A Medley of Extemporanea

Apropos of nothing, I present to you a series of top ten lists based on the work of “Weird Al” Yankovic. I say that (the apropos bit, that is,) but really, this came about as I drove to Montreal, listening with my boys to his oeuvre, and the inevitable “What’s your favourite song?” came up. So here you go.

I was originally going to link all the songs to their respective YouTube videos (if they existed), but it turns out that I’m far too lazy for that, so instead I’ll point you to the “Weird Al” YouTube page, where you can hunt for them on your own, cuz, like, I’m not your servant! And, of course, because I’m lazy, I’m cutting and pasting the titles from Wikipedia, so there are things for you to click, if you feel so inclined.

NB: I’m ignoring Internet Leaks, since it was completely contained within Alpocalypse. Also, I don’t actually own his first album, which is why it’s so poorly represented here… Though I do have the 7” Another One Rides the Bus, which got me into this mess in the first place.

Top Ten Albums

1. Alapalooza (1993)
2. Poodle Hat (2003)
3. Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
4. Dare to Be Stupid (1985)
5. Running with Scissors (1999)
6. Polka Party! (1986)
7. Alpocalypse (2011)
8. Bad Hair Day (1996)
9. “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
10. Off the Deep End (1992)

Top Ten Parody Songs

1. “Canadian Idiot“ Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
2. “Whatever You Like“Alpocalypse (2011)
3. “Couch Potato“ Poodle Hat (2003)
4. “Trash Day” Poodle Hat (2003)
5. “White & Nerdy“ Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
6. “A Complicated Song” Poodle Hat (2003)
7. “Livin’ in the Fridge“ Alapalooza (1993)
8. “It’s All About the Pentiums“ Running with Scissors (1999)
9. “Jurassic Park“ Alapalooza (1993)
10. “King of Suede“ “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
11. *Special mention* “Another One Rides the Bus“ “Weird Al” Yankovic (1983)

Top Ten Original Songs

1. “Close but No Cigar“ Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
2. “I’ll Sue Ya“ Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
3. “One More Minute“ Dare to Be Stupid (1985)
4. “Don’t Wear Those Shoes” Polka Party! (1986)
5. “Hardware Store” Poodle Hat (2003)
6. “Everything You Know Is Wrong” Bad Hair Day (1996)
7. “Trigger Happy“ Off the Deep End (1992)
8. “Dare to Be Stupid“ Dare to Be Stupid (1985)
9. “Your Horoscope for Today“ Running with Scissors (1999)
10. “CNR” Alpocalypse (2011)

Top Ten Videos

1. “White & Nerdy”
2. “Amish Paradise”
3. “Smells Like Nirvana”
4. “Eat It”
5. “Close but No Cigar”
6. “Fat”
7. “It’s All About the Pentiums”
8. “Jurassic Park”
9. “Bedrock Anthem”
10. “Like a Surgeon”

Top Ten Polkas

1. “Polkarama!“ Straight Outta Lynwood (2006)
2. “Polkas on 45“ “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
3. “Angry White Boy Polka“ Poodle Hat (2003)
4. “The Alternative Polka“ Bad Hair Day (1996)
5. “Bohemian Polka” Alapalooza (1993)
6. “Polka Party!“ Polka Party! (1986)
7. “Hooked on Polkas“ Dare to Be Stupid (1985)
8. “Polka Your Eyes Out“ Off the Deep End (1992)
9. “Polka Power!“ Running with Scissors (1999)
10. “Polka Face“ Alpocalypse (2011)

Top Ten Songs based, somehow, on the Boob Tube

1. “Couch Potato“ Poodle Hat (2003)
2. “Jerry Springer“ Running with Scissors (1999)
3. “Bedrock Anthem“ Alapalooza (1993)
4. “Syndicated Inc.” Bad Hair Day (1996)
5. “Frank’s 2000″ TV” Alapalooza (1993)
6. “Talk Soup“ Alapalooza (1993)
7. “Here’s Johnny“ Polka Party! (1986)
8. “The Brady Bunch” “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D (1984)
9. “I Can’t Watch This“ Off the Deep End (1992)
10. “Cable TV” Dare to Be Stupid (1985)

For the curious, K1’s favourite songs are Yoda and Frank’s 2000″ TV, K2’s favourite is Living in the Fridge, and K3’s is Tribute to Pants (I’m not quite convinced he knew what we were talking about).