We’ve Got A File On You: “Weird Al” Yankovic

10:04 AM EDT on July 19, 2024

Robyn Van Swank

We've Got A File On You features interviews in which artists share the stories behind the extracurricular activities that dot their careers: acting gigs, guest appearances, random internet ephemera, etc.

Ten years ago, the beloved parodist known as "Weird Al" Yankovic was on top of the world, reveling in the success of Mandatory Fun, his first #1 album in the United States. That album's popularity was aided by an ingenious marketing campaign in which Yankovic dropped eight music videos during its first week of release.

At the same time, Yankovic alarmed fans by stating that he was shifting away from the album format and that Mandatory Fun would be his last conventional album. He's been true to his word, though the guy has hardly disappeared into retirement. In the decade since, Yankovic has kept impressively busy, performing multiple concert tours centered around deep cuts, writing and producing a satirical biopic about his life, spoofing Lin-Manuel Miranda with "The Hamilton Polka," starring in a Weezer video, doing cameo roles in approximately 12 million TV shows, and just generally making us laugh during otherwise laughter-challenged times.

Now, Yankovic is playing catch up on what he missed. His brand new single "Polkamania!" is a classic Yankovic-ian polka medley, compressing the biggest hits of the last decade into one goofy whirlwind. The track gives the comedian a chance to spoof a new generation of young stars, like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, while also having his way with now-ancient standards like Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" and Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk." If you're a fan of Yankovic's many previous polka medleys, you'll probably dig this one, too.

During a recent Zoom interview from what appeared to be his couch in sunny Los Angeles, Yankovic reflected on his 10-year break from making records and effusively discussed some of the many odds and ends from his legendary 45-year career.

"Polkamania!" Medley (2024)

Normally, when you do a polka medley, you're catching up on two or three years of pop music. This time, you're trying to compress a whole decade into one medley.

"WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC: It was more of a challenge. It was a long period of time, as you mentioned. But in the last 10 years, I haven't been very prolific with my recorded output, and I haven't been really doing the parody songs. There are so many songs that came and went and fell by the wayside because I was busy doing other things. This was my opportunity to have my way with a lot of songs that I figured would sound a little better [in the] polka-style. Also, it's the 10-year anniversary of my last album and I figured that was a good excuse.

One of the many songs you included in the medley is "WAP." I love that you've established this tradition where instead of singing the profanity, you use animal noises, which is what you did with "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails in "The Alternative Polka." Tell me about that tradition.

YANKOVIC: The polka medleys owe about as much to Spike Jones as they do to traditional polka. I always loved the old Spike Jones songs that have the horns and the whistles and the shotguns and just the weird sound effects. When I first heard "WAP," I thought, "Oh, this would make a perfect polka, but how do I make this family friendly?" And then one day I thought of those sound effects for the chorus, and I thought, "Oh yeah, that would work."