Jem said:

How could anyone make Prince look worse? I mean, have you ever been made fun of?? If you're not an asshole, you laugh at it, don't you? Whats the problem? Ppl are gonna see what they want to see. If they see Prince as even weirder than its just how they view Prince, not how other ppl imitate him. D-Angelo and other ppl have imitated Prince and that came out pretty successfully if you remember.

Rudedog

Harlepolis said:

Because anytime the Prince's fans disagree with something he has said or done he's arrogant. These fans take themselves as seriously as they say Prince does and don't even realize it.

TonyC said:

well said!

Because anytime the Prince's fans disagree with something he has said or done he's arrogant. These fans take themselves as seriously as they say Prince does and don't even realize it.[/quote]

How-so? Do you think everything Prince does is right? Unless you're an asskisser you do. There are helpful ideas that come from fans that Prince should seriously consider. I'm not talking about the fans that just say: PRINCE SUX!!

Rudedog

TonyC said:

Good point, but who would be getting the fatter check? Prince or Weird Al? Doesn't seem to me that Weird Al NEEDS Prince's permission. That music does belong to WB now, ever think Weird Al's asks just out of respect and doesn't do it unless the artist gives his/her permission just out of respect? Hmm...

Remember, Weird Al has parodied many artists and he doesn't NEED to do Prince just to survive financially.

Rudedog

Prince is a joke.

rudedog said:

How-so? Do you think everything Prince does is right? Unless you're an asskisser you do. There are helpful ideas that come from fans that Prince should seriously consider. I'm not talking about the fans that just say: PRINCE SUX!!

Rudedog[/quote]

That's what I was talking about Harlepolis. And anytime someone doesn't take the complaining side of things they're automatically deemed a person who believes everything Prince does as right.

As if ANYONE does everything right.

The only person who still cares about this is Weird Al himself.

He wears it like a badge of honor that Prince turned him down.

Then again, people with tourette's syndrome don't always make the best judgements. We'll just have to wait and see how kindly, or unkindly, history looks upon Prince's decision to turn down the great (yeah, right) Weird Al.

I agree with Prince.. who would want this NO TALENT jerkoff making some dumb song from your song?

Al.. think up your own concept for a song & stop making stupid "remake/comedy" non funny songs.

Is there really a market for this crap still in 2003.. wow the world must be coming to the end.

Prince THANKS for keepin it real! IF you dont like these Hip Hop no talents who need to sample your shit because they ain't talented enough to be real musicans..

then this Weird Al loser is waay waaay down from getting a chance to do your shit

Prince Keep on teh journey!! Forget all these stupid losers who want a piece of the Purple Pie.

Weird Al' Yankovich???

Since when was childish toilet humour funny?

I think Prince likes to be funny and make jokes, as long as he's joking about someone else, but doesnt like it when the tables are turned on him. He has a sense of humor, but he could still learn to lighten up a little more. I love Weird Al, I think he's great.

Weird Al, though I'm not a fan, is a very talented fellow.

He is also very considerate. Copyright law does not require him to ask permission from artists to parody them. He could actually parody Prince's songs as much as he wanted without asking him.

The fact that Al does scores major points in my books!

Yes. Weird Al does not need Prince's permission to do a parody of one of his songs. He is just asking out of respect and is probably trying to avoid the issues that came up with Coolio.
Do you guys rememeber that? Weird Al made a parody of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" from the movie Dangerous Minds. Weird Al made the song "Amish Paradise." Coolio said the song was way too serious to be making fun of and I have to agree.
So basically Weird Al can do whatever he wants, he just doesn't want the backlash that came up way back when.

rudedog said:

I guess I'm an "asshole" then,cause I don't enjoy being made fun of!!
Tell that to all the kids being made fun of right now by jerks in playgrounds everywhere...

gypsyfire said:

HHAHAHA!! You only feed the fire by falling into the trap by taking it seriously. No one likes to be made fun of, but if you take is so seriously, then nobody will ever STOP making fun of you. If you don't care, they'll stop. Basic school-kid psychology. BTW, I was one of those kids that was made fun of. But I'm glad they did, or I would have never have learned that lesson Once you can overcome that, you know that you've matured.

End of Lesson 1

Rudedog

I think the amazing thing (besides the fact that Weird Al still has a career, and good for him) isn't that Prince doesn't give permission but that Michael Jackson DID.

And it's Yankovic -- no 'h'.
[This message was edited Tue Aug 5 19:27:02 PDT 2003 by Jarret]

Tom said:

yep.

Of course he turns that down.

He himself does it better
(The cross -> the christ, old songs with altered arrangements, overdubbing live recordings)

And yet he does persiflages on other "artists" like the Ozzy Osbourne walk, Bono Vox (Dublin concert), Death metal (soundcheck Oberhausen). That's o.k. then ?

Double standard...

prince does have a sence of humour...its quite cheeky but its stll funny.

He says no to this one person and then gets all that negative press.

locoarts said:

You mean like those sycophantic Prince fans who do not understand the concept and the appeal of parody when it's directed at their hero?

All parody does is trivialize the work of others and it wouldn't have helped Prince any even if he did say yes

Some kid wrote this parody tribute to Weird Al..
Off of the song "Little Red Corvette"

I guess I always knew
When you wrote My Bologna
That Another One Rode The Bus

Your skills are like a surgeon
And you smell just like Nirvana
Coolio sure will fuss

You do like Rocky Road
Which is one of the many good foods
You cover in your songs

In an Amish Paradise
You gave the people advice
Including Eat It with Lasagna
And Yoda I said

Weird Al Yankovic
Master of parodies
Weird Al Yankovic
His compositions are never cheese

Well I took your advice
And I dared to be stupid
After I lost on Jeopardy

I felt a little strange
When I heard you were playing
An accordion for us to all see

Believe it or not
I thought it was real cool
Hearing you play polkas for me

You writes parodie so well
So I just said what the hell
And I enjoyed your creative energy
Oh, yeah!

Weird Al Yankovic
Master of parodies
Weird Al Yankovic
His compositions are never cheese

Parodies like yours (parodies like yours)
Are hard to compose (hard to compose)
These creations are a sign of genius
(These creations are a sign of genius)

Move over, Alfred (Move over, Alfred)
Give me the songs (Give me the songs)
I'm gonna try to outdo the parody genius
(I'm gonna try to outdo the parody genius)

Weird Al Yankovic
Master of parodies
Weird Al Yankovic
His compositions are never cheese

Go get an egg and beat it
Go get an egg and beat it (egg and beat it)
Weird Al Yankovic
And when you do you are gonna make
A new funny classic parody

(Weird Al Yankovic)
Classic parody (Go get an egg and beat it)
Write a classic parody (Weird Al Yankovic)
Get an egg and beat it (beat it)
You need to write a classic parody.

Al, you have talent that I admire
And the songs
I say the songs are so good
You must be a genius

Weird Al you're much too good
You write a song, You write a parody
That's a classic
(Weird Al Yankovic)
You got to write one (You got to write one)
Weird Al Yankovic

Cuz if you don't, cuz if you don't
You gonna have to get an egg and just beat it (And just beat it)
And just beat it (And just beat it)
And just beat it (And just beat it)

In Sept 2000 interview he said..

Q: "Do you still even bother to ask Prince for permission?"

AY: "No, I'm waiting for him to have another hit. It might be a while."

http://www.theavclub.com/..._3632.html

There is a LoveSexy soundcheck bootleg in which prince is discussing weird Al's take on Michael Jaccksons 'BAD' = 'FAT'. He was laughing about it and repeating some of the altered lyrics - "im so fat that when i get my shoes shined i just gotta take their word for it". He then led his band into a tight Jam on James Browns 'Payback' (boni on vocals).

Here's the thing, why does Al continue to call if Prince keeps turning him down? Prince is certainly thiking, "Ok I've turned you down the last 20 times, get a clue."

Who the hell cares Al?
Do we have nothing more interesting to write / read about these days people?

Come to think of it, Prince DOES have a sense of humor when it comes to Weird Al. If you dig up Lovesexy Rehearsals Volume 1, on disc 1...you see him and the Lovesexy band laughing at Prince describe Weird Al's FAT video. Prince seemed to really enjoy Weird Al's parady of MJ's video. Hmm, I guess he can laugh when it comes to making fun of someone else but not him. Funny how hypocritical Prince can be sometimes, no?

Rudedog

Universaluv said:

I think Al probably has a little ego himself. Also, I think he just gets a kick out of hearing NO now just for the hell of it.

Rudedog

I think Prince and Weird Al are both a couple of sour lemons.

Prince should have the sense of humor and good sense to let Weird Al do a parody. It's just become a staple of pop culture in this day and age that when you've "arrived" as a pop star, this geek does a parody. It's become more of an homage than "making fun". Turning Weird Al down just makes Prince look like the sourpuss that people already thought he was.

And don't say it's a question of musical integrity. Anything Weird Al would record would be a hell of a lot better than that embarrassingly painful abortion of a cover Dale Bozzio did of "I Would Die 4 U" on that Party O' The Times comp. Talk about times Prince shoulda said NO!!!

As for Al, I've heard him kvetch about Prince turning him down SO MANY TIMES. Let it go, already, will ya Al? Sheesh.