Friday, December 10, 2004

If I Could Choose a Guru...

...it would be "Weird" Al Yankovich. He is awesome. Why am I suddenly in awe of Al? I am not sure. Maybe I was afraid to like him when I was younger. I was a reader when I was younger, not a nerd. Always trying to fit in. I think that is what I like most about him. Dare to be different? No! Dare to be me!!! Yay!!! ^.^ To learn in the ways of Al. How did Al get his start in the music business? As a teenager, Al began sending homemade tapes of his songs to Dr. Demento, a nationally syndicated disc jockey known for playing comedy and novelty music. Demento found a certain charm in the accordion-powered ditties that Al recorded on a cheap cassette player in his own bedroom, and gave him his first airplay. By the time Al graduated from college, he not only had a modest cult following from the good Doctor's radio show, but he also had a couple of nationally-released singles ("My Bologna" and "Another One Rides The Bus"). In 1982 he signed a deal with Scotti Bros. Records, who went on to release all of his albums through Bad Hair Day (1996). Volcano Records eventually bought Scotti Bros. Records, issuing Running With Scissors and Poodle Hat, and re-releasing Al's entire catalog on the Volcano/Way Moby label.