Yello

With their music, which is close to Dadaism, the Swiss band Yellow emphatically shaped the world of electronic music beginning in the eighties and, albeit more accidentally than intentionally, paved the way for Techno. Even though their presence diminished significantly in the nineties, Yello never fully withdrew from the scene. With her new album Point, Yello is back once again…

Yes, Stella is the album that includes Yello's biggest hit, "Oh Yeah." It's also their best single LP, an excellent production throughout by Boris Blank, from the theatric instrumentals "Stalakdrama" and "Ciel Ouvert" to the frenetic pitched percussion on "Let Me Cry." As well, Dieter Meier proves he's at his best vocally, whether it's the seamy side of life on "Desert Inn" or an exaggerated leer for "Koladi-ola." Both hit their peak on the same album, and Stella is a complete joy for fans of the vocal or production side of the group.

The seeds of Euro-dance sown on Claro Que Si reached fruition on Yello's next record, naturally titled You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess. There are fewer novelty synth tracks than before, those being replaced by a series of sleazy, deep-throated vocals on "I Love You," "Lost Again," "Heavy Whispers," and the title track. There are also a few exercises in worldbeat synth pop, with heavy percussion on the title track as well as the closing number, "Salut Mayoumba." Though Blank's production doesn't sound as consistently innovative as on the first two Yello records, that's probably due more to other synth pop groups catching up than any comedown on his part.

Another leap in musical sophistication made Yello's second album another high point in the development of synth pop. The future of Euro-disco and dance-pop are easily audible from the opening "Daily Disco" and other tracks like "Pinball Cha Cha," "The Evening's Young," and "Cuad el Habib." Though Claro Que Si is slightly more pop-oriented than the group's debut, with Boris Blank's electronics just as innovative and obtuse as before, that's hardly a step backward.

The most varied and accomplished of any synth pop debut, Yello's first album presents a few irresistible pop songs (the hit "Bostich," plus "Bimbo" and "Eternal Legs"), Boris Blank's synthesizer interpretations of several different forms of music ("Downtown Samba," "Bananas to the Beat," "Rock Stop," "Coast to Polka"), and even a three-song suite of atmospheric industrial music that functions as a miniature invisible soundtrack. The dark lyrical concerns and futurist electronics immediately lifted Yello above the rut of Kraftwerk imitators.

The quirky synthesized noises of Swiss duo Yello have been dance club staples since the early '80s. Early recordings such as Solid Pleasure and You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess were experimental but tuneful synth-pop experiments, combining Dieter Meier's bizarre vocals and Boris Blank's gurgling synthesizer effects to create distinctive, strange, yet compelling dancefloor anthems like "Bostich" and "I Love You." By the mid-'80s, Yello began to incorporate Latin rhythms into its sound, finding a larger U.S. audience along the way; the immortal "Oh Yeah," by far the duo's most recognizable song after being featured in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Secret of My Success, and countless commercials, even crossed over to the U.S. pop chart in 1987.