Few artist, much less a parody singer, have the type of longevity that absolute living legend Weird Al Yankovic (real name Alfred Matthew Yankovic) enjoys. He got his start way back in 1976 when he was just 16 after Yankovic sent a tape to the Dr. Demento Radio Show. The rest is history.
Recommended VideosYankovic has sold more than 12 million albums over the course of his career, he regularly tours the world, and he’s won five Grammys. He earned his first top-10 album, Straight Outta Lynwood, in 2006, more than 30 years into his long career. That album also contained his only top-10 single so far with “White & Nerdy,” but he’s had a number of memorable songs over the years. He’s parodied many popular artists, including Nirvana (“Smells Like Nirvana”), Michael Jackson (“Eat it”), Lady Gaga (“Perform This Way”), Coolio (“Amish Paradise”), and a number of others.
Because they’re parody songs, Yankovic doesn’t necessarily need an artist’s permission to use their music. Since he’s a good (and smart) dude that doesn’t want to burn bridges, he usually gets permission first. This also means that for every Yankovic smash there are the several missed opportunities. While most artists said yes, a number of them also said no. Some had their reasons, and others would later regret the decision after the fact.
Let’s take a look at those with the audacity to turn down the polka master.
Paul McCartney, “Chicken Pot Pie”
Yankovic has parodied The Beatles in one way or another a few times. He did “Pacman” as a parody of “Taxman,” “Gee I’m a Nerd” for “Free as a Bird,” and he did a part of the melody of “Hey Jude” for “Polkas on 45.” There was one Beatle he couldn’t quite convince to do a song though, and that’s none other than Sir Paul McCartney himself. The story goes that Yankovic recorded a version of the song after McCartney gave him permission to parody “any of his songs.”
An excited Yankovic picked “Live and Let Die” and changed the chorus to “Chicken Pot Pie.” When he brought the song to McCartney, the famous Beatle didn’t like the idea of a song about eating meat, and thought his wife at the time, Linda, would also disapprove. Yankovic was disappointed because he’d even hired some of the orchestra players from the original song for his version. He said McCartney wanted him to change the song so much that it wouldn’t have worked.
“Paul didn’t want me to do it because he’s a strict vegetarian, and he didn’t want a parody that condoned the consumption of animal flesh. He said, ‘You can do something else like tofu pot pie.’ I said, ‘No, the chorus of my song will be ‘Bawk-bawk-bawk-bawk,’ and tofu doesn’t make any noise. It’s not going to work.”
Beck, “Schmoozer”
Sometimes an artist will turn down Yankovic and then regret it years later. Such was the case with Beck, who famously turned down Yankovic’s request to parody his 1994 slacker anthem, “Loser,” and turn it into “Schmoozer.”
Earlier this year, Beck revealed that he should have let Yankovic do the parody and that the music video probably would’ve been great. “‘Weird Al’ Yankovic tried to do a version of it, it was going to be called Schmoozer, which I regret denying him the permission to do,” Beck said. “I think it would have been an amazing video. I’m actually really sad it didn’t happen.”
It turns out Beck was worried that people would think he was just a on- hit wonder with a novelty song, and he thought a Yankovic parody would exacerbate that perception.
“I had a lot of people who were veterans in the business telling me at 20, 21, 22, ‘You should go back to school. You don’t really have the talent to do this. The songs as they are aren’t going to work. They’re too rough, they’re too raw, they’re not real songs, they’re sort of hodgepodge ideas.’ It really wasn’t taken seriously at all. And when it came out, and it was popular, it still wasn’t taken that serious at all. You can go back to the press of the day. I just remember myriad articles and headlines of ‘One-hit wonder, joke-band Beck, novelty act.’”
Prince, “Yellow Snow”
Oh, what could have been. Honestly, parodying “Purple Rain” as “Yellow Snow” would have probably been incredible and hilarious, but it’s not surprising that Prince said no to the Yank man. Prince was an incredibly serious artist, after all.
That doesn’t mean Prince gave him a reason though.
“I’ve never officially met Prince,” Yankovic said. “I’ve been in the same room with him many times and never actually met him. I haven’t approached him for parody for quite some time, but in the ’80s and early ’90s, there were a number of songs I wanted to do and he’s always turned them down and never really given a reason—all he would say was ‘no.’”
That’s not actually the end of the story. The two kind of met at the American Music Awards. Yankovic said he got a telegram from Prince’s manager that he should not make eye contact with the famous singer.
Yankovic apparently said Prince shouldn’t make eye contact with him, either. Weirdly, Prince did give Yankovic permission to make fun of his signature look for Yankovic’s 1989 movie UHF. Yankovic also asked to do parodies of “Kiss” and “1999,” with no success.
Eminem, “Couch Potato”
Eminem was the biggest musical artist of the aughts, so it makes perfect sense that Yankovic would want to parody him. What was initially a concession hilariously turned into a mini beef between the two.
Yankovic asked for, and got, permission to parody one of the rapper’s biggest hits, “Lose Yourself.” He recorded the song but when it was time to make a music video and make the song his lead-off single, but Eminem balked. “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,” Yankovic told the Chicago Sun-Times.
He would later skewer Eminem in a fake interview.
U2, “Green Eggs and Ham”
In perhaps the least surprising denial of all time, the band that takes itself way too seriously, U2, denied Yankovic the privilege of parodying its hit, “Numb,” as “Green Eggs and Ham.” While he couldn’t (well technically wouldn’t) officially release the song, he still made a hilarious video making fun of the original U2 one. The band would acquiesce because Yankovic eventually released “Cavity Search,” a parody of “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me.”
Weezer, “Polka Medley”
You would think a fun band like Weezer would be more than willing to allow Yankovic to parody their hit, “Buddy Holly,” but apparently early Weezer was different than the laid-back chill Weezer of today.
Yankovic wanted to put the song in one of his infamous Polka jams, and he initially got permission, but then something weird happened. Yankovic explains:
“‘Buddy Holly’ by Weezer was originally in the Alternative Polka. In fact, it was completely recorded, and we were about to do the final mix when we got a call from Weezer’s management—apparently the song’s writer, Rivers Cuomo, decided for whatever reason that he didn’t want his song in my medley after all, so at the very last minute (after the ‘special thanks’ had already been printed on the CD and cassette booklets) we had to physically cut the song out of the medley. I’m still kind of bummed about it—it sounded really cool.”
The two legends are on great terms now, however, and Yankovic even appeared in the band’s video for their cover of “Africa.”
James Blunt, “You’re Pitiful”
Sometimes an artist wants to do a song, but there are other forces at play that deny that from ever happening. That’s what happened to Yankovic and James Blunt, who had a monster hit with the sappy love song, “You’re Beautiful.”
Yankovic wanted to make it “You’re Pitiful,” but Atlantic Records told him he couldn’t. Here’s what Yankovic told NPR about the matter.
“The legality in this case is somewhat moot. James Blunt could still let me put it on my album if he really wanted to, but he obviously doesn’t want to alienate his own record company…and my label could release the parody without Atlantic’s blessing, but they don’t really want to go to war with another label over this. So really, it’s more of a political matter than a legal matter.”
Fortunately for us, Yankovic released the song as an MP3, and it’s floating around the internet and probably will forever.
Daniel Powter, “Had a Bad Date”
Daniel Powter had a huge hit in 2006 with the song, “Bad Day.” Honestly it was everywhere that year, and it makes perfect sense that Yankovic would attempt to cover it as “Had a Bad Date.”
Powter initially said no, and by the time he changed his mind, it was too late. “[L]iterally the day before we went into the studio to record ‘White and Nerdy,’ we got a call saying he changed his mind, and he wanted to do it after all. And I had to inform him that the train had left the station,” Yankovic told the Toronto Sun.
Bonus Round, “Sort of Rejections”
Here are some quickfire rejection-ish kind of instances. The late rapper Coolio said he never approved the parody of his song “Gangsta’s Paradise,” and that he didn’t like how it made fun of his song. He eventually apologized.
Lady Gaga’s team told Yankovic they needed to hear “Perform This Way” completed before they subsequently rejected it. Yankovic released it for free online, and then Gaga revealed she actually loved it. As it turned out, it was her record company that said no. He would also eventually record a “Poker Face” parody called “Polka Face.”
While Led Zeppelin agreed to let Yankovic interpolate “Black Dog” into his song, “Trapped in the Drive-Thru,” they turned down his request to include his music in a polka medley.
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