One-Hit Wonders: “Weird Al” Yankovic And “Eat It”

January 20, 2012 2:00 PM

“Weird Al” Yankovic Says “Eat It” (YouTube)

Filed under

Related tags

1984, Beat It, eat It, One hit wonders, Tributes

From the bedroom to the bathroom to the pop Top 20. So went the path traveled by “Weird Al” Yankovic to find his hit, “Eat It.”

When his friends denied him the opportunity to contribute his accordion playing to their rock and roll band, Al Yankovic salved his wounds with weekly engagements listening to the Dr. Demento show.

At 15, Yankovic got his first taste of fame, the airing of his bedroom-recorded parody of “Another One Bites the Dust” called “Another One Rides the Bus.” With that event, a career was struck.

His take on the Knack’s “My Sharona” (called “My Bologna”) won the favor of the band and a recording contract with Capitol Records. Scads of parodies followed (Hall & Oates‘ “Maneater” turned into “Spameater”) before Yankovic’s version of “Beat It” was OK’d by Michael Jackson as “Eat It.”

It hit #12 in April 1984.