The Residents were one of the first indie bands to create their own corporate infrastructure for producing their products. Between Ralph Records and The Cryptic Corporation, they set up a system for recording, pressing, promoting and distributing the most idiosyncratic collection of vinyl on the market at the time. Soon after I started buying Residents albums, it became apparent to me that Ralph had other artists on offer and one of my first forays into these side roads was the 1981 sophomore LP by Swiss experimental trio, Yello, Claro Que Si.
Though they are now known as a duo, their first LPs were done by a trio consisting of Boris Blank, Carlos Peron & Dieter Meier (Carlos left by 1983). I think my initial attraction to this album came directly from the cover art, depicting a couple of very stylized, mid-century modern looking robots. The retro-futurismo of it all triggered some sort of latent nostalgia switch, even though I was only 18 at the time the album came out. It also just looked like a fun record and it definitely delivered on that.
While I was maybe expecting a Residents clone at first, I should have given them more credit because Yello turned out to be something distinctly their own from the start. It was equally as weird and alien sounding in a lot of ways, but also more accessible with its "pop" sensibility than anything from the eyeball wearing four. One could imagine most of these songs on some alternate universe radio station, someplace where good taste was the driving factor instead of profits, perhaps.
One of the most striking aspects of Yello's music was Dieter's vocals. He was an odd presence for fronting a "pop" band, being mature looking even then and not at all like the sorts of fellows generally behind the mic. And his vocal range and character were unlike anything I'd ever heard before. He could put on all sorts of strange personas and incarnations. From raspy growls to silky baritones, he was a distinct presence on each composition.
Musically, the album introduced me to a lot of very state of the art electronics and offered up an extremely sophisticated production. It was the kind of punchy, crisp production which was to set that bar for electronic music. It still incorporated some traditional musical elements, but it all sounded very modern and the arrangements were unique and full of unexpected dynamics.
As slick as this was, I still wasn't expecting Yello to become as iconic as they did in the next few years, particularly with the Oh Yeah single becoming a staple in cinematic soundtracks in the latter half of the 1980s. But this album was my introduction to the group and remains my sentimental favorite.
