Here’s A Supercut Of The 77 Cover Songs Weird Al Played On Tour This Year
We know comedy-rock legend “Weird Al” Yankovic for his song parodies, obviously. But he is also a master of the cover song. Over the years, he’s included a ton of medleys of popular tracks on his albums, transforming them into polkas. And when Yankovic and his band hit the road this year, they started off every encore by playing a different cover song. (That includes a New York show where Yankovic made his guitar debut, ambitiously, on a Neil Young cover.) At the end of his tour, they’d done 77 different covers.
Today, Yankovic has shared an audio supercut of all 77 of those covers. The entire collected thing, which is 27 minutes long, is frankly pretty incredible. It presents a certain image of Yankovic’s musical tastes. He likes rave-up rockers, with a special appreciation for early rock ‘n’ roll and for things vaguely associated with punk. But there’s plenty of classic rock in there, and a few alt-rock and disco-era hits. And Smash Mouth’s “All Star.” More to the point, Yankovic likes playing songs that everyone will immediately know.
There were a few moments on the tour where Yankovic played songs with local significance — the Standells’ “Dirty Water” in Boston, for instance, or “Beer Barrel Polka” in Milwaukee. Most of the time, though, it’s randomized, which almost makes it more impressive. Check it out for yourself below.
Let’s all take a moment to pay respect to a truly great entertainers. Because that sounds like work.