Weird Al gets shot down by Lady Gaga

[Matthean]

THE GAGA SAGA « AL'S BLOG (http://alyankovic.wordpress.com/the-gaga-saga/)

There's the semi long winded details. At the bottom there is a link for the finished product. I don't care at all for her anyway, but that's just a jerk move to make Al do all of that just for her and then she turns him down in the end.

[Young Drachma]

TL;DR: Weird Al tried to do a parody of Born This Way and she said no.

I thought it was about how he asked her out. I was gonna say "wait, why?"

[jeff061]

My parodies have always fallen under what the courts call “fair use,” and this one was no different, legally allowing me to record and release it without permission. But it has always been my personal policy to get the consent of the original artist before including my parodies on any album, so of course I will respect Gaga’s wishes. However, given the circumstances, I have no problem with allowing people to hear it online, because I also have a personal policy not to completely waste my stinking time.
So I uploaded the song to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUxXKfQkswE), and will be making free mp3 downloads available on weirdal.com shortly. Hope you enjoy it.


Al's awesome.

[CrimsonFox]

That's the kiss of death baby! Everybody knows that letting Weird Al do your song means you're famous and it will only make you more famous. She will tank now!

[Pumpy Tudors]

I haven't read the whole story from Al, but the end result is similar to his parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful." In the case of Blunt, the artist was fine with the parody. The record label balked. Al released the song for free online, and he sings it in concert (usually ending with him wearing a shirt that says "ATLANTIC RECORDS SUCKS").

I'll be seeing Weird Al in concert in about a month, which won't be a first for me... or a second... more like a sixth. I'm still excited.

[JediKooter]

My liking of Pumpy just went up a few notches more.

[Pumpy Tudors]

My liking of Pumpy just went up a few notches more.
Fabulous, now you like me almost as much as those two women I met yesterday. The brunette tried to jump me in the parking lot, and I had to punch her in the forehead with my wedding band. That didn't stop her. She actually thought it was hilarious. Brunettes are so freaky.

You're not going to try to jump me in a parking lot, are you?

[bulletsponge]

i havnt seen gagas version of the song, but i bet weird als is better

[JediKooter]

Fabulous, now you like me almost as much as those two women I met yesterday. The brunette tried to jump me in the parking lot, and I had to punch her in the forehead with my wedding band. That didn't stop her. She actually thought it was hilarious. Brunettes are so freaky.

You're not going to try to jump me in a parking lot, are you?

Well, I am a brunette...

[Pumpy Tudors]

oh shi

[JediKooter]

oh shi

I'm not THAT freaky.

[stevew]

Fabulous, now you like me almost as much as those two women I met yesterday. The brunette tried to jump me in the parking lot, and I had to punch her in the forehead with my wedding band. That didn't stop her. She actually thought it was hilarious. Brunettes are so freaky.

You're not going to try to jump me in a parking lot, are you?

better to punch in head with wedding band than mushroom print on forehead.

I saw those tickets were on sale in pittsburgh and figured you were going.

[Pumpy Tudors]

better to punch in head with wedding band than mushroom print on forehead.

I saw those tickets were on sale in pittsburgh and figured you were going.
Haven't heard the term "mushroom print" before. Does that refer to her putting her big ass on my forehead? Not sure how comfortable I would be with that, as she had a pretty big ass.

You should come to the concert. Bring your woman. I'll bring mine. The night would likely end with somebody dangling from their wrists. Don't worry, that "somebody" usually ends up being me.

[JediKooter]

Haven't heard the term "mushroom print" before. Does that refer to her putting her big ass on my forehead? Not sure how comfortable I would be with that, as she had a pretty big ass.

You should come to the concert. Bring your woman. I'll bring mine. The night would likely end with somebody dangling from their wrists. Don't worry, that "somebody" usually ends up being me.

Oh Pumpy, you're too modest. We know that's not the only thing that you can dangle...if the rumors are true.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Oh Pumpy, you're too modest. We know that's not the only thing that you can dangle...if the rumors are true.
Yeah, just ask the brunette with the big ass and the ring print in her forehead.

[JediKooter]

Yeah, just ask the brunette with the big ass and the ring print in her forehead.

Mmmmm indeed....indeeeeeed.

[PackerFanatic]

Weird Al is amazing.

[Matthean]

Lady Gaga Calls Madonna Plagiarism Charges "Retarded" - Movies, TV & Music - UsMagazine.com (http://www.usmagazine.com/moviestvmusic/news/lady-gaga-calls-madonna-plagiarism-charges-retarded-2011204)

Oh, and news hits that it looks like Lady Gaga got offended when somebody dared to ask her about the Madonna comparisons.

When NME (http://www.nme.com/) asked the 25-year-old star whether she thought "Born This Way" was a knock-off of Madonna's "Express Yourself," the singer (real name: Stefani Germanotta) was outraged. "I'm a songwriter. I've written loads of music. Why would I try to put out a song and think I'm getting one over on everybody? That's retarded."

She raged on: "What a completely ridiculous thing to even question me about… If you put the songs next to each other, side by side, the only similarities are the chord progression. It's the same one that's been in disco music for the last 50 years. Just because I’m the first f***ing artist in 25 years to think of putting it on Top 40 radio, it doesn’t mean I’m a plagiarist, it means that I’m f***ing smart. Sorry."

Yeah, she's a smart one alright.

[Galaxy]

Lady Gaga seems to be not helping her case against Madonna with her "Judas" release.

[mckerney]

GAGA UPDATE! « AL'S BLOG (http://alyankovic.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/gaga-update/)

So either Lady Gaga's manager lied to Weird Al, or she didn't want the bad publicity from turning him down. Either way he will now be doing the song.

[RomaGoth]

Al's awesome.

+1

[tyketime]

GAGA UPDATE! « AL'S BLOG (http://alyankovic.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/gaga-update/)

So either Lady Gaga's manager lied to Weird Al, or she didn't want the bad publicity from turning him down. Either way he will now be doing the song.
I'm guessing the runaway bad press "changed" her mind. I listened to it last night. Great stuff!

[Antmeister]

It still blows my mind that he has been around longer than most people he parodies. I remember first hearing him in the early 80's when I was in elementary school. And 30 years later, he is still around.

[PackerFanatic]

Woohooo!

[Matthean]

GAGA UPDATE! « AL'S BLOG (http://alyankovic.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/gaga-update/)

So either Lady Gaga's manager lied to Weird Al, or she didn't want the bad publicity from turning him down. Either way he will now be doing the song.

"Wait, you mean we are getting completely slammed on the internet for this?"

Lady Gaga seems to be not helping her case against Madonna with her "Judas" release.

And I only did a once listen through, but it's just really a crappy song. (goes takes a second listen) Yep, just got to the chorus and that's a completely forgettable song. She's still all personal hype and a lack of actual talent to me.

[Rizon]

It still blows my mind that he has been around longer than most people he parodies. I remember first hearing him in the early 80's when I was in elementary school. And 30 years later, he is still around.

I have his complete box set ... from 17 years ago.

hxxp://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Record-Weird-Al-Yankovic/dp/B00000I029/ref=tmm_acd_title_0/192-7022248-8449334

[Galaxy]

The sad thing is Lady Gaga really has no choice in "rejecting" the song. She has no choice if Weird Al releases it or not.

[Jughead Spock]

Don't know about y'all, but I cannot WAIT to see the video.

[mckerney]

The sad thing is Lady Gaga really has no choice in "rejecting" the song. She has no choice if Weird Al releases it or not.

Legally she has no choice, Al can release whatever parody songs he wants. Though as he mentions in his blog Al only releases parody songs if the original artist gives him the okay to do so. He's a pure class act. In this case he only released it to the internet because it was the first time ever that when he asked for someone approval that they required him to record it before they would give him an answer.

[RomaGoth]

The best part of this is that Weird Al will still be around after nobody remembers who Lady Ga Ga was.

[Galaxy]

Legally she has no choice, Al can release whatever parody songs he wants. Though as he mentions in his blog Al only releases parody songs if the original artist gives him the okay to do so. He's a pure class act. In this case he only released it to the internet because it was the first time ever that when he asked for someone approval that they required him to record it before they would give him an answer.

Yep.

[Aylmar]

Yep.

Why do you categorize it as "sad"?

[tyketime]

The best part of this is that Weird Al will still be around after nobody remembers who Lady Ga Ga was.
While I understand your point... I'm not so sure I agree. Regardless of whether you like her or not, or agree about her talent, she is unbelievably popular - worldwide.

[sterlingice]

I haven't read the whole story from Al, but the end result is similar to his parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful." In the case of Blunt, the artist was fine with the parody. The record label balked. Al released the song for free online, and he sings it in concert (usually ending with him wearing a shirt that says "ATLANTIC RECORDS SUCKS").

I'll be seeing Weird Al in concert in about a month, which won't be a first for me... or a second... more like a sixth. I'm still excited.

I'm so ticked that we were moving back when he was doing the tour where he did Albuquerque as an encore. I had even vaguely devised plans to go see him in Albuquerque just because I figured he had to do it there.

SI

[Matthean]

I know what's more disturbing than Lady Gaga. Weird Al as Lady Gaga.

<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ss_BmTGv43M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[JonInMiddleGA]

I know what's more disturbing than Lady Gaga.

Not an easy standard to reach.

Weird Al as Lady Gaga.

Congratulations, you accomplished a difficult task.

[Sun Tzu]

Hot.

[JediKooter]

Crap. I thought that was Madonna for a second.

[Rizon]

Weird Al without his curly hair and glasses:

http://amysrobot.com/files/weirdal.JPG

[Rizon]

(he's wearing a short haired wig)

[DanGarion]

Dude, Weird Al playing Gaga looks like Jillian Reynolds (formerly Jillian Barberie)!!!!!!
Jillian Reynolds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jillian_Reynolds)

The stupid wanna be hot weather girl for FOX News and I think like NFL on Fox and stuff...

That is sick shit.

[ntndeacon]

I figured the Madonna was Julie Brown... She did a mockumentary like madonna's documentary , so I could see her doing that too.

[kcchief19]

I didn't think much of the song until the video came out ... Al is pure genius.

[MikeVic]

That face looks pretty bad, imo. Too big or moves around too much when it shouldn't or something. I like a lot of his stuff, but I don't think this was a good video.

[Abe Sargent]

Weird Al without his curly hair and glasses:

http://amysrobot.com/files/weirdal.JPG

It's Neil Tennant! Al as the Doctor!

[CrimsonFox]

You mean David I think unless you're making some weird joke I don't understand.

Wow I've never seen him without the wig. Always assumed it was his real hair. Or maybe it was and this is something new.

[flounder]

Al's new album is $3.99 today at the Amazon MP3 store.

[Radii]

Weird Al is on the BS Report today (with Chuck Klosterman hosting/doing the interview, no Simmons).

direct link: ESPN Radio (http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?id=6689521&autoplay=1&callsign=ESPNRADIO)

[Abe Sargent]

You mean David I think unless you're making some weird joke I don't understand.

Wow I've never seen him without the wig. Always assumed it was his real hair. Or maybe it was and this is something new.

Yeah, sorry. David Tennant took his stage name Tennett from Neil, the lead singe rof my favorite group, so I sometimes get the Tennants confused - my favorite cult/nerd show and my favorite band - both 100% British

[Pumpy Tudors]

Wow I've never seen him without the wig. Always assumed it was his real hair. Or maybe it was and this is something new.
You thought the short hair was his real hair???