Seth Meyers On Weird Al: ‘… Such A Game Changer’ (Video)

On Thursday’s (July 17) Late Night with Seth Meyers, the still new-ish host of NBC’s post-midnight program took a moment to reflect on Weird Al Yankovic’s latest CD Mandatory Fun, and the comedian’s impact on his life.

Meyers recalled the first time he had heard a Weird Al song and talked about how that childhood moment changed his life and outlook on the world:

“It is so exciting for me that Weird Al is still making music. I remember the first time I heard the song ‘Eat It’ on the radio. I was so excited, I asked my dad to pull the car over. … I just needed time to process … I couldn’t believe we lived in a world where someone could take a song you knew and change all the words and make it funnier. It was such a game changer.

“When we got home, if another family had been living in our house, I would have been like fine with that. I would have been like, ‘We live in a new world now. Nothing is as we thought it was.’

“So I highly recommend ‘Mandatory Fun’ and congratulations to Weird Al. Still making music all these years later.”

The reflection on Weird Al’s songs and its impact on an entire generation of American youth, myself included, is especially poignant given the fact that Slate reports that Mandatory Fun could be Weird Al’s last studio album.

“This week, seemingly inspired by the cornucopia of videos that attended Beyoncé’s latest album, ‘Market-Savvy’ Al has adopted an Internet-conquering strategy of releasing a video a day from his new, 14th studio album, Mandatory Fun. This is probably his last full-length, he’s said, as his record contract is up (the title is partly a joke about contractual obligation) and the format is no longer so suitable to a spoofing style that depends on timeliness.”

As Slate reported, the Internet has changed the genre that made Weird Al a household name with production and video editing available to the masses and YouTube giving rise to instant celebrity.

The post also digs into other groups that are creating their own comedy-music albums that are not parodies at all, but actually original music. Among the groups listed was the Lonely Island. The group is known for a variety of songs, including “I’m On A Boat,” and a variety of SNL digital shorts, including the infamous “D*ck In A Box.”

What do you think? Do you agree with Meyers that Weird Al was a true inspiration? And has the Internet totally changed the parody and comedy-music landscape? If he started his career in 2014 versus 1979, do you think he would have been as successful? Tell us in the comment section below.

[Image via Flickr Creative Commons]