The Rhythm Divine: A Retrospective of Yello
Click below on the streaming service of your choice to listen to the playlist as you read along.
This is a profile that exemplifies why I created Ceremony and so thoroughly enjoy writing these profiles. Yello was a band I was aware of growing up and knew many of their songs from Toronto’s alternative radio station, CFNY. I had a few songs on compilations but never appreciated them enough to buy their albums or learn anything about them. I suspect for most North American music fans, the most they knew of them, if anything, was a curious glance at their eccentric videos which played occasionally on the specialty programs on MTV and MuchMusic, or more likely from the prominent use of their song, “Oh Yeah,” in movies such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and The Secret of My Success (1987). I was recently spurred to listen to a bunch of Yello’s songs while reminiscing about early ‘80s music videos and “I Love You” immediately jumped to mind, and that has led to this profile.
The original Yello: Boris Blank, Dieter Meier, and Carlos Perón
Yello is the Swiss duo of Boris Blank (keyboards) and Dieter Meier (vocals). They formed in the late ‘70s and the line-up originally included Carlos Perón, who left the band after the third LP. The band’s name wasn’t a play on the colour, as I’ve always assumed, but was a portmanteau of yell and hello, as in to yell, ‘hello.’ They have released thirteen albums, consistently issuing material since their 1980 debut, Solid Pleasure, through to their most recent, 2016’s Toy. Yello has been popular in their native Switzerland and in neighbouring Germany while only seeing minor chart success in the UK with a few albums and several singles. In North America their chart results have been almost non-existent aside from dance club charts. Still, I have to assume that, similar to my own experience, they’ve had a reasonable fan base this side of the ocean, or at least did through the 1980s.
Their early music began by exploring the experimental and ambient forms of electronica before adapting into more accessible forms with catchier beats and melodies after Peron’s departure. Since then Yello’s sound has been a consistent mix of electronic synths, disco or world beats that drive catchy, quirky rhythms interspersed with heavy use of samples from film and television, and the occasional use of guitar. The most consistent element of their sound has been Meier’s deep vocal, providing as much of a signature to their sound as their distinctive use of electronics. It makes sense to group them with the synth-new wave sub-genre of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s but the lack of melody and pronounced vocal style set them apart, and the lack of dark tones also held them out of the electronic aspects of dark wave. Listening to this playlist I draw out comparisons as diverse as Pigbag, Devo, Matt Bianco, Shriekback, and Leonard Cohen. Yello has truly worked in a genre-defying style and are a bit of an acquired taste, in which for every catchy, club-friendly tune there are many quirky, diverse, avant garde compositions.
Their sounds and trends will be evident as the playlist progresses through their chronology. The first three LPs up until 1983 are quirky and experimental. There followed a period of pop success and a more accessible, yet unique sound in the albums through 1991, from which much of their best work appears in singles like, “I Love You,” Vicious Games,” “Oh Yeah,” “The Rhythm Divine,” “The Race,” and “Rubberbandman.” Thereafter there is a steady mix of their established themes, as their albums mix soul melodies and vocals, samba and latin beats, ambient instrumental pieces, easy listening ballads, and their quirky electro-alt-pop accompanying Dieter’s raspy or rich vocals. There always seems to be a drama to their music that makes their LPs play out like film scores, an intent I understand to be purposeful and deliberate on the duo’s part.
The band has also featured some interesting and unlikely guests, most notably Dame Shirley Bassey, the Welsh singer best known for her James Bond theme songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Her dramatic style fit perfectly on the song, “The Rhythm Divine.” They also had The Associates’ Billy Mackenzie sing on the 1986 song, “Goldrush.” Recent albums have included several guests such as Swedish singer, Stina Nordenstam, Austrian Eurodance singer (of the act, Unique II), Jade Davies (Heidi Pfau), jazz musician Till Brönner, singer Malia, and Swiss pop musician and singer, Heidi Happy.
Incredibly, Yello didn’t do their first live shows until October 2016, when they performed four shows at Kraftwerk in Berlin to promote the album, Toy. Therefore only their videos and music have existed to promote their music, something that likely worked pretty well in the ‘80s but not so much in recent times.
Why do I get the impression these guys would be fun to hang out with?
The more you’re interested in electronic music then the more I think you’ll appreciate Yello. They are especially intriguing given their early and ground-breaking contributions to the rise of electronic music in the early ‘80s. They crossed over into new wave and alternative music worlds without fully inhabiting them within their own creative space. It has allowed them to continue evolving and exploring varied approaches with their electronics. Dieter Meier and Boris Blank are beloved in their native Switzerland, but undeservedly overlooked in the broader music world.
The Playlist - song \ album (year)
Night Flanger \ Solid Pleasure (1980)
Bostich \ Solid Pleasure (1980)
Rock Stop \ Solid Pleasure (1980)
Daily Disco \ Claro Que Si (1981)
Ballet Mecanique \ Claro Que Si (1981)
I Love You \ You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess (1983)
Lost Again \ You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess (1983)
Vicious Games \ Stella (1985)
Oh Yeah \ Stella (1985)
Domingo \ Stella (1985)
Call It Love \ One Second (1987)
The Rhythm Divine \ One Second (1987)
Of Course I’m Lying \ Flag (1988)
The Race \ Flag (1988)
Tied Up in Gear \ Flag (1988)
Rubberbandman \ Baby (1991)
How How \ Zebra (1994)
Night Train \ Zebra (1994)
To the Sea (Radio version/Northern Mix) \ Pocket Universe (1997)
Liquid Lies \ Motion Picture (1999)
Don Turbulento \ The Eye (2003)
You Better Hide \ Touch Yello (2009)
Limbo \ Toy (2016)
Starlight Scene \ Toy (2016)
