An upcoming book will explore Weird Al Yankovic’s rise to fame in the mid-1980s. The book is titled,Black & White & Weird All Over: The Lost Photographs of Weird Al Yankovic ‘83 - ‘86, and it was compiled by Yankovic’s long-time drummer, Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz. The book boasts a massive amount of previously unreleased black-and-white photographs of the musician and pop parodist, which have been teased for the very first time today. You can read what Schwartz had to say about his’Weird Al’ Yankovicbook below.
“When I was a teen in the early ’70s, I bought my first nice 35mm camera - a used Minolta SRT-101 - from one of the guys in my first band, and quickly caught the photography bug. I bought black-and-white film in large spools and loaded my own rolls, and even set up a darkroom at home. Soon after meeting Al in 1980, the photo opportunities became more frequent and more interesting, and it seemed like I always had the camera with me.”
Black & White & Weird All Over: The Lost Photographs of Weird Al Yankovic ‘83 - ‘86consists of 208 pages and chronicles The “Ricky” Video Shoot, the “I Love Rocky Road” Video Shoot, A Glimpse Into the Recording Process: Overdubs, the “Eat It” Video Shoot, ThePolkaParty! Mixing Session, and the “Living With a Hernia” Video Shoot. In addition to the first image teases, a trailer has been released, featuring audio from the “Ricky” recording session. You can read what Weird Al Yankovic had to say about the upcoming book below.
“The last several decades have beenan amazing ride. More than once - an annoying number of times, actually - Jon has warned me, ‘Someday I’m going to write a book about all this!’ It became a bit of a running joke. But now he’s actually made good on the threat. It’s a fine snapshot - actually, several hundred snapshots - of what life was like for us in the ’80s.”
There will be two versions ofBlack & White & Weird All Over: The Lost Photographs of Weird Al Yankovic ‘83 - ‘86available. The first version is the standard edition, which is currently up for pre-order, with a shipping date of October 27th. The second variant is limited edition to 250 copies worldwide, each with aJon “Bermuda” Schwartzautograph. It also features alternate book cover artwork, silver metallic gilded book edges, and a set of twelve heavyweight 9-inch x 12-inch black-white-prints, suitable for framing, selected for the set by Schwartz. The deluxe limited set goes on sale on August 12th for $95.
With such a small amount and a rather cheap price, one can imagine that the deluxe edition ofBlack & White & Weird All Over: The Lost Photographs of Weird Al Yankovic ‘83 - ‘86will sell out in a matter of minutes, so if you’re interested, it might be time to set up a few computers and phones to ensure purchase. Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz was there for a lot ofWeird Al Yankovic’s most iconic video shootsand the book documents it all. From the set of the “I Love Rocky Road” video to the legendary “Eat It,” Schwartz was snapping hundreds of photos.
Weird Al Yankovic continues to be a dominant force in pop culture. He still sells albums, sells out auditoriums wherever he goes, and seems to keep finding new generations of listeners with each release. Yankovic has sold well over 12 million records worldwide since debuting in 1976 and is continuing to record music. Hopefully he’ll be able to tour again soon. Until then, you can head over to the officialBlack White and Weirdwebsite and pre-order your copy of the photo book.
