Posted by John J. Moser at 10:07:39 PM on June 2, 2013

There’s no question about it, parody singer “Weird Al” Yankovic says.

A world where virtually everyone has access to YouTube or other Internet video sites, and far more immediately than he does with physical CDs – and a world where music comes and goes with ephemeral popularity, his job has become far harder.

In fact, it’s so difficult that Yankovic, who plays Sands Bethlehem Event Center at 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, says his next album is likely to be his last.

'Weird Al' Yankovic

“I have one more album on my contract, and I’m looking forward to doing more digital distribution,” Yankovic says in a call last week from his Los Angeles home. “Cause I think, particularly with what I have to do, I need to be as immediate as possible, and that means getting my material out quickly.

“So I don’t even know after this next CD if I’ll be doing any kind of traditional releases anymore because it seems like everything I do is geared more toward being online and being immediate. And I’m doing my best to figure out a way to do that.”

If the next CD is his last, it would bring an end to a run of a dozen albums in 30 years that have sold more than 12 million albums—more than any other comedy act in history – with 10 going gold or platinum. He has won three Grammy Awards and been nominated six other times.

He first hit public consciousness in 1979 with the song “My Bologna,” a parody of The Knack’s “My Sharona,” then conquered the charts in 1983 when “Eat It,” his parody of Michael Jackson’s ”Beat It,” hit No. 12 on the pop charts and went gold.

He since has had Top 50 songs with 1985’s “Like a Surgeon” (a parody of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”) 1992’s “Smells Like Nirvana” (Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”) and 1996’s “Amish Paradise” (Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”).

In fact, his songs have sometimes far outlasted the popularity of the songs he parodied. (What has Coolio done lately?)

And surprisingly, Yankovic had his biggest single ever with 2006’s “White & Nerdy” a parody of Chamillionaire's "Ridin'." It became his only Top 10 and platinum-selling song, and his latest album, 2011’s “Alpocalypse,” was his highest-charting, reaching No. 9.

But that disc has been the only one of new material that Yankovic, now 53, has put out in seven years.

“It is getting a little bit harder in terms of the parodies, because there are so many people doing parodies now on YouTube and various other places that it’s difficult to come up with an original idea, or a unique idea,” Yankovic says.

“I mean, I don’t think I’ll be the first person, or certainly not the only person, to ever do a parody of any given song, and it’s just difficult to not be perceived as dated when my parodies come out now, because everything is so immediate.

“I’m also slowing down. In the ‘80s I was releasing an album pretty much every year just because I felt like, ‘If I stop, it will all go away.’ And I don’t have the fear quite as much anymore.”

And the “Alpocalypse” tour that Yankovic will bring to the Sands Event Center is in its third year. “So it’s going to be very much like it’s been for the last couple of years,” he says with a laugh.

“But for people who haven’t seen one of my life shows before, it’s a multi-media kind of show. I’m there with the same band that I’ve had since the beginning of my career. It’s a high-energy rock show, but that’s supplemented with a ton of costume changes and film clips on a big screen.

“It’s a lot of production. There’s a lot going on and I try to give people their money’s worth.”

Yankovic says the fact that “Alpocalypse” was his highest-charting CD can be attributed to having built his audience over the years.

“I’ve been able to hold on to a lot of the audience that I had when I first started out, and now those people are bringing in friends and bringing in their family, and it seems like every tour that I do, it just gets bigger and better,” he says.

“I see multi-generational faces in the audiences. I don’t know exactly why, but it seems like when you become a fan, you just kind of hang in there, it looks like.” And young people continue to discover his music, Yankovic says.

“My fan base has always been fairly young. In fact, when I first started out in the ‘80s it was almost exclusively adolescent boys. And that’s expanded widely since then, but it seems like at a certain age, kids appreciate that kind of humor, that kind of irreverence.

“When I was like 13 years old I was crazy about Mad magazine. So I think that’s always been the absolute core of my audience. But my humor, I like to think, appeals to a lot of different people on different levels, as well.”

As for that final album, Yankovic says he’s working on material now – he was at his computer, editing a song when he took the phone call – but declines to talk about what interests him in music these days.

“It’s hard for me to answer that question without using what I might be doing on the next album,” he says with a laugh. “You know, I never run out of source material because there’s always something ridiculous to make fun of in pop music. So I don’t really want to get into specifics here, but I’ll never lack for material.

“So I am actively working on the next album, and there’s no way of saying when it’s going to be out, but hopefully sometime in the next 30 or 40 years.”

“WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC, 8 p.m. June4, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, 77 Sands Boulevard, Bethlehem. Tickets, $25 to $65, www.ticketmaster.com, www.sandseventcenter.com, 800-745-3000.

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