"Weird" Al Yankovic first appeared on the pop scene in the late 1970s, parodying hits by everyone from Queen to Madonna. Since then, he has provided a kind of comic relief in the sometimes too-serious world of rock music.
Yankovic recently released his tenth studio album, "Running With Scissors," which includes "The Saga Begins," a "Phantom Menace" sendup to the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie." Other parodies include a takeoff on the Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" - about watching too much Jerry Springer - and the Nine-Inch-Nails-style "Germs." Yankovic performs on October 2 at the Marin Center.
Q: You've gone through something of a physical transformation recently - has that influenced your work or your life in any way?
A: Are you talking about the other arm that I grew out of my back?
Q: Yes, exactly.
A: The laser surgery on my eyes was pretty remarkable. They zapped me and took a couple of minutes and now I can see better than 20/20 without glasses. But the biggest side effect is that right after the operation, I became basically anonymous. It was the whole Clark Kent effect. I took off my glasses, and nobody knew who I was anymore. I decided to lose the mustache as well, because I figured if I'm going to make a change, I might as well really make a change, so now it's Al 2K.
Q: What has motivated you to keep writing funny songs for so many years?
A: It's what I love to do. I feel very fortunate that I can do, for a living, the thing that makes me happy. I've been writing funny songs ever since I was a small kid, pretty much. And I haven't grown tired of it yet.
Q: Is there a method for how you decide which songs are best parodied?
A: I don't know if you'd call it a method really, just whatever kind of jumps out at me on the radio that seems like it's getting overplayed on MTV. I try to go for popular songs, songs that have a really identifiable musical or lyrical hook to them. But ultimately, it all boils down to my being able to come up with a funny idea.
Q: Have your parodies ever gotten you into any serious trouble?
A: No, not really. I make it a personal policy to get permission from the original songwriters when I do a parody, so it's not like they're shocked when the album comes out, saying 'how could you do that?!' At the very least they have an inkling of what I'm going to do. I do spend a lot of time fine-tuning the lyrics and writing the parody, and I don't want to go through all the trouble of writing the song if they never really cared much for parody in the first place.
Q: Was getting permission to do a Nine Inch Nails parody for the new album any problem?
A: I didn't really approach Trent Reznor because when I do a style parody, those are actually original songs. In those cases I usually do the song, and they take it as a tribute, which is what it's meant to be. I come pretty close sometimes, but it's kind of a fine line.
Q: What is some of the best feedback you've gotten from musicians you've parodied in the past?
A: A lot of musicians are amazed by how closely we emulate their stuff. I heard second-hand from Barenaked Ladies that they have a lot of stuff on that song "One Week," and they said, "Wow you really nailed them all, that's amazing." I can't take all the credit personally, my band is pretty amazing at this stuff.
Q: You've written a couple of songs inspired by George Lucas' films and characters. Do you have a good relationship with him?
A: I feel very fortunate that George Lucas has such a great sense of humor. I had an inkling he would like "The Saga Begins" because he did approve "Yoda," which is a song I did for Star Wars way back when. It's great when a person in his position can take a joke.
Q: I heard there was a "Behind the Music" special done on you.
A: A lot of people saw that thing. In fact, that's the main reason people are recognizing me. After "Behind the Music," people all of a sudden were saying, "Oh yeah, that's Al now." I was a little confused as to why they wanted to do one on me, because I haven't had any real downward spirals, I didn't kill my best friend or lose all my money. So it was one of the first ones they've ever done where the subject was actually a pretty happy guy. They interviewed a lot of the people I've parodied over the years, they interviewed college friends, my parents, my band, and it was like seeing my life flash before my eyes.
Q: What do you think people would be most surprised to find out about you?
A: That I'm really a middle-aged Japanese woman.
This article was originally published in the San Rafael News Pointer.