Yipes! is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

History

Band members McCurdy, Hoffmann, and Strand had been playing together since 1971, but formed Yipes! in 1977 after the addition of Freese and Bartel.Former Milwaukee favorites Yipes! reuniting for WAMI awards
''

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'', April 12, 2013. After winning a battle of the bands contest, the group submitted a demo tape to

Millennium Records Millennium Records is a defunct record label run by record producer Jimmy Ienner from 1976 to 1983. During its RCA-distributed years, a significant portion of its output was content licensed from Canadian record labels. Hits The label's best-sell ...

, which signed the group. Their debut, self-titled album was issued in 1979, and a follow-up release appeared in 1980. During this time Yipes! opened for

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen ...

, Foreigner,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, and Jefferson Starship. In 1980, Yipes! charted in the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

with its cover of

Darlin' (The Beach Boys song) "Darlin" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album '' Wild Honey''. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, it was inspired by singer Danny Hutton (the title word featured heavily in his vocabulary) and was originally ...

. The band was dropped from their label in 1981 and disbanded soon after. Reviewing the band's debut LP in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "This Wisconsin band is nowhere near as yucky as name and packaging suggest—how can you hate someone who complains that Californians 'got no ceilings on their cars'? Subjects of other cartoons—some simple-minded, some not—include class rivalry, being

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, and the cold war. The problem is leader Pat McCurdy, who has one of those 'good rock voices' that enable the artiste to shout in tune but don't permit much nuance. You can almost see him curling his lip and raising his eyebrows whenever a joke comes up. Oh well." In 2013, the group reunited to play at the

Wisconsin Area Music Industry Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) is an American volunteer organization founded in 1980, and based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its stated purpose is "to educate and recognize the achievements and accomplishments of individuals in the Wisconsin music ...

awards, and was inducted into their Hall of Fame. In 2014, the band reunited again for a concert at Milwaukee's

Summerfest Summerfest is an annual music festival held in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First held in 1968, Summerfest is located at Henry Maier Festival Park, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Milwaukee's central business district. Summerfest attracts app ...

. On May 16, 2015, Yipes! played their third show in 34 years at First Avenue in Minneapolis as part of a reunion/tribute show to the famed but long-closed Minneapolis punk bar Jay's Longhorn. A third, new album was released on December 17, 2018 with the original lineup, entitled "Yipes!!!".

Members

* Pat McCurdy - vocals *Andy Bartel - guitar * Mike Hoffmann - guitar *Pete Strand - bass *Teddy Freese - drums

Discography

*''Yipes!'' (

, 1979) U.S. #177Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Albums''. 6th edition, 2006, p. 1168. *''A Bit Irrational'' (Millennium Records, 1980) *''Yipes!!!'' (Yipes Records, 2018)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1977 Rock music groups from Wisconsin