YouTube channel<\/a>, and on
Documentary+.<\/p>\n\n\tWhile he\u2019d heard of Yello before, Canfield, who started his career as an assistant to the renowned filmmaker Albert Maysles, admits he knew little about the band when he began his research. After digging around, he learned their names \u2014 producer and keyboard player Blank, now 73, and singer-frontman Dieter Meier, 80 \u2014 and their backgrounds. Meier, for instance, was a provocative performance artist before he joined Blank and co-founder Carlos Per\u00f3n (who left the band in 1983) in Yello. \u201cI was like, \u2018Wow, these guys are amazing, and their music videos are so unusual, and they seem like these real avant garde guys,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cThe song has all these connotations with American culture, and yet these guys are Swiss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tOnce Canfield reached out to Blank and Dieter by way of their manager, the duo were intrigued. \u201cWe were pleasantly surprised when Nick approached us,\u201d Blank says. \u201cAfter a Zoom call, we knew this is our man.\u201d But as Canfield soon learned, finding time in their schedule was more complicated than he first thought. Yello has been an ongoing concern \u2014 the duo released their last album, Point<\/em>, five years ago, and is working on a new one for 2026 release \u2014 but music is only part of their portfolio. \u201cTheir manager said, \u2018Oh, we\u2019d love to do this, but I don\u2019t know how much time they can give you, because they\u2019re very busy, and they are making a new album and Dieter has many businesses,\u2019\u201d recalls Canfield, who learned that Meier has a ranch and winery in Argentina and restaurants there and in Europe, much of it thanks to recurring royalties from \u201cOh Yeah.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\tAfter a few months and a Kickstarter that raised $16,590 to fund the movie, Canfield found himself in the Yello studio \u2014 the basement of Meier\u2019s house in Zurich. Canfield admits that the two \u201cdidn\u2019t quite know what to expect\u201d when he showed up. \u201cThey knew it was going to be about this song, and they\u2019re well aware it\u2019s their legacy,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think they thought this was going to be as serious of a film as it is. I showed up with serious equipment and had all these printed questions. Halfway through my interview with Dieter, he\u2019s looking at the stack of pages and says, \u2018How many more pages are there? I want to go play golf.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tBut the two wound up giving Canfield two days of their time, and the director came to appreciate their eccentricities and lifestyle. \u201cThey\u2019re about art for art\u2019s sake,\u201d he says. \u201cThey just love making music and videos, and they just do it because they have the means to do it. They don\u2019t care about fame. I found that really refreshing.\u201d Given that \u201cOh Yeah\u201d doesn\u2019t incorporate any conventional instruments, Canfield also came to realize how influential Blank was. \u201cBoris really is a pioneer in sampled and electronic music,\u201d he says. \u201cHe\u2019s been recording sounds his whole life and has this amazing library of over 40,000 sounds he used to make music with.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn addition to Meier and Blank, who talk about their working relationship and the origins of \u201cOh Yeah,\u201d the film also includes commentary from musician-writer-comedian Reggie Watts, Eighties music expert Lori Majewski, and others. British movie executive Tarquin Gotch, the music supervisor on Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off <\/em>(and other films by the late John Hughes), explains how \u201cOh Yeah\u201d wound up in the iconic scene in which Ferris (Matthew Broderick) finagles his way into the front seat of the prized 1961 Ferrari owned by the father of his bud Cameron (Alan Ruck). Broderick himself wasn\u2019t available \u2014 although Canfield did ask him at a public Q&A session if he\u2019d want to be in the movie and didn\u2019t receive a direct response. But through a lucky connection, Canfield was able to interview Ruck: Ruck and Canfield\u2019s niece, Juliana Canfield, were co-stars in Succession<\/em> (Juliana Canfield played Kendall Roy\u2019s assistant, Jess).<\/p>\n\n\tCanfield feels the film\u2019s brevity \u2014 only 17 minutes \u2014 is an ideal length for its subject. \u201cI wanted to focus on the song, its trajectory, and its cultural impact,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a fun, digestible story, and I thought it was something that would be good in a short form. I was reading a review where someone wrote, \u2018I thought why is this just a short, but when I got to the end, it was the perfect length.\u2019 A specific examination, like one song, can be the best way to reveal something larger about our society.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs for Yello\u2019s reaction to Oh Yeah!,<\/em> Canfield says, \u201cI think they enjoyed having their personal back stories in there, and it was nice for them to hear about how their song is really appreciated in America, because they don\u2019t get over here all that much.\u201d And that added exclamation point in the title? \u201cAside from wanting to differentiate it from the song, I thought it warranted it conceptually,\u201d he says. \u201cThe film and the song have that energy, and the way it\u2019s utilized in our culture is to convey enthusiasm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tOh Yeah!<\/em> credits:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tDirector & Producer<\/strong>: Nick Canfield
Co-Producers<\/strong>: Justin Levy, Paul Lovelace
Executive Producers<\/strong>: Alexandra Dale, Justin Lacob, Bryn Mooser, David Dodge, Jason Fine, Gus Wenner
Archival Producer<\/strong>: Debra McClutchy
Editor<\/strong>: Paul Lovelace
Featuring<\/strong>: Alan Ruck, Reggie Watts, Lori Majewski, Merck Mercuriadis, Tarquin Gotch, David Kamp, Ian Tregoning, Dieter Meier, Boris Blank
Made In Association with Rolling Stone Films and Documentary+<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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