Yank Blog

You can now pre-order the album at Amazon and from the official music store on WeirdAl.com, MyPlayDirect.  In case you’ve been trying to stay away from spoilers, be forewarned that the MyPlayDirect site reveals the full track listing.  As an added bonus, there is a deluxe version that includes a DVD with 10 music videos similar to the Straight Outta Lynwood album.

The song that’s been making the headlines around the entertainment biz is now available at these fine reputable online music stores:

iTunes
Amazon

We know you’ve probably been reloading the YouTube version over and over and over again, or maybe you got desperate and held a tape recorder to your speakers.  Wait, did I say tape recorder?!? Uh, I meant umm, what do you kids today use? An ePad.  Yeah that’s it.  I taped it with an ePad.  No, of course I still don’t use a 27 year old cassette deck for listening to the latest music like The Vapors.  What?  Oh…  *hangs head in shame*.

Awwww yeah!!!

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!!!   It seems that Lady Gaga’s rejection of Al’s parody was complete news to Lady Gaga herself!  She LOVES the song and has given full blessing!   Her manager will receive the appropriate whippings for misleading Al.   So you know what this means?  THE ALBUM WILL BE FINALLY RELEASED!!!  Plus there’s going to be an INCREDIBLY AWESOME AND SUPERBLY DISTURBING music video to go along with it, too!   WOOOOOOO!!!!

Check out Al’s blog for complete details:  http://alyankovic.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/gaga-update/

Celebrity gossip site TMZ has an article:

Lady Gaga is adamant … she did NOT ban Weird Al Yankovic from parodying her hit song “Born This Way” — despite Al’s accusation that the pop star shut him down hard recently.

And the New York Times managed to catch up with Al shortly after the song was posted. So they got to dig deep, peel back the layers, and expose the real Al and the story behind the story. What will happen next in this saga? Will she publically announce her blessing for this song? Would she make a guest appearance in a video if she did? Will she reveal she’s really Justin Bieber’s mother? How should I know?

Of course, none of this should really matter since Al originally got permission for Madonna to do a parody of her work over 20 years ago. #addingfueltothefire.

Well… Weird Al has just released a brand new song today that parodies Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”.  However, due to unfortunate circumstances, this will NOT be commercially released on the new album.  First off, you can hear the entire song on Al’s YouTube account:

So what happened?  Why isn’t it going to be on the new album, you ask?  Well, apparently Lady Gaga had strung Al along and forced him to go to the trouble (and cost) of fully producing the song before giving final decision, even after having received the completed lyrics.   Al gives the long and short of the whole ordeal on his blog:  http://alyankovic.wordpress.com/the-gaga-saga/

So unfortunately, there’s still no date on when the new album will be released.  This was going to be the lead single and all money from this song’s sales was going to be donated to the Human Rights Campaign, but alas it’s not meant to be.

Mayor picks ‘Weird’ book | The News-Sentinel – Fort Wayne IN.

Mayor Tom Henry visited Perry Hill Elementary School to help celebrate Literacy Week at the school.

Henry read to the entire school during an afternoon assembly in the gym. The book chosen for the event was “When I Grow Up” by Al Yankovic.

Yes, that’s right, “Weird Al” Yankovic – known for his spoofs of popular tunes like “Our Love’s in Jeopardy/I lost on Jeopardy” or “Beat It/Eat It” – released a children’s book in December. Judging from the reaction of the student body, it is pretty funny. Henry said he will read at several area schools this week.

“I really enjoy doing these,” Henry said. He also noted that the younger people are when they learn to read, the more successful they will be in school and life.

http://www.weirdal.com/alsbook.htm

Abrams, one of the most respected companies in publishing, will be releasing a comprehensive illustrated history on Al’s life and career in late 2012. Many of the photographs that will be used in the book will come from our extensive archives… but we’re hoping to unearth some new treasures. So we’d like to invite you to submit your own photos and artwork for consideration to be included in the book!

If you have a unusual and unique photo of Weird Al that would be a great addition to the book, check out the link above on how to submit it (up to three) for consideration.

Weird Al Yankovic On Writing in Verse – GalleyCat.

A nice interview focusing on his children’s book, When I Grow Up.  Weird Al describes the writing process, the more sophisticated vocabulary, and what’s in store for the future.

Photo by jcolmanAfter finishing his Australian concert tour, Weird Al has decided to play the rest of the United States tour in Australia also.   “It’s just so beautiful out here, I figured ‘Hey, why not?’  So I called up my tour manager and forced him to move every venue previously located in the United States brick by brick to Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth.   It took 5 billion man hours and I had to call in A LOT of favors on this one, but really feel it was the right choice.  I mean, come on, look at this koala bear!”