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Yello is a Swiss
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
band, which formed in
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
in 1979. For most of the band's history, Yello has been a duo consisting of
Dieter Meier Dieter Meier (born 4 March 1945) is a Swiss musician, conceptual artist and entrepreneur. He is the frontman of the electronic music group Yello, which was co-founded (with ex-member Carlos Perón) by music producer Boris Blank (musician), Boris ...
and Boris Blank; founding member Carlos Perón left in 1983. Their sound is often characterised by unusual music samples and a reliance on rhythm, with Meier as vocalist and lyricist, and Blank providing the music. Among their best known singles are " Oh Yeah" (1985), which has appeared in many films and television shows, including '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'', '' The Secret of My Success'', '' Uncle Buck'' and ''
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''; and " The Race" (1988), which peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. The band has released 14 studio albums since 1980.


History

The band was formed by Boris Blank (keyboards, sampling, percussion, backing vocals) and Carlos Perón (tapes) in the late 1970s.
Dieter Meier Dieter Meier (born 4 March 1945) is a Swiss musician, conceptual artist and entrepreneur. He is the frontman of the electronic music group Yello, which was co-founded (with ex-member Carlos Perón) by music producer Boris Blank (musician), Boris ...
(vocals, lyrics), a millionaire investor and gambler, was brought in when the two founders realized that they needed a singer. The new band's name, Yello, was chosen as a neologism 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" (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. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
in New York. In early 1983, just after release of '' You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess'', Perón left Yello in order to pursue a solo career. The band's fourth studio album '' Stella'' 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" 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 ''
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'' 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'' was released, featuring remixes by Moby,
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 ...
, Carl Craig, Carl Cox, the Grid and WestBam. In 2005, Yello re-released their early albums '' Solid Pleasure'', '' Claro Que Si'', '' You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess'', '' Stella'', '' One Second'' and ''
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'', all with bonus tracks, as part of the Yello Remaster Series. A documentary on Yello, ''Electro Pop Made in Switzerland'', directed by Anka Schmid, premiered at the Riff Raff cinema in
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
in September 2005. Yello was commissioned to produce music for the launch of the Audi A5 at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2007 and for the Audi A5 advertisement in May 2007.


Style

Yello's sound is mainly characterized by unusual music samples, a heavy reliance on rhythm and
Dieter Meier Dieter Meier (born 4 March 1945) is a Swiss musician, conceptual artist and entrepreneur. He is the frontman of the electronic music group Yello, which was co-founded (with ex-member Carlos Perón) by music producer Boris Blank (musician), Boris ...
'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, Jade Davies, Shirley Bassey, 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'' (1981) *'' You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess'' (1983) *'' Stella'' (1985) *'' One Second'' (1987) *''
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'' (1988) *''
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'' (1991) *'' Zebra'' (1994) *'' Pocket Universe'' (1997) *'' Motion Picture'' (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. .


Live performances

The band's first live performance was on the 18th of September 1978 at the Cinema Forum in Zurich titled "''Dead Cat".'' The performance was originally 15-minutes long and only showed Meier, due to Boris' stage fright at the time. Out of the fifteen minutes of the performance, only four minutes have been publicly circulated on the internet. It has never been released on other formats. Their second live performance was in December 1983 at the Roxy Club, where they played a more techno-like remix of '' Bostitch''. It's another 15-minute performance hosted by Dianne Brill. This time Boris is showing himself too. The single is available as a clear vinyl in the remaster series. Their most recent live performance was on third of November 2017 in Berlin, where they played their older and newer songs with additional musicians and background vocalists.


References


External links

* Review album Point a
HIFI-TODAY
* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1979 Swiss dance music groups Swiss electronic music groups Swiss new wave musical groups Synth-pop new wave musical groups Techno music groups Electronic music duos Male musical duos Elektra Records artists Island Records artists Mercury Records artists Polydor Records artists Smash Records artists Stiff Records artists Vertigo Records artists Ralph Records artists English-language musical groups from Switzerland