Weird Al Commands Mandatory Fun!

He was my first concert EVER to attend.  I was just pushing 10 years old and my entire family was totally into what this guy was doing.  Originally discovered by my grandfather of all people (I'm hoping a family member can correct me if not true) and wanted to show his grand kids an experience like they never saw before.  Thanks to setlist.fm, I was able to pinpoint that June 4th, 1996, the bus load of grand kids were driven to Centennial Hall in downtown London, ON for "The Bad Hair Tour".  Even though I remember I was on good behaviour (as well as the rest of my siblings and cousins) I did feel bad for my grandfather having to watch over the group of us.  But I guess it was worth it as we still discuss the show to this date.

Here is the set list for that evening:

1. Since You've Been Gone
2. Gump
3. The Alternative Polka
4. One More Minute
5. Like a Surgeon
6. Melanie
7. Headline News
8. Theme from Home Improvement
9. The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota
10. Jurassic Park
11. Laundry Day / Chicken Pot Pie / Spam / My Bologna / Alimony / Syndicated Inc. / Another One Rides The Bus / Gee, I'm A Nerd / Achy Breaky Song / Phony Calls / Cavity Search / Green Eggs & Ham / Eat It
12. Smells Like Nirvana
13. Bedrock Anthem
14. Amish Paradise
15. Fat
16. Yoda

Definitely something that has been etched into my memories for the rest of my life.  It was pretty unreal to be listening to this guy for many years prior to a show and experience a live performance for the first time.  OI guess you could say it was my foot into the door for being the concert junkie that I am today.  A special thanks goes out to my grandfather for introducing me to not only Weird Al but also my love for live music.  I guess in an indirect way AFGM wouldn't have launched without that extra push early in life.

So Al has been pumping out the albums since that day almost 18 years ago.  Keeping strong with releases such as "Running with Scissors" (1999), "Poodle Hat" (2003), "Straight Outta Lynwood" (2006), "Alpocalypse" (2011), and now his brand spanking new album called "Mandatory Fun"!  Here are a few details surrounding the new album:

1. Handy ("Fancy" by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX)
2. Lame Claim to Fame
3. Foil ("Royals" by Lorde)
4. Sports Song
5. Word Crimes ("Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams)
6. My Own Eyes (Style parody of Foo Fighters)
7. NOW That's What I Call Polka!
8. Mission Statement (Style parody of Crosby Stills & Nash)
9. Inactive ("Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons)
10. First World Problems (Style parody of Pixies)
11. Tacky ("Happy" by Pharrell Williams)
12. Jackson Park Express (Style parody of Cat Stevens)

It was released on July 18th, 2014 via RCA Records.  The LA Times described the album as "a stone cold masterpiece. Its goal remains the same since Yankovic changed the game with "My Bologna" and "Eat It": parodying hit songs to create gut-busting laughter. Thirty years later the Weird One hits every note."



At age 54 now, he is more popular than ever and rolling out new marketing ideas that will make some artists shake their heads.  Not only is the song choices enough of a marketing ploy in itself (using top artists that fans will automatically look to for criticism) but also a new concept regarding his music videos.  Since Al's music videos are as equally funny as the songs for them, he decided to try his hand at viral videos for eight straight days.

"MTV is not really music television anymore, the internet is essentially MTV. The internet consumes things very quickly, things go viral for a day — you can be famous for 24 hours. So I figured the best way to advertise my new album is every single day of release week, put out a new video people get excited about.

...they (aka Funny or Die, College Humor, Yahoo, and Nerdist) pay for the production of the video and hopefully, that will make people want to buy the album because the videos are essentially commercials for the album." -Yankovic



So that being said, we have compiled some of the videos as they are being released.  Hopefully this article does the same justice and the music video production in hopes you stop off at a record store and pick up a copy of this new album.  After giving it the initial spin, it's safe to say that "Mandatory Fun" is AFGM approved and high recommended for anyone who has a funny bone.







And not to mention the awesome live performances I was discussing earlier.  Check out his cut from Conan O'Brien's Summer Music series where we performs the first single "Tacky":

More to come so stay tuned!