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YELLOlogy

BORIS BLANK

Boris Blank, born in 1952 in Zurich, never set out to be a rock musician. He never learned to play an instrument or read music. For him the world – whatever he heard, a motor, a clock - everything was and still is music.

This singular world view has served him well. When Yello started recording, the sampler had not even been invented. Boris diligently sampled sounds by recording directly onto tape loops. No one had ever heard such innovative electronic music before, not even the masters of the genre.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without this Swiss electronic duo. Their music belongs to the most influential and remarkable in electronic music.” MOBY

“So there was a producer in Switzerland who had an endless repertoire of bizarre sound samples and original and distinctive synthesizer sounds at his disposal that nobody had ever heard before. Who was this man? How did he create them? The music of Yello helped to mould all music that I would conceive in the future. The detail that was used to produce the many Yello albums has been a guide to how I produce my own music and beats. By the way, Yello IS mad, Oh Yeah.” CARL CRAIG

“The most inspirational thing about Yello is their attitude to music. They have never made a record simply to have a chart hit. It seems to me that they only produce what they love and inspires them. Their records always sound like they’re just a bit more\tthan music.” CARL COX

“Boris Blank: he started it all.” DAVID MORALES

“In the vast array of man machinists, Boris Blank stands alone. He rarely talks about technical details, preferring to use a language of his own. He once described a mix as 'not having enough silver in it'. I first met Boris at Powerplay Studio near Zurich in 1981. He wanted to play me some rough mixes from Claro Que Si and started with Daily Disco and Homer Hossa. The music seemed to roar like a steam-train leaving a trail of smoke against an endless blue sky. I can still remember it today, clear as daylight, it was time and space travel rolled into one. ” IAN TREGONING

Boris Blank’s prolific imagination knows no boundaries, and for this reason he has\tbeen courted by Hollywood film makers and advertisers. His music evokes images in the mind and takes you to continents that you do not know.

He has created the film scores for “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane”, Manga “Space Adventure Cobra” and Penelope Spheeris’s film “Senseless.”

John Hughes used Yello’s international hit “Oh Yeah” in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and the song entered the modern world’s collective unconscious. “The Secret of My Success” with Michael J. Fox soon followed suit and also used the song to describe desire.

Boris has written numerous musical scores for advertising and promotional campaigns, such as Jean Paul Goude’s “Orangina” and “Lee Cooper” and Audi.

Boris’s friendship and collaboration with the late Billy Mackenzie of the Associates was mutually inspirational. Boris produced 6 tracks for Billy, and they merged their talents on Yello’s international hit “The Rhythm Divine”, sung by Shirley Bassey.