Eminem Bars 'Weird Al' Parody Video

WashingtonPost.Com ^ | Saturday, May 10, 2003; 7:53 AM | By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY The Associated Press

[Bobby777]

yes, I believe Weird Al is married, and I think you can see the girl (possibly, I think she's in the covertible with him) in the "UHF" video, available on the "UHF" DVD ... not coincidentally ... nice of them to include it in the extras ...

I'll check IMDB ...

yes he is married and has at least one child, according to them ...

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

New one:

[Skywalk]

Most hip hop is "kill whitey?"

LOL

Please, if you want to continue posting on this thread, don't utter such stupid statements.

[Skywalk]

Don't bother PB.

A lot on FR so confuse hip hop culture and the unfortunately terrible new wave of "bling! bling!" garbage perpetrated initially by New Orleans-based artists that they REFUSE to acknowledge any artist or song in the field as being worthy of the name "art."

Because Ludacris promotes thuggery doesn't detract from the great talent of the Roots. Because Snoop sings about "hoes" doesn't detract from the production skills of RZA from Wu-Tang.

But hey, we also know there's another element of something that dare not speak its name involved in such critiques.

[Skywalk]

Busta's first couple of albums were actually quite fun(and good.) He is definitely a clown prince.

I think some people forget that just because something is designed to be good dance music or "get hype" music doesn't mean it's not music.

As for rap in general, I don't know, look at most pop or rock in general--they all currently blow. However, between 1992-1996 there was some REALLY good hip hop music out, with good lyrics, sometimes fun and sometimes serious. It's not the only genre infected by commercialist junk like Juvenile.

[JoshGray]

That's interesting because I never knew they had to get permission to do a song parody.

Legally, he doesn't have to, but Weird Al always tries to get permission anyway. "Amish Paradise" was a mistake due to miscommunication -- Coolio didn't approve, but Weird Al thought he did. I don't know how it applies to videos.

[cardinal4]

Free Weird Al--All you have to do is drive to North Carolina and listen to a four hour spiel about time shares.

[JoshGray]

From Weird Al's FAQ

Does Al get permission to do his parodies?

Al does get permission from the original writers of the songs that he parodies. While the law supports his ability to parody without permission, he feels it's important for him to maintain the relationships that he's built with artists and writers over the years. Plus, Al wants to make sure that he gets his songwriter credit (as writer of new lyrics) as well as his rightful share of the royalties.

What do the original artists think of the parodies?

Most artists are genuinely flattered and consider it an honor to have Weird Al parody their work. Some groups (including Nirvana) claim that they didn't realize that they had really "made it" until Weird Al did a parody of them!

What about Coolio? I heard that he was upset with Al about "Amish Paradise."

That was a very unfortunate case of misunderstanding between Al's people and Coolio's people. Short version of the story: Al recorded "Amish Paradise" after being told by his record label that Coolio had given his permission for the parody. When Al's album came out, Coolio publicly contended that he had never given his blessing, and that he was in fact very offended by the song. Al immediately sent Coolio a very sincere letter of apology for the misunderstanding, but has yet to hear back from him.

Have any artists ever turned Al down for a parody?

Even though most recording artists really do have a pretty good sense of humor, on a few very rare occasions Al has been denied permission to do a parody. Actually, the only artist to turn Al down consistently over the years has been… well, I would tell you, but my keyboard doesn't have that little "symbol thingy" on it.

[ewing]

The current crop really arent 'artists' exempting Missy Elliot and Busta perhaps .

Nelly, Dre, and Snoop know how to sample good grooves, but that doesn't make them musicians..

[Straight Vermonter]

The US Supreme Court decided that parodies are at all times legal even without permission because of the Fair Use doctrine (sound familiar freepers?) The relevant case is CAMPBELL v. ACUFF-ROSE MUSIC, INC and involved the band 2 Live Crew (campbell) in a bid to parody the Roy Orbison song "Pretty Woman".

[Wondervixen]

>>Otherwise her acting sips wind...

Sips wind? No, no, no, her acting sucks powdered eggs!

[steve-b]

I understand that it's Weird Al's policy to get permission, even if it's not a legal requirement. There was a communications snafu over "Amish Paradise", in which Weird Al went ahead in the good-faith belief that he had permission, but it turned out he didn't. AFAIK, this hasn't led to anything more serious than Coolio publicly expressing his annoyance.

[Skywalk]

Oh, it's OK, he's Prince again.

[Skywalk]

This is true, which is why I mention RZA who consistently produced original tracks. Yeah he'd take 2 seconds of something here, .5 from this other thing, but he'd make it completely different than anything you'd heard.

[Delta 21]

Was it Dire Straits that would only let Weird Al do them if Mark Knoffler got to play lead??!!??

Talk about Money for Nuthin!

M&M aint got a brain cell left in his head.

[Bobby777]

the way I understand it, from the Weird Al commentary on the DVD, Mark Knopfler wanted to be in there and was, but believe it or not, Knopfler had actually changed the riff he used on "Money for Nothing" slightly while touring and the one they used for the Weird Al video was actually Weird Al's guitarist repeating the original Dire Straits version ... how about that!?!?

of course that video is in the movie, and the "UHF" theme song is in a video on the bonus materials ... there are some good production stills from the filming in Tulsa, OK and you can see Dr. Demento in the film ... he's in the audience and Michael Richard's runs over and feeds him whipped cream from the aerosol can on "Stanley Spaedowski's Playhouse" ... fun stuff

[cyborg]

Hip hop is not gangsta rap, or rap in general. It is a different genre than rap. Most 'hip hop' isn't about killing whitey. 99% of gangsta rap is about gang banging,drug dealing,sex and all that.

[cyborg]

But hey, we also know there's another element of something that dare not speak its name involved in such critiques

* The element of racism and ignorance? I do not like gangsta rap, but I know the enemy so to speak. However, I notice that some FReepers never miss a beat to jump on the 'bash rap' bandwagon.

[SuziQ]

Ya ain't nobody till "Wierd" Al does you.

That's what the members of 'Nirvana' said when Wierd Al asked them if he could his parody "Smells like Teen Spirit". They knew they had 'arrived'!

[ContentiousObjector]

yeah, he is married and has a kid, they live in Ottawa Canada