Conclusion
When I tell people about this project, I often get rather colorful opinions about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I’ve noticed a pattern in these criticisms and they usually fall into one of two categories:
1) I like musician X and musician X isn’t in the Rock Hall, therefore the Rock Hall sucks.
2) Musician X is not Rock & Roll because Rock & Roll is Y.
I tend to ignore the first category because it presents a myopic view of musical taste and an ignorance of the Rock Hall’s goals. But, the second criticism is worth exploring because creating a singular definition of Rock & Roll and housing its history is an impossible task. The Rock Hall makes the most valiant effort possible to “trace the living heritage of rock music, and its impact on American and global culture.” The operative phrase in that quote is “living heritage.” Rock and Roll will mean something different to different people and that is part of its appeal. It’s personal and formative. People base their identities on it. It evolves and changes. Rock and Roll, whatever its definition, is always alive and well because it is not just one kind of music or way of musicking. Hence, the Rock Hall nominating Dolly Parton for induction in 2022, her rejecting the nomination, and the Rock Hall rejecting her rejection. But, there are some unifying attributes represented by the idea of Rock and Roll.
Who says Cleveland doesn’t rock?!
Historically, the phrase “Rock & Roll” was used as a way to sneak music written and performed by black musicians onto Cleveland, Ohio radio stations that only played music by white musicians. The rock ethos was founded on the subversion of social norms and often reflects the habitus of modern pop culture. Rock & Roll represents a collective counter-culture that eventually becomes the new norm. In essence, it is a cyclical social commentary more than an actual musical style. The Rock Hall has declared that Rock and Roll “is not defined by any one genre, rather a sound that moves youth culture.” But young people get old. Their music shifts from representing rebellion to becoming the conduit of habitus. The next generation rebels against the status quo created by their forebears. We all eventually become Abraham Simpson.
The evolution and progression of culture come in a multitude of forms. Parody is just another possible variation on what came before it. In fact, it’s arguably a more honest form musical mimicry compared to some other practices. Any new form of Rock is either an amplification or subversion of what came before it. Weird Al was always able to tap into the music of now, whatever its sound, and adapt to those changes.
“Weird Al” Yankovic has been successfully subverting the subversive arts for more than 40 years. It takes a special kind of genius to remain relevant in the pop zeitgeist that long. In fact, only four artists have had Billboard Top 40 hits in each of the last 4 decades: U2, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and “Weird Al” Yankovic. It is no surprise, then, that Kurt Cobain once journaled that “Weird Al” Yankovic is America’s modern pop-rock genious [sic].”
Hitting moving targets for 40+ years takes a truly unique set of skills that go beyond standard songwriting. One would have to meticulously follow pop culture and also have a keen sense of what will be iconic and what is slag. Weird Al chooses his inspirations very carefully and their lasting relevance speaks volumes.
So, how exactly does he do it?
First and foremost, Weird Al is a spectacular musician. If you actually listen to the music produced by Yankovic and his band, you can hear the care, craftsmanship, and virtuosity put into every note. His high level of musicianship is a necessity because, as a musician whose genre is comedy, his music has to be good enough to tell and accentuate jokes, and not be the joke itself.
Secondly, Weird Al excels at breaking down and then rebuilding entire genres. Each of the individual songs singled out for this project reflect a well-tuned ear for what makes individual artists or entire genres sound unique.
Finally, in an accomplishment that helped define what makes musical comedy acts effective, Weird Al perfected the Musical Double Act, where the performer/lead singer acts as the banana man with the instrumental/background music plays the straight man. This formula has been replicated by every comedic musical act since the 1990s and continues to be the recipe for legitimacy in the comedic music scene.
Musicians are expected to have significant influence on other performers, be stylistically innovative, have a substantially deep and extensive catalogue, and display superior musical skills in order to be considered among the greats of Rock & Roll. As demonstrated throughout this project, “Weird Al” Yankovic exemplifies each of the criteria laid out by the Rock Hall sufficiently enough for recognition. His legitimacy as a Rock & Roll icon reaches far and wide across music, comedy, and pop culture. He is beloved by musicians, comedians, and celebrities alike. Now that many of his fans from the 80s and 90s have grown up and are the current purveyors of pop culture writ large, Weird Al’s legitimacy in the Rock ethos is even more apparent.