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Yello is a Swiss
electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...
band, which formed in
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...
in 1979. For most of the band's history, Yello has been a duo consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank; founding member Carlos Perón left in 1983. Their sound is often characterised by unusual music samples and a heavy reliance on rhythm, with Meier as vocalist and lyricist, and Blank providing the music. Among their best known singles are "
Oh Yeah Oh Yeah, Ooh Yeah, or other variants may refer to: Music Albums * ''Oh Yeah'' (Charles Mingus album), 1962 * ''Oh Yeah?'' (album), 1976 album by Jan Hammer * ''Ooh Yeah!'' (album), 1988 album by Hall & Oates * ''Oh Yeah!'' (KC and the Sunshine ...
" (1985), which has appeared in many films and television shows including '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'', '' The Secret of My Success'', '' Uncle Buck'' and ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
''; and " The Race" (1988), which peaked at number 7 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. The band has released 14 studio albums since 1980.


Band history

The band was formed by Boris Blank (keyboards, sampling, percussion, backing vocals) and Carlos Perón (tapes) in the late 1970s. Dieter Meier (vocals, lyrics), a millionaire industrialist and gambler, was brought in when the two founders realised that they needed a singer. The new band's name, Yello, was chosen as a
neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...
based on a comment made by Meier, "a yelled Hello". Yello's first release was the 1979 single "I.T. Splash". The LP '' Solid Pleasure'', featuring the original short version of "
Bostich Ramón Amor Amezcua Sánchez (born November 10, 1962), a.k.a. Bostich, is an electronic music composer. Amezcua is an important figure in electronic music, especially in Mexico, Tijuana, and along the Mexico–United States border regions, but a ...
" (extended to a hit dance single in 1981), was released in November 1980. Yello's first video was made for the song "Pinball Cha Cha" in 1981; this was included in a 1985 video exhibit at
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...
in New York. In early 1983, just after release of ''
You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess ''You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess'' is the third studio album by Swiss electronic band Yello, released in June 1983. It was the last Yello album to feature founding member Carlos Perón. It charted in several countries across Europe, and als ...
'', Perón left Yello in order to pursue a solo career. The band's fourth studio album ''
Stella Stella or STELLA may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Comedy *Stella (comedy group), a comedy troupe consisting of Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black and David Wain Characters *Stella (given name), including a list of characters with th ...
'' went No. 1 in Switzerland in 1985 as the first album ever by a Swiss group to top the Swiss album chart. It also appeared inside the German Top 10 gaining Gold status. The song "
Oh Yeah Oh Yeah, Ooh Yeah, or other variants may refer to: Music Albums * ''Oh Yeah'' (Charles Mingus album), 1962 * ''Oh Yeah?'' (album), 1976 album by Jan Hammer * ''Ooh Yeah!'' (album), 1988 album by Hall & Oates * ''Oh Yeah!'' (KC and the Sunshine ...
" from the album gained the band worldwide attention the following year, after it prominently appeared in the 1986 film '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' and then a year later in '' The Secret of My Success''. The song was released shortly after and became the band's only single to chart in the US, reaching No. 51, and their only top 50 hit in Australia, reaching No. 9. In 1988, single " The Race" from the album ''
Flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design emp ...
'' reached No. 7 in the UK as their only Top 10 hit there. It featured in the film '' Nuns on the Run''. In 1995, a tribute remix album ''
Hands on Yello ''Hands on Yello'' is a remix album by Swiss electronica band Yello, released in 1995. Track listings ''Hands on Yello'' (CD) ''Hands on Yello – The Updates'' (2xCD) "The Updates" were released on 26 June 1995 as a limited double CD. C ...
'' was released featuring remixes by
Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...
,
The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 1 ...
,
Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980 ...
,
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, The Grid and WestBam. In 2005, Yello re-released their early albums '' Solid Pleasure'', ''
Claro Que Si ''Claro Que Si'' is Yello's second album, released in 1981. "Claro que si" is Spanish for "Yes of course" and was reissued in 2005 in part of Yello Remaster Series with rare bonus tracks. Track listing Personnel ; Yello * Boris Blank – e ...
'', ''
You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess ''You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess'' is the third studio album by Swiss electronic band Yello, released in June 1983. It was the last Yello album to feature founding member Carlos Perón. It charted in several countries across Europe, and als ...
'', ''
Stella Stella or STELLA may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Comedy *Stella (comedy group), a comedy troupe consisting of Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black and David Wain Characters *Stella (given name), including a list of characters with th ...
'', '' One Second'' and ''
Flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design emp ...
'', all with bonus tracks, as part of the Yello Remaster Series. A documentary on Yello, ''Electro Pop Made in Switzerland'', directed by
Anka Schmid Anka Schmid (born March 8, 1961 in Zurich, Switzerland) is a film director, screenwriter and video artist. She is considered a German as well as a Swiss artist. Life and education Anka Schmid is the eldest of three daughters of an engineer an ...
, premiered at the Riff Raff cinema in
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...
in September 2005. Yello was commissioned to produce music for the launch of the
Audi A5 The Audi A5 is a series of compact executive coupe cars produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi since June 2007. The A5 range additionally comprises the coupe, cabriolet, and "Sportback" (a five-door liftback with a fastback roofline ...
at the
Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by t ...
in March 2007 and for the Audi A5 commercial in May 2007.


Musical style

Yello's sound is mainly characterised by unusual music samples, a heavy reliance on rhythm and Dieter Meier's dark voice. Yello makes heavy use of sampling in the construction of rhythm tracks, such as in "The Race" from 1988. Boris Blank has taken a couple of vocal turns; on "Swing" (from ''You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess'') and "Blazing Saddles" (from ''Flag''). Guest vocalists have included Rush Winters, Billy Mackenzie,
Stina Nordenstam Kristina Ulrika Nordenstam (born 4 March 1969), better known by her stage name Stina Nordenstam, is a Swedish singer-songwriter and producer. Life and career Nordenstam was born in Stockholm on 4 March 1969. As a child, she was highly influenc ...
, Jade Davies,
Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalist ...
, Heidi Happy and FiFi Rong. The group has shared writing credit with Mackenzie, Winters and Happy. Yello rarely uses samples from previously released music; nearly every instrument has been sampled and re-engineered by Boris Blank, who over the years has built up an original sample library of thousands of named and categorised sounds.


Discography

*'' Solid Pleasure'' (1980) *''
Claro Que Si ''Claro Que Si'' is Yello's second album, released in 1981. "Claro que si" is Spanish for "Yes of course" and was reissued in 2005 in part of Yello Remaster Series with rare bonus tracks. Track listing Personnel ; Yello * Boris Blank – e ...
'' (1981) *''
You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess ''You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess'' is the third studio album by Swiss electronic band Yello, released in June 1983. It was the last Yello album to feature founding member Carlos Perón. It charted in several countries across Europe, and als ...
'' (1983) *''
Stella Stella or STELLA may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Comedy *Stella (comedy group), a comedy troupe consisting of Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black and David Wain Characters *Stella (given name), including a list of characters with th ...
'' (1985) *'' One Second'' (1987) *''
Flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design emp ...
'' (1988) *'' Baby'' (1991) *''
Zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...
'' (1994) *''
Pocket Universe A pocket universe or bubble universe, also colloquially called pocket dimension is a concept in inflationary theory, proposed by Alan Guth. Description It defines a realm like the one that contains the observable universe as only one of many i ...
'' (1997) *''
Motion Picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
'' (1999) *'' The Eye'' (2003) *'' Touch Yello'' (2009) *'' Toy'' (2016) *'' Point'' (2020)


Literature

*Boris Blank/Dieter Meier: Oh Yeah / Yello 40, Edition Patrick Frey, 2021, Zurich. ISBN 978-3-907236-35-2.


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1979 Swiss dance music groups Swiss electronic music groups Synthpop groups Techno music groups Vertigo Records artists Island Records artists Mercury Records artists Polydor Records albums Elektra Records artists