DIETER MEIER and BORIS BLANK collaborated their talents in 1979 to form the Swiss music group YELLO. Faithful to their own aesthetics, they have amassed the largest modern music cult following in Europe, and defied the jargonistic terms set up by the pop press authorities. Once one drops the needle onto any of their albums, all the pseudo hip definitions of electrofunk and future expressionism are washed down the tubes by the most devastatingly original symphonic-synthesizer music to be created in the 80's. Dieter Meier, an artistic visionary of Life takes charge of the vocals, lyrics, video and musical co-productions. Boris Blank, a self-taught musician with perfect pitch, composes, arranges and mixes all of Yello's music tracks. Alone, he is capable of making a demolition job sound like Mendelssohn's Halleluyah. Together, they channel the most eclectic wave of music in whose waters no other musician dare tread, only admire or borrow from. The group's first single "I.T. Splash" b/w "Gluehead," was well received on the continent, but it was not until they linked up with The Residents' Ralph Records and released the LP "Solid Pleasure" (1980) that they began to cause a stir in the USA and UK obtaining their first dance floor hit with the song "Bostisch" [sic]. Yello's second LP, "Claro Que Si," refined their style and method further, each song being a mini-soundtrack which packed sound scenario and imitations of action, narrative and plot into three minutes, but still left room for you to dance. Though his only previous film experience had been in the avant garde field, Dieter himself directed the video clips for the album's "Pinball Cha Cha" and "The Evening's Young," which made playful use of animation and old movie archetypes. "Pinball Cha Cha" was chosen as one of the 32 examples used in the Museum of Modern Art's 1985 Music Video Exhibition, and it may have been largely on the strength of these videos that Dieter was able to raise the money to make his first full-length movie, "Jetzt und Alles" ("Now and Everything"), from his own script. He describes the film, a kidnap/thriller/mystery/musical which covers the same connections between criminality and celebrity as Nicolas Roeg's "Performance," as a "Zeitgeist movie," reflecting today's "desire for everything" rather than the more specific social and political desires of the 60's. "Jetzt und Alles" was shown at the 1982 Manila International Film Festival, and at the 28th Taormina International Film Festival in Italy. Other projects from this time included the music for a fashion show for the design house of Thierry Mugler in Paris. In 1983, however, Yello made a giant step with the universally acclaimed LP "You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess," a statement of principle borne out in the extraordinary pop soundscapes on the record. Dieter's videos for the tracks "I Love You" and "Lost Again," proved to be some of the most popular on MTV, whilst in Europe his videos for Trio's "DaDaDa" and Alphaville'ss "Big In Japan" were warmly received, the latter chosen as Best Video of 1984 by Sky Channel. Though essentially a studio band, Yello have played live on one occasion in front of a largely black and Hispanic crowd of 3000 at New York's Roxy, which produced the one-sided "Live at the Roxy" EP. The album "Stella," released by Elektra Records in the US and UK, and Phonogram worldwide in 1985, pulled Yello out of the European avant garde underground and into the popular market. The two singles released: "Desire" and "Vicious Games" obtained international success, and both were acclaimed at the Video Awards of MIDEM '86 in Cannes. "Desire," which was shot in Havana, Cuba, won for best video script. The song "Oh Yeah" was chosen for two prominent Hollywood productions as a soundtrack to their films. John Hughes used it for his blockbuster hit "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and "The Secret Of My Success" starring Michael Fox sent it into the top 100 in the United States. Following, "The New Mix in One Go" was released by Phonogram. This is a double album compilation of remixed tracks from their earlier LP's between 1980 and 1985 which sums succinctly the State of Their Art. "The New Mix In One Go" acted as an interlude during which time Boris and Dieter put together their next project, "One Second" -- featuring previous colleagues Rush Winters (vocalist on "Vicious Games" and "Angel No") and guitarist Chico Hablas. "One Second" also enlists ex-Associate Billy MacKenzie and international legend and vocal diva Shirley Bassey. Miss Bassey's performance on "Rhythm Divine" -- her entire vocal track completed in just 45 minutes is one of the highlights of an outstanding album. It features the one-off single "Goldrush" which the band performed atop a mountain of TV sets on 1986's "Eurotube." Other fascinating details include the fact that Billy MacKenzie's backing vocals on "The Rhythm Divine" are over-dubbed 90 times; "Le Secret Farida" is part of a love poem by Om Kassoum, and "Santiago" narrates a story in the Afro Cuban dialect. "One Second" is an album of fascination and surprises. But what of the works to come? Dieter Meier is in the process of developing his film project "Snowball" about a young musician who uses his music to escape from an oppressive, macabre underworld. The British actor Paul McGann (co-star of "Withnail and I") will play the leading role. And musicwise? Dieter says, "Since the release of `One Second,' the daily working process of Yello in their studio has continued. Like painters who give their work to an exhibition, Yello selects some of their songs for an album. This latest one is called `FLAG,' and it combines the roots of the band as sound inventors with their new approach to song writing. Each tune is like a soundtrack to a movie in your head. FLAG is a trip around the world in 40 minutes." Singles on Flag also include the infamous "The Race" which got to No. 7 in the charts and the totally brilliant "Tied Up" plus now "Of Course I'm Lying" -- or are we? (Course we're not). The music of Boris Blank catapults Dieter Meier, who sees himself more as an actor in Blank's sound paintings, into all kinds of situations all over the world. As long as they both land back in the studio for another album, that is the most important thing.