~
date & photographer unknown
Today is the birthday of Boris Blank who was born on January 15, 1952, in Zurich, Switzerland, and was one of the founding members of the VERY avant-garde group, Yello.
In
1981 I discovered his group when I was snagged by this VERY strange
album cover. How could anyone pass up a cover like this?
vinyl LP front cover
photo of album cover by Styrous®
I found Solid Pleasure, their first album release, and their second, Claro Que Si, at the same time. Each album is a doozy in totally different ways! More on Claro Que Si in a future article. The group's style is heavy on electronic based rhythms and melodies all
over-laid with the erotically sinister baritone/bass vocals of Dieter Meier.
Yello was formed by Boris Blank (keyboards, sampling, percussion, backing vocals) and Carlos Perón (tapes) in the late 1970s. After Solid Pleasure was released, Perón left the group. 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 name, Yello, was chosen as a neologism
based on a comment made by Meier, "a yelled Hello". No credit is given
for the front cover design but credit for the back cover is given to
Nick Urbaniak.
vinyl LP back cover detail
back cover design by Nick Urbaniak
back cover design by Nick Urbaniak
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®
The music ranges from semi-disco to extremely trippy! Bimbo is bouncy and jivey, with complicated rhythm layers. It is a great non-disco dance song as is Night Flanger which is fast from the very beginning with no into and lots of electronic effects and great lyrics!
Reverse Lion is a very fast instrumental but in spite of its speed it is delightfully trippy with an extremely sharp end. Magneto is slow, dreamy and VERY trippy with a heartbeat feeling to it. Massage fits into the trippy category as well with an almost religious feeling to it; it goes right into Assistant's Cry which is also trippy but VERY scary! This goes into Bostich which is VERY fast and trippy.
Downtown Samba, is true to its name: a very fast samba that is great to dance to with its Brazilian feel that has nothing what-so-ever to do with Brazil and is VERY "Downtown".
Reverse Lion is a very fast instrumental but in spite of its speed it is delightfully trippy with an extremely sharp end. Magneto is slow, dreamy and VERY trippy with a heartbeat feeling to it. Massage fits into the trippy category as well with an almost religious feeling to it; it goes right into Assistant's Cry which is also trippy but VERY scary! This goes into Bostich which is VERY fast and trippy.
Downtown Samba, is true to its name: a very fast samba that is great to dance to with its Brazilian feel that has nothing what-so-ever to do with Brazil and is VERY "Downtown".
vinyl LP back cover detail
back cover design by Nick Urbaniak
back cover design by Nick Urbaniak
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®
Rock Stop is a great medium speed dance song with a clapping synthesizer effect joined by a boingy
one that gives the song a fun, joyous feeling. It is followed by an
equally fun feeling instrumental with an almost tuba-like sound, Coast To Polka, which has the speed of a runaway freight train.
Blue Green starts with a "flash" that goes into a very quiet but fast gallop beat. It is basically an instrumental but has a non-verbal male chorus. This song features a quietly beautiful guitar played by Chico Hablas. It is an incredible trip song!
Eternal Legs starts suddenly; it is a fast, almost disco dance song with a male chorus and great lyrics. The electronic effects are terrific and it is a lot of fun to dance to it! I remember dancing to an extended DJ version of it at one of the discos in San Francisco. It mixes right into Stanztrigger which is fast but quietly trippy.
Bananas To The Beatis a fun and silly dance song with fun lyrics; it is also a samba and a nice palate changer.
Blue Green starts with a "flash" that goes into a very quiet but fast gallop beat. It is basically an instrumental but has a non-verbal male chorus. This song features a quietly beautiful guitar played by Chico Hablas. It is an incredible trip song!
Eternal Legs starts suddenly; it is a fast, almost disco dance song with a male chorus and great lyrics. The electronic effects are terrific and it is a lot of fun to dance to it! I remember dancing to an extended DJ version of it at one of the discos in San Francisco. It mixes right into Stanztrigger which is fast but quietly trippy.
Bananas To The Beatis a fun and silly dance song with fun lyrics; it is also a samba and a nice palate changer.
vinyl LP back cover detail
back cover design by Nick Urbaniak
back cover design by Nick Urbaniak
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®
Blank
composes and produces solo music, under the name Avant Garden, which is
intended for licensing to the film and TV production industry.
This music is handled by Extreme Music.
Side 1: A1 - Bimbo
A2 - Night Flanger
A3 - Reverse Lion
A4 - Downtown Samba
A5 - Magneto
A6 - Massage
A7 - Assistant's Cry
A8 - Bostich
Side 2:
B1 - Rock Stop
B2 - Coast To Polka
B3 - Blue Green
B4 - Eternal Legs
B5 - Stanztrigger
B6 - Bananas To The Beat
Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – Cryptic Corporation
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Cryptic Corporation
Recorded At – Yello Studio
Recorded At – Platinum One Studio
Lacquer Cut At – Sonic Arts
Mastered At – Greg Lee Processing – L-3035
Manufactured By – Ralph Records
Published By – Pale Pachyderm Publishing
Credits:
Composed By – Boris Blank, Blank* (tracks: A7, B3, B5), Peron* (tracks: A7, B3, B5)
Design [Back Cover] – Nick Urbaniak (2)
Drums – Felix Haug, Walt Kaiser*
Effects, Tape – Carlos Perón
Electronics – Boris Blank
Guitar – Chico Hablas
Lacquer Cut By – LKIKS*
Lyrics By – Dieter Meier
Producer, Engineer – Ursli Weber, Yello
Vocals – Dieter Meier
Notes:
Issued with generic Ralph Records "Official Buy Or Die Innersleeve."
Recorded 1980 at Yello Studio and Platinum One Studio.
℗ © 1980, The Cryptic Corporation
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Runout side A): [Etched] LKIKS [Stamped] ⊏◯⊐ [Etched] YL 8059-L-A L-3035
Matrix / Runout (Runout side B): [Etched] LK [Stamped] ⊏◯⊐ [Etched] YL 8059L / B L-3035-X
Rights Society: BMI
Yello – Solid Pleasure
Label: Ralph Records – YL 8059-L
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 15 Oct 1980
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Viewfinder links:
Boris Blank
Yello
Net links:
The Guardian ~ America thought we were black guys rapping
Official Charts ~ Yello chart list
Solid Pleasure lyrics ~
Bimbo
Night Flanger
Downtown Samba
Assistant's Cry
Rock Stop
Eternal Legs
Bananas To The Beat
Yello website
YouTube links:
Bimbo
Night Flanger
Reverse Lion
Downtown Samba
Magneto
Massage
Assistant's Cry
Bostich
Rock Stop
Coast To Polka
Blue Green
Eternal Legs
Stanztrigger
Happy Birthday, Boris, &
thanks for decades of listening pleasure!
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, January 15, 2020
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