Ok. Al was born in Lynwood, CA on October
23, 1959. His parents, Nick and Mary Yankovic,
gave Al an accordian on the day before
his 7th birthday. He took a shine to
the accordian, and eventually started to
write his own renditions of songs. (his
first lp was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
by Sir Elton). In his early teens, Al
wrote 'Belvedere Cruisin,' a song entirely
about his parents' car, and sent it
to Dr. Demento, the funny-music playing
dj. Anywho, Al graduated as valedictorian from his high school at age 16 (he skipped
kindergarten & 2nd grade). He then
advanced to Cal Poly State University
in San Luis Obispo, CA, in which he
got a bachelor's degree in architecture.
While at Cal Poly, Al was a dj for the
campus radio station--he became a mutant
Dr. Demento for the Central Coast. It was
at Cal Poly, that Al recorded the infamous
'My Bologna,' in the bathroom. This tape
was sent to Dr. D, and sure enough, it
gained great popularity. Soon, Al got
a short-lived record deal with Capitol
Records, who released 'My Bologna' as
as single 45. Next came Another One Rides
the Bus, recorded live on the Good Dr.'s
radio show--this became an underground
classic, and, consequently, was where Al
first met his ever faithful drummer, Jon "Bermuda"
Schwartz; Jon banged on Al's accordian
case, which provided percussion for the
recording. TK Records eventually released
'Another One Rides the Bus' as a single.
But, unfortunately, TK Records soon went
out of business. Luckily, Scotti Bros.
Records came along and snatched Al up.
With Scotti Bros. as his main label, Al
had released the albums: Weird Al Yankovic
In 3D, Dare to be Stupid, Polka Party,
Even Worse, UHF Original Motion Picture Soundtrack,
Off the Deep End, Alapalooza, and Bad Hair Day
(as well as some cheesy compliation albums in between).
In 1989, Al starred in his first movie entitled,
UHF, in which Michael Richards, Fran Drescher,
Victoria Jackson, David Bowe, and Emo Philips, were casted.
The movie flopped, but has since become an underground
classic. Al also did a rendition of
Peter and the Wolves, with Wendy Carlos, which
was released on CBS Records. In 1999,
Al broke free from Scotti Bros., and signed
to Volcano Records. Running with Scissors,
Al's latest work, is the first record of Al's
to be released on Volcano (he also has
his very own WAY MOBY imprint on each CD.
FYI, on every album, Al provides us with
half parodies, and half originals(YES, AL
DOES ORIGINALS)Currently, Al is Touring With Scissors,
with his band of 2 decades: Bermuda:drums/webmaster, Jim West:guitar,
Steve Jay:bass, and Ruben Valtierra:keyboards. (Ruben
was added during the Off the Deep End tour
in 1992). Al has won 2 grammy's (there no longer
is a category for Al anymore), a Behind
the Music special, and many other awards that I can't
think of at the moment. BTW, yes, Al has
had LASIK done, and no longer wears glasses.
As of this writing, he is clean shaven,
but I'm sure that this may change in the future.
In my humble opinion, Al is the hardest
working entertainer today--he is a perfectionist,
and it shows in every performance and record he does.
He's also a REALLY nice guy...he loves
to meet and greet his fans. Without Al, the world
would probably cease to exist,
simply because, boring music would turn
everyone into zombies. But you don't have
to take my word for it; Jon 'Bermuda' Schwartz
maintains the official site, which, among other things,
includes a much better bio. Well, I hope
this bio helped you better understand Al,
in some sort of odd way. For the record,
I don't know Al, but have been a long time
fan. There is much more to be said about
this great guy, but it's too hard to
stare at the computer screen for that long:)
-KA
Bio written by: anon |
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