Jay* November 17, 1994
ilSBIIll
llamy bringing unique style of comedy to A&M
ay • November 1
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3 food they colleetMamy got his comedic start in a beauty
edy said people rint of all places. While attending Rut-
traffic congestion■niversity, Bellamy participated in a
vith Elephant Walpeauty pageant, complete with
Ity and staff and wear and evening wear competitions,
ampus may want® it was the talent competition that gave
• the possibility cl Ms first set as a comic,
can allow extra tiM to have a talent, and I wanted to do
ing totally different,” he said. “I tried
it worked. Once I got up there, I was
ait a minute. I’m good to go.’”
pamy’s energetic style of comedy is a
one. Like his idol, Bill Cosby, Bellamy
using profanity and sexual vulgarity in
tine.
ink a lot of people rely on profanity as
which is not really necessary when the
funny,” he said. “That was one of the
I didn’t want at all. My comedy — it’s
be raw, comfortable, silly, have flavor
ill be funny.”
lamy even graced the stage of HBO’s
Aggie life
The Battalion • P AGE 3
xas A&M, prepare for a booty call,
omedian and MTV personality Bill
ellamy will be performing at Rudder
uditorium Saturday at 7 p.m. as part
Town Hall and AJpha Phi Alpha’s Def
,c Jam.
amy explained that a booty call, also
e of his Showtime comedy special, is
rence to guys that call late at night
anna get with the ladies. Either you
|o see them or you want to make sure
l their campus fe]
le said.
Correction
itional informat;
eluded from an
•ing in Wednesli
of The Battalion,
hite said an Ord
stated people L— ■ ™ ... ■
xuals were 78 per )me dy Jam, a showcase of black comedi-
pt than heterosen
?st children.
is survey was ail
>f misconceptions j
1 about homoser:
at they were not
a molest children,
‘ganization keeping campus bavrierfree for disabled students
n: Why We Can’ll!
m from one of I:
said it is importari
take Allen’s messal
L change seriously. I
this is very impor*
ans that at times is extremely racy. But de
spite his relatively clean routine, Bellamy
made it out alive and scored well with the
crowd with topics everyone could relate to.
“I wasn’t talkin’ about sex and all that,” he
said. “I was smart and talking about subject
matter that would grab the audience’s atten
tion.”
This paved the way for Bellamy’s road to
MTV. At the HBO taping, an MTV vice presi
dent in the talent department saw Bellamy
and approached him for an R&B-format show.
“She tapped me on the shoulder and asked
if I was interested in R&B music,” Bellamy
said. “She said ‘We got this cool show going
and we need a cool host. Would you like to do
it?’ And I’m like ‘Yeah, if you tollin’ the truth!”
Enter “MTV Jams,” a daily program featur
ing the latest video hits in R&B and hip hop.
And as the host of the show, Bellamy has had
some mind-blowing encounters with the top
stars in music.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I never thought
in a million years I would be bangin’ with
these people. These are people that everybody
wants to meet, but I meet them on a whole dif
ferent plane. It’s not like ‘Oh my God,’ it’s just
real smooth.”
Bellamy even ran into the artist formerly
known as Prince at a club.
“He’s like real cool, just sittin’ there,” Bel
lamy said. “Someone came up and said ‘Some
one wants to meet you.’ I turn around and I’m
like ‘Who?’ I can’t see him ‘cause he’s so
short.”
After being complimented by His Royal
Badness, Bellamy said he was amazed to even
be recognized by the reclusive star.
“He said ‘You really do a great job. Keep
up the good work.’ Yo, man — Prince watch
es MTV!”
But perhaps the artist with whom Bel
lamy has the best relationship with is Janet
Jackson. After two MTV specials featuring
Jackson, Bellamy said they quickly became
friends.
“We just hit it off,” he said. “I can just
call her up and say ‘What’s up?”
Bellamy said his role as host of the show
has quickly associated himself with R&B
music.
“I’m really happy about that — when peo
ple think of music on MTV, they put my face
with it. I’ve become synonymous with it, be
cause I bring it to the masses with a lot of
fun.”
Another dream assignment for Bellamy
was when MTV sent him to Woodstock ’94 to
cover the wild festivities.
“It was like chaos,” he said. “It was mud
dy, stinky, funky. I had mud up to the crack
of my butt. It was like one of those things
that you had to have been there. For one
moment, everyone came together for one
cause.”
But despite Bellamy’s hectic schedule, he
still finds time to work on his comedy rou
tines. And college audiences are the perfect
audiences.
“It’s fun,” he said. “The energy is always
really high, and they are really my target
audience.”
And Bellamy said Texas A&M will be no
different.
“Tell the Aggies that when Bill Bellamy
comes to town — ain’t nothin’ but a party.”
tjyfelaAi '
Bill Bellamy
largaret Claughton
Sattalion
n organization is making sure
that Texas A&M is “barrier free”
for students with disabilities,
y We Can’t Wait. Support Services for Students With
Leslie, studentMilities (SSSD) is an organization
orks to enable students with
and physical disabilities to par
te fully in the college experience,
e try to create a climate where
and broaderfutofle with disabilities know they can
1. “Take whatsteslihatthey want to do,” said Gail
nd go out and tsiafeers, assistant director of SSSD.
id." Walters said the organization works
an accessible environment on
M campus.
ID works directly with disabled
ts to accommodate their needs
and out of the classroom.
) officials interview students
isabilities at the beginning of
eate;
ght. Would it be;
the sake of ours? j
time a residence cl
from a female hall
rey Bresler,
tuations are note
• residents supp
that they had oil!
to. Legettistheo
lents do not wanti
ir residents sipeij
r ant to give up t
I Law,” Bresler sail
make the final (kl
lade up of Resii
’uesday night
tt.
'W consider the
of the EHA and
i final decision.
each semester. Their needs are evalu
ated and appropriate services are pro
vided.
Services are available to help any
one from wheelchair users, blind stu
dents and students with Attention
Deficit Disorder.
Reggie Deal, a journalism major
who is blind, utilizes support services
in many ways, primarily for tests and
reading assignments.
SSSD provides readers for Deal
whenever they are needed.
Deal said the services offered at
A&M are far better than other univer
sities.
“The amount of services is like night
and day,” he said. “They’ve got all
sorts of people who volunteer to do
reading and there’s a lot more equip
ment we have access to.”
Some technological resources avail
able through SSSD are computers with
braille and speech capabilities, tape
recorders and even laptop computers.
If a student needs services not di
rectly offered by SSSD, the organiza
tion works closely with the University
and community to make sure they get
provided for.
“They’re really helpful,” said Kyle
Kepple, a recipient of SSSD’s services.
“If you have a disability or some kind
of problem, they’ll do what they can to
help you.”
Kepple is also president of Net
works, a student organization that
works with SSSD to increase aware
ness of students with disabilities.
Kepple said the biggest barrier stu
dents with disabilities must overcome
is other peoples’ attitudes.
“We’re working in Networks to get
some attitude adjustments going,” he
said. “There are people with disabili
ties but you wouldn’t know it by look
ing at them, and there are people like
me with (wheel) chairs.”
Kepple said many people who see a
person with a disability see a person
who can’t do certain things.
“We can do the same things every
body else can,” he said. “We just do
them differently.”
But additional accommodations are
sometimes required to allow student
accessibility to different activities.
The Americans with Disabilities
Act, activated in 1992, requires public
entities such as A&M to make sure
programs, goods and services are
available and accessible to people with
disabilities.
Kepple plans to begin working with
the A&M Physical Plant in the spring
to make some campus areas more ac
cessible.
But the physical barriers can some
times be remedied easier than mental
barriers.
The SSSD designed and distributed
a booklet, “Partners in Learning,” to
help faculty and staff members relate
to and understand students with dis
abilities.
Walters said the booklet discusses
the laws and issues concerning disabil
ities.
In addition, the descriptions of dis
abilities are provided and helpful hints
are presented to help staff members
develop open, productive relationships
with disabled students.
In addition, Walters said the SSSD
is working with Parking,Transit and
Traffic Services and the Muster com
mittee to make activities such as Bon
fire and Muster more accessible to dis
abled students.
A disabilities awareness week is
also being planned.
he
Interview with the clown —
analyzing ‘Weird AV Yankovic
3N
lief
Opinion editor
E, Photo editor
Sports editor
gielife editor
avid Winder
Battalion
3:40, he’s not calling. I knew it, I’m never
to be able to talk to my idol. He’s already ten
tes late — he ain’t calling me.
ey, Dave. Telephone for you.”
[1 right man, calm down. Get yourself togeth-
is is only one of the defining moments of
life. Okay, you’ve got your questions and
e got your pen. Pick up the phone slowly,
his is Dave.”
sphanie Dube, Amand)
d Kari Whitley
m, Tiffany Moore, Stacy
meron, Blake Griggs,
a ley Stavinoha
r, Stewart Doreen and
a, Erin Hill, Jeremy Kedd 1
>eth Preston, Gerardo
kley
le Oleson
) Friday duringtheM
immer sessions (exetp 1
Second class pc
McDonald Bulk
Texas A&M Universi 1 !
f Journalism. Editori) 1
/M1.TAMU.EDU.
a or endorsement by
call 845-2696. W
5 Reed McDonald Jl1
S-2678.
as A&M student to
semester, $40 per
, Discover or Ameri 111
“Hey Dave. This is AL”
It was really him. It was no longer a dream, it
was reality. I was talking to “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Now, it was time to ask him those amazing ques
tions I had thought of. One problem, I can’t find
the questions.
“So, Mr. Yankovic, why did you decide to put
out a box set?”
“It was really my record company’s idea,” he
said. “It feels odd because I think I’m too young to
have a box set out. But I have been in the business
15 years so it is kind of nice.”
ankovic’s best make good ‘Record’
David Winder
: Battalion
ice
“Weird Al” Yankovic
“Permanent Record”
Scotti Bros. Records
**** ]/2 (out of five)
The Police, Michael Jackson and Madonna all
de it big doing their own style of music. “Weird
Yankovic made it big doing their music in his
n style.
The master of parody has changed the lyrics
d added an accordion to almost every mega-hit
the late ’70s. In his new four-cd box set “Per
cent Record,” Yankovic puts all his classic
tires and original songs into one collection.
The compilation starts off with the original
:ording of “My Bologna” (a parody of The Knack-
“My Sharona”) and continues through his latest
gle “Headline News” (a parody of The Crash
st Dummies "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm”).
In between you’ll find “Eat It,” “Like A Sur-
on,” and “Smells Like Nhvana.” Then there’s
e parodies that never made it big but are as
creative.
Another One Rides The Bus,” sung to the tune
Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” — “Rid-
g in the bus down the boulevard and the place is
“etty packed / Couldn’t find a seat so I had to
tP “ally i
stand with the perverts in the back.”
Then there’s “Spam,” a parody of “Stand” by
R.E.M — “Spam in the place where 1 live / Ham
and pork / Think about nutrition wonder what’s
inside it now.”
But what always made Yankovic a pleasure to
listen to were his original songs. “Christmas At
Ground Zero,” “This Is The Life” and “Trigger
Happy” rival his best satires.
Yankovic’s pseudo-love songs, however,
reign supreme. “You Don’t Love Me Any
more” is the best.
“I guess I lost a little bit of self es
teem / That time that you made it
with the whole hockey team / You
used to think I was nice / Now you
tell your friends that I’m the anti-
Christ.”
The collection also features '
polka medleys which have ap
peared on almost every album.
Yankovic takes songs such as
Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”
and Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded” and
plays them with accordions instead
of guitars.
If satire makes you laugh, if polka
makes you dance or if you just have some
money to spend then you need Al in a box.
Yankovic entered the business by sending
original tapes into the “Dr. Demento” radio show.
Since then he has recorded some of the funniest
and most creative songs to hit the air waves. He
just can’t decide which is his favorite.
“My favorite original songs would have to be
‘One More Minute’ and ‘You Don’t Love Me Any
more,”’ Yankovic said. “My favorite parodies
would have to be ‘Fat’ and ‘Smells Like Nirvana.’
“I’m asked that question all the time. It’s
kind of hard to answer because I like all of them.
It’s kind of like being asked which nostril is my
favorite.”
Yankovic first gained recognition in 1979
when he did a parody of The Knack’s “My
Sharona” entitled “My Bologna.” He then turned
Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” into “An
other One Rides The Bus.”
Since then, Yankovic has been a barometer of
sorts on what is popular in music.
“After ‘Smells Like Nirvana’ came out, Kurt
Cobain was quoted as saying he knew that they
had ‘made it’ after ‘Weird Al’ did a parody of
them,” Yankovic said. “Brad Roberts of the
Crash Test Dummies said that it was a mile
stone to have a song of theirs parodied by me.”
Not everybody feels that
way, however. Yankovic
has been denied per
mission to use songs
throughout his ca
reer. He will only do
a parody if he has the
consent of the song-
writer.
“It’s all done in
good fun and it helps
their record sales,”
Yankovic said.
“But every once
in a while, we
run into peo
ple that basi
cally have no
sense of hu
mor.”
Yankovic
does have
some subjects
that are
taboo.
“I have a
close circle of
friends that
keep me within
good taste,”
Yankovic said. “I
really don’t think a
parody of (Eric Clapton’s)
‘Tears In Heaven’ would
“Weird Al” Yankovic
be too good of an idea.”
There it is, you’ve asked him all the questions
you could remember. Ask him if he wants to add
anything.
“I feel you have peeled back the layers and ex
posed an Al that nobody really knows.”