Oh Yeah (Yello song)

"Oh Yeah" is a single released in 1985 by the band Yello and featured on their album Stella. The song features a mix of electronic music and manipulated vocals. The song gained popularity after being featured in the films Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Secret of My Success, among other films. It is a popular staple in pop culture.

"Oh Yeah"
Cover art for 1987 European release
Single by Yello
from the album Stella
B-side
  • "La Habanera"
  • "Oh Yeah (Indian Summer Version)"
Released
  • July 12, 1985 (1985-07-12) (US)
  • September 28, 1987 (1987-09-28) (Europe)
Genre
Length3:08
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Yello
Yello singles chronology
"Desire"
(1985)		 "Oh Yeah"
(1985)		 "Goldrush"
(1986)
Music video
"Oh Yeah (1987 version)" on YouTube

Production

Describing the composition of "Oh Yeah," Boris Blank said:

First I did the music and then I invited Dieter to sing along, and he came up with some lines which I thought, 'no Dieter, it's too complicated, we don't need that many lyrics'. I had the idea of just this guy, a fat little monster sits there very relaxed and says, "Oh yeah, oh yeah". So I told him, 'Why don't you try just to sing on and on 'oh yeah'?... Dieter was very angry when I told him this and he said, 'are you crazy, all the time "Oh yeah"? Are you crazy?! I can't do this, no no, come on, come on.' And then he said, 'some lyrics, like "the moon... beautiful", is this too much?!' and I said, 'no, it's OK', and then he did this 'oh yeah' and at the end he thought, 'yeah it's nice', he loved it himself also. And also I wanted to install lots of human noises, all kind of phonetic rhythms with my mouth; you hear lots of noises in the background which are done with my mouth.[2]

Personnel

Yello[3]

Additional personnel

Charts
Chart performance for "Oh Yeah"
Chart (1987–1988) Peak
position
Australia (Australian Music Report)[4] 8
Germany[5] 47
United States (Billboard Hot 100)[6] 51
United States (Dance Club Songs chart)[7] 36

The song (and others) has been aggressively shopped around, the group going so far as to produce a special "All Time Classics" CD for advertising, television and movies.[8]

The song has been wildly successful, and was the basis for Dieter Meier's investment fortune, which as of 2017 was valued at an estimated $175 million.[9]

Remix

A remix of the song, entitled, "Oh Yeah Oh Six" went to No. 1 on the US dance charts in 2006.[10]

Legacy
Dieter Meier, vocals

After its use in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off — an "incredibly infectious song" from which it became virtually known as 'the Ferris Bueller song'[11][12] — the song was used in various other film soundtracks through the end of the decade and developed a reputation as a 1980s Hollywood cliche.[13][14][15] It was prominently used in the 1987 film The Secret of My Success.[13][14][15][upper-alpha 1] It was also part of the soundtrack in She's Out of Control[9] and Opportunity Knocks.[17] The song was used in a series of Twix commercials from 1988 to 1990. It was also used in the 1989 film K-9.

Film critic Jonathan Bernstein observed that despite never reaching hit status, the song "has become synonymous with avarice and lust. Every time a movie, TV show or commercial wants to underline the jaw-dropping impact of a hot babe or sleek auto, that synth-drum starts popping and that deep voice rumbles, 'Oh yeah…".[18] A 2014 article on The Dissolve website, suggests the song is used to metaphorically represent lust (in various forms) and cocaine.[15]

The song became a conceit on The Simpsons, being used when Duffman appears; an idiomatic staple in video games; and a repeated choice in television advertisements.[9][14][19]

Matthew Broderick reprised his Bueller role in a Honda commercial aired during the Super Bowl XLVI, in which "Oh Yeah" was featured.[20] A teaser for the ad had appeared two weeks prior to the Super Bowl, which had created rumors of a possible film sequel.[21][22] It was produced by Santa Monica-based RPA and directed by Todd Phillips.[23] Adweek's Tim Nudd called the ad "a great homage to the original 1986 film, with Broderick this time calling in sick to a film shoot and enjoying another day of slacking."[23] On the other hand, Jalopnik's Matt Hardigree called the spot "sacrilegious".[24]

The song appears in the video game Gran Turismo 4, both as one of the songs of the racing BGM and the music played when the player fails a License Test.

The song also appears in the live-action/computer-animated musical comedy film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel in the scene of Toby's horrible school memory (at the time Toby was played by Zachary Levi).

The song features prominently in an episode of the comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, "Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack". Characters refer to it as "that song from the 80s, 'Day Bow Bow'" and reference its use in The Secret of My Success. Later in the same episode, the actual song plays when Charlie Kelly talks about himself receiving mail from an imaginary man named Pepe Silvia, which later became an internet meme.

The song was used during a sketch on the TV show Saturday Night Live, with celebrity guest Margot Robbie.[25]

The song was used in a Domino's Pizza commercial in 2017 that homages Ferris Bueller's Day Off;[26]

The song was used in the 2017 films Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie and Spider-Man: Homecoming, the latter using footage from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.[27]

Jerry Smith does karaoke to the song in the Rick and Morty episode "Amortycan Grickfitti" while his kids joyride in his father-in-law Rick's spaceship.[28]

The song was used in season 3, episode 1 of Sex Education.[29]

It also forms the soundtrack to a one-minute McDonalds advert in 2023 directed by Edgar Wright. [30]

The song was slightly modified and used for the "You Know Where" campaign by the DEKA department store of New Zealand in the mid to late 1990's.

References

Notes
  1. Although it did not appear on the soundtrack album.[16]

Citations
  1. Molanphy, Chris (September 15, 2023). "Insert Lyrics Here Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  2. Warstad 2013, p. 28.
  3. Warstad 2013, p. 15.
  4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 345. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. "Yello - 'Oh Yeah'". Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  6. "Yello: 'Oh Yeah'". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  7. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 285.
  8. "Yello – Best Of Yello - All Time Classics For Advertising, Tv And Movies". Discogs. Retrieved January 6, 2017. CD handed out to promote using Yello songs for advertising, tv and movies From liner notes
  9. Letzing, John (January 27, 2017). "A-HED 'Oh Yeah,' the Song from 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' Is Catchy, Irritating and the Origin of an Investing Fortune". Wall Street Journal. Zurich. Retrieved January 29, 2017. The quirky techno tune, which accompanied Ferris's Ferrari escapade and loads of other advertisements and Hollywood comedies, helped create a lucrative investment career for its Swiss co-creator
  10. "Hot Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 15, 2006. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  11. "Yello – "Oh Yeah" (AKA That Ferris Bueller Song)". Jack FM, Sparknet Communications. April 19, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  12. Blake, Boston (August 19, 2016). "The 20 Most Overused Songs In Movies And TV". Screen Rant. Retrieved April 17, 2018. Of its inclusion in the movie, writer and critic Jonathan Berstein claimed its use by John Hughes illustrated the "mouthwatering must-haveness of Cameron's dad's Ferrari. Since then, it has become synonymous with lust."
  13. Thomas, William (January 1, 2000). "The Secret of My Success Review". Empire. Retrieved December 31, 2016. ...and a soundtrack that has been hand-picked to get an audience on side.
  14. Munger, Sean (October 10, 2013). "Remember this song from the 80s? "BOUNT BOUNT…(chickachicka)!"". Sean Munger. Retrieved January 2, 2017. Though it didn't make much of a splash when it was first released, "Oh Yeah" became enshrined in popular culture and its history by its inclusion in the 1986 John Hughes movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. How a simple song like this came to almost epitomize an entire era is a pretty fascinating phenomena.
  15. Rabin, Nathan (January 10, 2014). "The Secret Of My Success distills 1987 down to its awful essence". The Dissolve. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved December 31, 2016. [The soundtrack presents] an upbeat montage set to Katrina And The Waves' "Walking On Sunshine," the official anthem of both the 1980s and the popular drug cocaine; and Yello's "Oh Yeah," the other official anthem of both the 1980s and the popular drug cocaine.
  16. "Soundtracks for The Secret of My Success". imdb.com. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  17. Gnoll (April 2004). "The Most Overused Songs in Movie History". Dork droppings. Retrieved January 2, 2017. You probably hear it and immediately want a Snicker's Bar, or one of the other 37,000 products that used the song in a commercial. But this little ditty from Europop pioneers Yello is also pretty common in the movies, particularly comedies from the 1980's. Immediately springing to mind is the classic FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, in which this song was used to its maximum potential. But it was also featured in several other films from the era, including THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS, SHE'S OUT OF CONTROL, and OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS.
  18. Bernstein, Jonathan (1997). Pretty in pink: the golden age of teenage movies. New York NY: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-312-15194-2. Ferris Bueler impact on culture.
  19. Oakley, Bill (2006). Commentary for "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson". The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  20. "'Ferris Bueller' stars in Honda Super Bowl advert". The Telegraph. January 30, 2012. Archived from the original (Article, Video) on February 1, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  21. Cooper, Gael Fashingbauer (January 30, 2012). "Oh yeah! 'Ferris Bueller' Honda ad recreates film". Today. NBC. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  22. Manker, Rob (2012-01-30). "Honda releases complete Ferris Bueller ad". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
  23. "Honda Unveils Ferris Bueller Ad, and It Is Awesome". AdWeek. 2012-01-30. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
  24. Hardigree, Matt (2012-01-30). "SAVE FERRIS From Honda's Sacrilegious Super Bowl Ad". Jalopnik. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
  25. "Margot Robbie blows minds on 'SNL' as a sexy librarian gone very wrong". Mashable. 2 October 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  26. "Domino's Tracker® Ferris Bueller Commercial – Life Moves Fast (:30)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2017-06-17. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
  27. "'Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. June 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  28. "'Rick and Morty Comes of Age and Raises a Little Hell With Two Adventures in Amortycan Grickffiti': Episode Review". Variety_(magazine). 19 July 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  29. Morris, Lauren (2021-09-17). "Sex Education season 3 soundtrack: All songs from Netflix comedy-drama". Radio Times. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  30. "Creative Review - The eyebrows have it in a new campaign from McDonald's". 2023-01-13. Retrieved 2023-01-14.

Bibliography
  • Warstad, Jonas (2013). Stella: The Story Behind the Album. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1-4949-3420-0.
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