Yank Blog

Hey all,

I’ll be on the morning show on KZII 102.5 FM in Lubbock, Texas tomorrow (Friday) at about 7:00 a.m. to talk about Al and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. If you’re in the listening area, tune in!

Several other radio DJs have taken up the cause too with on-air commentary about Al being overlooked, so a big thanks to Chris Parker of Mix 96.9 FM in Phoenix, Max and the morning crew at KZII 102.5 FM in Lubbock, TX, and all the radio DJs out there who support our campaign!

Also, there’s a really nice article about the Hollywood Walk of Fame that came out recently. Myself and Joe Lavelle are quoted. It’s an Associated Press article, which means it will be showing up in newspapers and news websites everywhere over the next few days.

Furthermore, Celebrity Week and MTV News made Al the focus of their articles covering the 2007 nominees, so we’re thrilled so many news organizaions agree with us that Al deserves to be on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

Keep up the good work!

Well, we might not have a new album in our hands (thanks a lot, Atlantic Records!), but there is a new set of questions answered on The Official Weird Al Site! Woo hoo! Topics covered are: the new song, tour plans, style parodies, a guy named Vince, and a shocking truth about the upcoming album. Enjoy!

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced the 2007 nominees today, and unfortunately Al’s name wasn’t on the list.

I am disappointed that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce overlooked Al’s accomplishments this year. There is no doubt in my mind that Al deserves a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame. Anyone who will take a moment to get to know Al as a person and as a musician will see that. The impact he made on music for the past three decades is clearly remarkable.

Al did have some tough competition in his category, and it is hard to argue that the musicians selected don’t deserve a star as well. So I extend my sincerest congratulations to everyone who was selected this year.

As for the Weird Al Star Fund, Al’s application automatically carries over to next year. Before next year’s meeting, we’ll be given an opportunity to update the application for Al’s 2006 projects. Hopefully next year at this time I’ll have happier news to share with everyone.

The complete list of 2007 Walk of Fame recipients, as ratified by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce board of directors is as follows:

— Recording: Sean “Diddy” Combs, Mariah Carey, The Doors, Crystal Gayle, Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain.

— Motion pictures: Michael Caine, Matt Damon, Lauren Shuler Donner, Jamie Foxx, John Goodman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Altman.

— Television: Barbara Walters, Erik Estrada, Kiefer Sutherland, Jerry Stiller, Dick Wolff.

— Live theater/performance: Sir Tim Rice, Lily Tomlin.

— Radio: Rodney Bingenheimer, Stu Nahan.

A couple new updates just popped up on The Official “Weird Al” Yankovic Web Site. First, VH1 will be airing “I Love the 70’s Part II” on July 10-14 and yes Al will be in it. Second, check out the June 30th issue of Entertainment Weekly as “The Weird Al Show” DVD is listed on their “113 People And Things We Love Right Now”. EW asked Al if he could whip up a parody to go along with the article, and it’s apparent that Al absolutely jumped at the chance… I mean, just look at the lyrics. (Lyrics and EW segment provided by the official site.)

If you missed out on it the first time around, then get your Tivos or VCRs fired up. Animal Planet will finally re-broadcast the documentary Stars and Their Pets: Behind the Lens on July 4th, 9am Eastern. Watch photographer Christopher Ameruoso and Host E.G. Daily interview bajillions of celebrities with their adorable pets. Among the list is a doggy-pajama-wearing Weird Al with Bela the poodle and Bo the cockatiel. The segment is about 47 minutes into the show, immediately after John O’Hurley. What a way to start off Independence Day, eh?

Kudos to Insane Ian Bonds, who you might remember from such projects as the “Me, Myself, and I” tribute album, for putting together, not one, but two home made music videos for “You’re Pitiful.” You can check them out here (version 1) and here (version 2).

Remember when Al said that he makes more money off CD sales than he does off digital downloads? Well it turns out it that it may be a lot more. This article goes into the math behind it, and the surprising results of just how big the gap is — Weird Al Yankovic Says Digital Is a Raw Deal For Some Artists.

There’s some good discussion at the end of that article, and there’s also some further discussion here — How iTunes Hurts Weird Al. I haven’t read all the replies yet, so the standard warning of “read at your own risk” applies.

DVD Talk has put up the first review of the new “The Weird Al Show - The Complete Series” DVD. It’s chock full of great information on the extras that will be found on the DVD. The audio commentary (by producer Tom Frank, director Peyton Reed, and, of course, Al himself) sounds like it’s going to be totally awesome, well worth the price alone. Also listen for commentaries by Judy Tenuta, Emo Philips, and Danielle Weeks on a select few shows.

Other extras include animated storyboards for the Fatman cartoons, plus two karaoke versions of “The Weird Al Show Theme Song” (one with Al’s help and one instrumental), conceptual sketches for the set design, a behind-the-scenes gallery, and a lot more.

Just heard from the official mailing list that now you can pre-order the DVD for The Weird Al Show - The Complete Series. Since this is a pre-order, you should complete this shipment separately from any other purchases, otherwise they will ALL ship in mid-August.

Check out the page for all the info on what’s included in the DVD. I can tell you that there’s enough dvd extras in there to choke a camel. Especially if you try to shove all three discs, case included, down the throat at once. Personally I blame the cameo appearance of Fabio in one of the episodes. I truly believe that’s the straw that breaks the camel’s trachea. But I digress. Pre-order now!

Oh yeah, and also check out the low, low prices on select T-shirts!  Wow!

Well, well, well. We finally have our answer to the mystery. The mystery of why there’s a free song on weirdal.com. Why there’s now only 10 songs mentioned instead of 11 on the upcoming album. Most importantly, we now know what Al meant by ’silly record company politics’ as being the major monkey wrench in the album’s release. It’s all explained in this article from NPR which in part reads

“The legality in this case is somewhat moot,” Yankovic writes when contacted via e-mail. “James Blunt could still let me put it on my album if he really wanted to…

You’ll have to read the article to find out the rest of the story. The entire online “Weird Al” community (hey, that’s you!) thanks Al for giving us this song despite what the ’suits’ want. As always, he’s proven that he’s as dedicated to us, as we are to him.

Credit for finding the article goes to Happy Steve, whose Internet connection was taken over by aliens using all the bandwidth uploading their pictures to Myspace.com and downloading illegal copies of War of the Worlds while he was getting his oil changed thus preventing him from posting this himself.