Daily Jam (October Edition) - Nature Trail to Hell

When i was 10, "Weird Al" Yankovic was my undisputed favorite musical artist, the first person whose entire back catalog i just had to have.  I devoured it all.  I absorbed it all.  Parodies, originals, all of it.  Here's a cut from "In 3-D," a mock theme song to a horror movie that doesn't but totally should exist.  I'd go see it.  Anyway, here's "Nature Trail to Hell," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota

I honestly have no idea who i would be if i hadn't had Weird Al in my life as a kid.  Probably somewhere boring and hating myself.  Anyway, here's "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota," a song i've found myself singing every other day for the last 30 years.  Our Daily Jam.

Sonic Advent Calendar: Day 17 - The Night Santa Went Crazy

It's been a long day of car travel and chasing children, and i'm exhausted.  So, here's a Weird Al Christmas song from 1996's "Bad Hair Day."  "The Night Santa Went Crazy" is a parody of Soul Asylum's "Black Gold," and it revels in all its juvenile glory.  Listen below.

Sonic Advent Calendar: Day 5 - Christmas at Ground Zero

An irreverent Christmas song from a non-Christmas album, Weird Al Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero," from 1986's "Polka Party!," was a silly piece of satire meshing holiday cheer with Cold War anxieties, a pretty perfect reflection of 1980's nuclear fear...that suddenly feels all the more prophetic due to our current political climate.

Weird Al - Christmas at Ground Zero

Holy crap!  Christmas is in one week!  Now, while Halloween is probably my favorite holiday, i still love the Christmas season, despite corporate America's attempts to deaden us all just a little bit more every year.  So, for the next few days, i'll be posting some of my favorite Christmas stuff...music, videos, movie trailers, the works.  Let's kick it off with the video for Weird Al Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero" from the 1986 album "Polka Party."  Merry Christmas everyone!

Huey Lewis kills Weird Al

Let it be known that i have an eternal soft spot in my heart for Huey Lewis and The News.  Maybe it's because i was a little kid when i heard "The Heart of Rock and Roll" for the first time.  Maybe it was "Back to The Future."  Maybe it was Weird Al Yankovic's parody.  There's really no telling.  I can tell you though, that the Funny or Die sketch below reenacting a scene from "American Psycho" with Huey Lewis as Patrick Bateman and Weird Al as his hapless victim is pure, unadulterated genius.  Watch below.

Side story:  In 2010 as SXSW, a rumor circulated that Huey Lewis was going to play a secret show on top of the roof at the Whole Foods downtown.  It was a cruel, cruel hoax.  Anyway, enjoy the video.

American Psycho with Huey Lewis and Weird Al from Huey Lewis