The song-skewering Weird Al Yankovic returned this year with Running

With Scissors, an LP highlighted by a single, "The Saga Begins"

(RealAudio

excerpt), which parodies the "Star Wars" movies to the tune of

Don McLean's classic "American Pie."

Alfred Matthew Yankovic (no relation to the singing Yankovic family of

polka fame) was born October 23, 1959, in Lynwood, Calif. He began playing

accordion at age 7 and became a fan of syndicated radio host Dr. Demento,

who showcased novelty songs and strange musical acts. Yankovic also worked

as a college-radio DJ.

When he was 20, Yankovic sent a tape of "My Bologna," his parody of the

Knack's "My Sharona," to "The Dr. Demento Show." The track — recorded

in Yankovic's bathroom with his accordion — caught on with radio

listeners and was released by the Knack's label, Capitol Records.

Yankovic scored again with "Another One Rides the Bus," his parody of

Queen's disco song "Another One Bites the Dust." Once signed to a CBS

Records subsidiary, Yankovic's production values improved, as evidenced

by his eponymous 1983 album debut. The LP featured tracks such as "I Love

Rocky Road," "Stop Draggin' My Car Around," and the hit "Ricky," a parody

of Toni Basil's "Mickey" and "I Love Lucy." Yankovic conquered new ground

when the video for "Ricky" was a hit on the burgeoning cable music channel

MTV.

"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984) spawned the hits "I Lost on

Jeopardy" and the top-20, Grammy Award–winning "Eat It," while the

following year's Dare to Be Stupid offered a takeoff on Madonna

with his "Like a Surgeon" parody. The accompanying video, in which he

slithered and writhed like the original, made Yankovic a celebrity.

In 1985, Yankovic starred in "Al TV," an MTV series spoofing music videos.

Yankovic then suffered bombs with the 1986 Polka Party and the

1989 movie "UHF."

Yankovic bounced back with the popular "Fat," off the top-30 Even

Worse (1988). For a highly successful spoof of Michael Jackson's

"Bad," even the self-proclaimed "King of Pop" gave his blessing by lending

Yankovic the subway set he'd used in making his "Bad" video.

Yankovic next scrapped with grunge on Off the Deep End (1992),

which featured the top-40 "Smells Like Nirvana." The LP's cover depicted

Yankovic gazing at a doughnut, much the way the baby on the cover of Nirvana's

Nevermind gazed at a dollar bill.

Yankovic took on rap with his highest-charting LP, Bad Hair Day

(1996). The LP included the track "Amish Paradise," the smash send-up of

Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise."

Yankovic dropped his glasses and slightly defrizzed his trademark curly

hair for 1999's Running With Scissors, which includes "It's All

About the Pentiums," a spoof of Puff Daddy's "It's All About the Benjamins."

"It's perhaps in a mode that's a little less zany than before, in that

there's not a huge laugh every line," Dr. Demento said of "The Saga Begins."

"Every year, [Yankovic has] shown us something more that he could do.

... [He's] opened up new frontiers in the art. In part because he's such

a fine musician, he's been able to do a convincing parody of every musical

style."

Other birthdays on Saturday: Eric Budd (Fireballs), 61; Ellie Greenwich,

59; Freddie Marsden (Gerry & the Pacemakers), 59; Barbara Ann Hawkins

(Dixie Cups), 56; Greg Ridley (Humble Pie), 52; Wurzel (Motorhead), 50;

Dwight Yoakam, 43; Brian Nevin (Big Head Todd & the Monsters), 33; David

Thomas (Take 6), 33.