Yes, the phrase I was hinting at in last night's post was "Genius in France" -- Weird Al's tribute to Zappa, featuring Dweezil on the intro.
Last night I noted that Zappa was often dismissed as a novelty act. Well, Weird Al is a novelty act, and proud of it, but I've heard people take that to mean he's not much of a musician.
But here's the thing: Al and his band are the ultimate chameleons, and that takes some serious talent. They've successfully imitated (deep breath) Eminem, Avril Lavigne, Bob Dylan, Don McLean, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Devo, both Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus, Ritchie Valens, the Talking Heads, Bob Marley, Green Day, the Presidents of the United States of America, Coolio, Billy Joel, They Might Be Giants, R Kelly, Lady Gaga, Nirvana, the Doors, Usher, Queen, John Mellencamp, the Kinks, Joan Jett, the Beatles, Stevie Knicks, the New Kids on the Block, the B-52's, the Police, Randy Newman, Huey Lewis and the News, Tiffany, Billy Idol, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soul Asylum, Elvis Costello, Nine Inch Nails, the Barenaked ladies, and, yes, Frank Zappa, to name a few -- and on more than one occasion I've seen them do probably half that list in one night.
Imitating one band's style may be easy, but imitating dozens' takes some chops. And being consistently funny while doing it for 35 years is, near as I can tell, unique.