Smells like Nirvana - "Weird Al" Yankovic

Somehow, the music press and media were taking guitar bands from Seattle very seriously at the beginning of the Nineties. The previous obsession with drugs-fuelled dance music was forgotten, everyone suddenly had to listen to screaming bipolar maniacs who'd just come from rehearsal studios without ever seriously studying things like melody or lyrics.

It was refreshing, therefore, that 'Weird Al' Yankovic came with his parody on Nirvana's 'Smells like teen spirit'. Entitled 'Smells like Nirvana', it pokes fun at the socalled 'grunge' band from Seattle and their largely atrocious music. The single reached number 35 in the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, number 48 in Canada, number 38 in Sweden, number 24 in Australia and a rather surprising number 4 in New Zealand!

My collection: 7" single no. 5417
Found: unknown
Tracks: 'Smells like Nirvana' / 'Waffle king'

Like a surgeon - "Weird Al" Yankovic

Although "Weird Al" Yankovic refuses to use parody ideas from other people, Madonna is partly responsible for 'Like a surgeon'. Madonna asked one of her friends how long it would take until Yankovic satirized her song 'Like a virgin' as 'Like a surgeon'. This friend was a mutual friend of Al's manager, Jay Levey. When word got back to Yankovic, he decided it was a good idea and wrote the song. This is the only known time that Yankovic has gotten a parody idea directly from the original artist.

The music video, which takes place in a hospital, can be considered an extension of the parody. Several features of the 'Like a virgin' music video — famously set in Venice - are mimicked: shots of Yankovic singing on a moving gurney are substituted for footage of Madonna on a canal boat, and both videos feature a lion at the beginning.

My collection: 7" single no. 5416
Found: unknown
Cost: unknown
Tracks: 'Like a surgeon' / 'Slime creatures from outer space'

Fat - Weird Al Yankovic

Released in 1988, 'Fat' by Weird Al Yankovic is a parody of Michael Jackson's 1987 single 'Bad'. In a way, Yankovic continued the theme set out by his parody of 'Beat it', entitled 'Eat it'. The music video for 'Fat' was shot in the same subway set as the music video for 'Bad' and parodies a host of elements from that video.

Although the music video was shown numerous times on Dutch television, it did not chart. In the UK singles chart, 'Fat' reached number 80, whereas in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart it peaked at number 99.

My collection: 7" single no. 3998
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received August 12, 2009
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Fat' / 'You make me'

Eat it - Weird Al Yankovic

In a world where Michael Jackson was just about the most famous person alive, it was no wonder that other people tried to make some money out of his work. Or try to parody him. Weird Al Yankovic shot to worldwide fame when he made a parody of Michael Jackson's video for 'Beat it', and a song to match. Entitled 'Eat it', the video was a shot-for-shot parody.

In America, the single made number 12 of the Billboard Hot 100, while it made number 36 in the UK singles chart. The single didn't chart in the Netherlands, but the video was on TV quite regularly.

My collection: 7" single no. 1917

Found: Record fair, Leiden, May 22, 1993

Cost: 5 guilders

Tracks: 'Eat it' / 'That boy could dance'

Download: Album 'In 3D', including both tracks