Hats off to "Weird Al" Yankovic for carving out a niche in novelty songwriting, many of which parody rock or rap favorites. Yankovic is one of the most successful artists in this genre, and his antics have amassed some pretty big chart hits. While musical styles have changed since his start in the early 80s, Yankovic has showed an amazing ability to adapt and keep making hits. Yankovic's first chart appearance goes all the way back to 1983 when "Ricky," a parody of "Mickey" by Toni Basil, peaked at #63. But what really made him a household name was his parody of "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. Yankovic's "Eat It" soared to #12 and won him a Grammy for Comedy Record. Yankovic would continue to make the charts chuckle from time to time, but his biggest hit to date arrived in 2006 when "White & Nerdy," his parody of "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire landed at #9--his first and only Top 10 hit so far. Yankovic's last chart appearance was in 2014 when "Word Crimes," a parody of "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, reached #39. But I wouldn't count Yankovic out yet. If history is any indicator, he will be back on the charts again soon. "Yoda" explores one of his favorite things to sing about other than food: Star Wars. It is a parody of "Lola" by The Kinks that can be found on his 1985 record, "Dare To Be Stupid."
Baltimore native Greg Kihn and his band made their first chart appearance in 1981 with "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)," which went to #15. But the tune most people link to Greg Kihn is the #2 smash, "Jeopardy" from 1983. "Jeopardy" was such a monster hit that it was one of Weird Al Yankovic's first song parodies: his version, "I Lost On Jeopardy" went to #81 in 1984. It is puzzling why more from Greg Kihn didn't see any remarkable chart action. The follow-up to "Jeopardy" was a poor choice - the mundane "Love Never Fails" stalled at #59. "Someday," from that same record, "Kihnspiracy," would have made a much better choice. Some other underrated gems from his catalogue include "Any Other Woman," "Happy Man," and "Curious." Greg Kihn had a lot of fun spinning his name into album titles. Some additional examples include "Next Of Kihn," "Kihntagious," and, most recently, "Rekihndled." Even his greatest hits played on this theme, entitled "Kihnsolidation."
