Lauren Rabaino“Weird Al” Yankovic is coming back to where he got his start. The famous parody songwriter and polka master is performing on campus tonight.
When he was an architecture student here, Yankovic used to DJ at the Cal Poly radio station, KCPR. His songwriting skills also got a boost while here – he recorded “My Bologna,” a parody of “My Sharona,” in the second-floor men’s room in the Graphic Arts building for its acoustic qualities.
His mockery of popular songs is well known, from the classic “Eat It” spoof of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” to his newer hits such as “White & Nerdy” and “Canadian Idiot.”
Even more entertaining than the songs themselves are the music videos, and favorites like “Amish Paradise” are a YouTube addiction just waiting to happen.
His show here is part of his “Straight Outta Lynwood” tour. It will be in the Christopher Cohan Center in the Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m.
“I’ve always appreciated his humor and enjoyed the music off his last album,” environmental engineering junior Philip Dutton said. He heard about the performance a while ago, and was able to get tickets before the show sold out.
Yankovic will also help dedicate the new KCPR station on the third floor of the Graphic Arts building today as part of the first Journalism Week.