The historical and musical evolution of Weird Al Yankovic

[Weird Al is having another moment, thanks to the sort-of-but-not-quite biopic starring Daniel Radcliffe that’s starting to make the rounds. Reader Brett Bernakevitch is obviously a fan and offers this analysis of Weird Al’s evolving style through the decades. – AC]

I wanted to share a connection I’ve drawn between your noted rock/pop cycles in history and Weird Al Yankovic’s polka medleys throughout the years. On most of his albums, he does a polka medley consisting of snippets of some of the most significant songs since his previous album—an ongoing tribute to how he started out with all his songs on the accordion.

Listening to them in aggregate, I think you can observe rock’s relevance come and go (looking back a few years from each medley’s release). This doesn’t hold up 100% through all of them, though it’s more noticeable post-1990.

No problem at all if you don’t feel like listening to all or any of these!

• 1984: Polkas on 45
  • Since this was his first medley, the songs were collected from quite a few years prior. There’s later-to-be-called “classic rock” (The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles), and more recent (at the time) punk and new wave (The Clash, The Talking Heads, Devo).
  • Rock seemed front-of-mind, both its older and newer forms. Perhaps reflecting the conflict post-punk trying to sort out whether classic rock was better, whether punk was relevant, and what was to be made of this “new wave” thing?
• 1985: Hooked on Polkas
  • Pop, new wave, and hair metal have ramped way up.
  • Respectively, Kenny Loggins, Tina Turner, The Jacksons, Hall & Oates; Yes, Duran Duran; Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister.
  • Also Frankie Goes to Hollywood to cover some house synth, and ZZ Top for a bit of “regular” rock.
• 1986: Polka Party!
  • Just about all pop this time. Perhaps new wave losing its punk-iness and becoming more pop-y, along with everything else?
  • Peter Gabriel, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Bananarama, Falco, Aretha Franklin, Eddie Murphy.
• 1989: The Hot Rocks Polka
  • All Rolling Stones songs.
  • More speculation, as always, but could this be indicative of when the term “classic rock” first even became a thing? You’ve touched on that a bit, but I’m not sure if the late 80s were indeed when that started up. Maybe this reflects the legacy rock acts dominating the rock scene in concerts, etc., but I don’t know if that’s accurate.
  • Have you seen this Calvin and Hobbes strip? It’s from 1995, granted.
• 1992: Polka Your Eyes Out
  • Hair metal all but having burnt itself out (Warrant, Mötley Crüe), rap very front-of-mind (Digital Underground, Vanilla Ice), plenty of pop (Janet Jackson, Divinyls) and alt rock just starting to peek through in the form of R.E.M.
  • And Tom’s Diner appears here! The MP3’s day will come!
• 1993: Bohemian Polka
  • Not a medley, but a polka version of Bohemian Rhapsody. I personally encountered the polka before the rhapsody in my life. 😉
  • This Weird Al album was a quick follow-up to the previous one, using songs developed during that album’s production.
  • So, there hadn’t been a few years of songs to draw from for the medley, but what we did have at the time was a huge Wayne’s World craze, and thus a Bohemian Rhapsody craze!
  • And, the album title, Alapalooza, is a riff on Lollapalooza—which indicates alt rock’s rising relevance.
• 1996: The Alternative Polka
  • Alt has arrived!
  • A summary of the best alt rock acts, and all ones with staying power: Beck, STP, Nine Inch Nails, R.E.M., Alanis, the Pumpkins, Chilis, Foos, Soundgarden, Green Day.
  • And Sheryl Crow…though when she became popular was her sound still fairly different for the time?
• 1999: Polka Power!
  • Alt is in shambles…
  • Pop is king (Spice Girls Backstreet Boys, Hanson), “light rock” reflects the positivity of the time (Matchbox Twenty, Smash Mouth), and loads o’ one-hit-wonders from what was left of alt rock (Harvey Danger, Marcy Playground, Semisonic).
  • There’s also Beastie Boys and Marilyn Manson, though. Not quite “regular” alt rock, but maybe heavier acts keeping the flame alive in other ways?
• 2003: Angry White Boy Polka
  • Looking back on the past few years with a what-were-we-thinking attitude.
  • Nu metal very prominent (Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit), but other recent movements covered too: the garage rock back-to-basics sound (Vines, Hives, Strokes, White Stripes), some heavy screaming stuff like Disturbed, Christian rock’s improbable popularity (P.O.D.), and Eminem—maybe giving a taste of how rap was what would endure.
• 2006: Polkarama!
  • Rock has gained true strength and relevance for a time: The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Velvet Revolver, Coldplay, Modest Mouse, Weezer, even Gorillaz.
  • But, the acts here destined to last more are rap, hip hop, and R&B: Kanye West, Rihanna, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Black Eyed Peas.
• From here on, rock doesn’t really factor into Al’s medleys.
• 2011: Polka Face
  • Rock nowhere to be seen.
  • Lady Gaga (eponymous), Flo Rida, Justin Bieber, Pink, Katy Perry, Owl City, Kesha, Taio Cruz, et al.
• 2014: NOW That’s What I Call Polka!
  • More of the same; another few years where rock just hadn’t been as popular in the public eye.
  • Alt rock somewhat represented by Gotye and Foster the People. Perhaps indicating more synth-y pop-y flavour entering alt rock at the time.
  • Otherwise: Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Carly Rae, Kesha, LMFAO, Macklemore. Daft Punk, though!
• 2018: The Hamilton Polka
  • All songs from the Broadway show Hamilton.
  • And that absolutely shows what was in the zeitgeist then!

Accordion-ed out? I’m likely reaching with several of my analogies and assumptions about trends, but I thought it was a fun exercise. And, I don’t want to be dismissive of any of these genres—especially classic rock, which I love alongside alt rock.

But, I think the last few polkas here do indicate that rock may not have another rise, as you’ve noted. Everyone’s tastes are so fragmented, and the way we consume music is different. That’s probably not a bad thing overall, though.