Weird Al Yankovic

10 of Our Favorite Parody Songs to Celebrate the Day They Became Fair Use

On this day in 1994 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that parodies, commercial or non-commercial, do not violate copyright law. 2 Live Crew had applied for permission to parody Roy Orbinson's "Oh Pretty Woman," but were refused. They made the song anyway, and after a quarter of a million ... More >>

A Musical Celebration of the Oreo Cookie

Do you like cookies? No? Well at least now we know who the hidden aliens are and can send Roddy Piper to deliver fisticuffs and quips about the surplus of ass-kickings inversely proportionate to the scarcity of bubble gum. Seriously, though, cookies are awesome, and it was on this day 101 years ago ... More >>

Here's Elton John In an Astros Jersey In 1986

Today, Houston Astros pitchers and catchers started returning to Kissimmee, Florida, for spring training in anticipation (and somewhat fright) of the 2013 season and their debut in the American League. Rewind: Rockin' Houston Site Is a Glorious Monument to Local Concerts Past In honor of baseba ... More >>

Christmas Past: 10 Christmas Songs That Are Really About Drugs

While we celebrate the holidays, Rocks Off is resurrecting a few of our best Christmas-themed blogs from the past few years. (Wait... resurrecting is Easter. Never mind.) This blog originally appeared October 26, 2011. Halloween is right around the corner, so you know what that means: Time to start ... More >>

Top 10 Great Guests for Beyonce's Super Bowl Halftime Show

Beyonce, the queen of all showbiz, is expected to officially be named the halftime headliner at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans sometime today after MTV broke the news Tuesday afternoon. The choice seems fairly sensible. There are precious few pop stars of her magnitude out there right now, although ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Releases Daily Schedule

This morning Fun Fun Fun Fest organizers released the daily schedule for November's three-day orgy of booze, denim, and loudness in the middle of Austin's Auditorium Shores. The color-coded stages -- black, yellow, orange, and blue -- are set up according to genre and size of the act. Last year th ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012: A$AP Rocky, De La Soul, PiL, Santigold, X, Turbonegro, Etc.

This morning Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest, the best music festival in Texas that isn't Free Press Summer Fest, announced their full 2012 lineup after months of teasing us and leaking a handful of names at a time -- and then hip-hop legends Run-D.M.C Tuesday morning. Scheduled for November 2-4 at Audit ... More >>

Insults and the One-Eyed Revolutionary

Top 7 Promotional Music Gimmicks -- Both Used & Unused

One of the most interesting things in the music business is how managers and record companies promote and market their artists. Sometimes they do a great job, and other times they fail. When they do fail, their like that hickey you got three weeks ago -- still there. But, like a hickey, people even ... More >>

Turn The Radio On: Top 10 Musicians Who Should Be DJs

A few years ago, Van Halen front man David Lee Roth filled in for Howard Stern on his nationally syndicated radio show. Roth also served a stint as a deejay for New York's 92.3 Free FM. This is nothing new, because many artists have at some point served as DJs, such as Greg Kihn of the Greg Kihn ba ... More >>

20 Great Versions Of "Bohemian Rhapsody" That Aren't By Queen

This week in 1976, Queen were at the top of the UK singles chart with the epic - taking that word back - operatic, glammy cut "Bohemian Rhapsody" from their November 1975 album, A Night At The Opera. The single is still one of the best-selling releases in the UK, and it even had a resurgence 1991 in ... More >>

10 Christmas Songs That Are Really About Drugs

memecenter.comMerry fuckin' Christmas, mang.​Halloween is right around the corner, so you know what that means: Time to start making a list and checking it twice. Bourbon, gin, scotch, vodka, Xanax, painkillers... Walgreen's and CVS have already stocked their shelves with wrapping paper, plas ... More >>

Weird Al Yankovic

The Top 25 Comedy Rap Songs Of All Time: Nos. 5-1

​Here we are at long last, folks. Here are the top 5 hilarious rap tunes of all time. It was tough to decide who would rule the roost. Seriously, we thought harder about this than we did over naming our daughter. In the end, we think we've saved the best for last. If you've missed the rest o ... More >>

The Top 25 Comedy Rap Songs Of All Time: Nos. 15-11

​The countdown continues (Click here for Nos. 25-21, and here for 20-16). So far we've seen everything from Star Wars raps to Irish street beats to towering mainstream figures like Eddie Murphy, MC Hammer, and Afroman. Today's playlist should be triumph for the nerdcore crowd, and features som ... More >>

Out Today: Bon Iver's Bandwagon Bait, Weird Al Goes Gaga

Greetings From Bon Iver Land! Now, grab a rifle. It's almost dinner time.​In the next few weeks, you may be reading about the new Robert Ellis album, Photographs, so we are just giving you fair warning. It's a stunner through and through, and goes nicely with early morning traffic. Have you ev ... More >>

Get Your Tinfoil Hat, Consortium of Genius Is Coming

Artwork courtesy of consortiumofgenius.com​Rocks Off loves extreme personalities. Whether it's the serene, spiritual symphony that is Tyagaraja, or the pre-frontal lobe melting experience that is Tubby Chubcakes we just can't get enough of people who go screaming over the edge of normalcy like ... More >>

Friday Night: Devo At Warehouse Live

Photos by Jay Lee​Devo Warehouse Live March 25, 2011 See more peek-a-boo pics of Devo, openers Octopus Project and their fans in our slideshow. When Aftermath first heard Devo's latest album, Something for Everybody, we listened with a cringe. It had been 20 years since the band had released ... More >>

Yo Gabba Gabba!'s Greatest Hits

​A year ago, in honor of Sesame Street's 40th birthday, Rocks Off brought you a list of the beloved television program's 10 Best Musical Appearances. But 41 years ago, Nickelodeon didn't exist. Now the network is known for its retro-cool vibe, thanks to bringing back shows from the golden age ... More >>

Top 10 Beatles Parodies And Mashups To Date

​The Beatles' entire catalogue is finally on iTunes and racking up the sales, and we're sure everyone involved at Apple, both the software company and the record label, are happy with the results. The Beatles are cracking the Top 40 again in the United States, and "Hey Jude" is currently the N ... More >>

Saturday Night: Weird Al Yankovic At Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by Jason Wolter​Weird Al Yankovic Verizon Wireless Theater July 17, 2010 Aftermath is probably not going to write very many, and you're probably going to read even fewer, concert reviews that begin by delineating the finer points of parody and satire. But this is Weird Al Yankovic we'r ... More >>

Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al Yankovic Dishes On Gaga, Michael Jackson, McCartney And More

Seth Olenick​While most comedy artists quickly dissipate into one-hit-wonderdom, Weird Al Yankovic has continued to reign as the accordion-toting king of musical satire for over three decades now. In anticipation of Saturday's show at Verizon Wireless Theatre, Rocks Off chatted with Weird Al a ... More >>

Birdemic Shock and Terror

This film is for the birds

Waiting Room: The Brand-New Health-Care Package Needs Its Own Soundtrack

​This past week, the health-care reform debate reached an end, as the bill was passed by Congress Sunday night and signed into law by President Barack Obama on Tuesday. At stake was the health and well-being of millions of uninsured Americans who now stand to be covered by socialized governmen ... More >>

Riff Trax Christmas

'Tis the season to be snarky

Dare to Be Stupid: Weird Al Yankovic Is 50 Today - 50 Years Old!

​ Weird Al Yankovic, the accordion-playing satirist who has made mockery of everything from the American diet to gangsta rap - as if he needs any introduction - turns 50 today. As Rocks Off's editor asked, "How can he be only 50?" It's a good question, because if you're anything like us, Weird Al ... More >>

Modern-Day Jedis - or Wannabe Jedis - In Pop Music

​"For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times... before the Empire." - Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars Sounds pretty impressive, doesn't it? Almost like there somebody had put together a detailed, well thought-out s ... More >>

He Said She Said: A Stripper Soundtrack, Part 2

You can leave your hat on...but get the rest of that kit off fast. The ladies don't mess around when it comes to superficially hot, oiled-up dudes (of questionable sexuality, but does that really matter?) getting naked on the stage at La Bare. But because the musical content at places like Chippend ... More >>

MUY CALIENTE SUMMER EDITION

Ciara: Fantasy Ride

Aftermath: Cake at Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by Craig HlavatyCake has never sounded like anyone else, and no one that came after has ever come close to sounding like the Sacramento band either. It's not like Nirvana or Green Day, with 1,000 copycat bands immediately coming out of the proverbial woodwork to shove out their own shingle. E ... More >>

Tonight: Crystal Stilts at Rudyard's

Crystal Stilts hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., and specializes in the sort of shoegaze-indebted garage rock that's so dangerously laid back it's just short of comatose. I've never caught 'em live, but my guess is that their shows are rapturous, daze-inducing events - religious drone-pop experiences, ... More >>

Single File

Happy Tom Petty Day!

The Blog of Lists: 25 Vegan Musicians

Invincible Czars

Weird Wide Web: International Strange Music Day, Oddmusic, Starving Weirdos, Strange Glue and many more

Ten sites dedicated to offbeat, off-kilter and downright strange music

Retro Active: A Nuclear Era, But I Have No Fear

On set with Weird Al Yankovic

The remaking of "Beautiful Liar"

That Was the Year That Was

Looking back on the local scene in '06

Tech? No!

An imaginary history of electronic music

Smells Like Victory

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Best Comedian

Chingo Bling

Best Concert Venue

Verizon Wireless Theater

Client

Client (Toast Hawaii/Mute)

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Normal Al Yankovic

Ray Stevens Lives!!!

Todd Snider's novelty tunes will tickle your jaded fancy