blast playing with them on stage and on the road. I still can’t believe it worked out that well.
It is my firm belief that you should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. When they come calling, will you accept?
I absolutely will.
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