| "Oh Yeah" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover art for 1987 European release | ||||
| Single byYello | ||||
| from the albumStella | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released |
| |||
| Studio | Yello Studio (Zurich, Switzerland)[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:08 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Yello | |||
| Yello singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Oh Yeah (1987 version)" onYouTube | ||||
"Oh Yeah" is a single released in 1985 by the bandYello and featured on their albumStella. The song features a mix of electronic music and manipulated vocals. "Oh Yeah" became a staple in pop culture after being featured in the filmsFerris Bueller's Day Off,The Secret of My Success, and being the theme for Duffman inThe Simpsons, among others. The song was also used in a Twix commercial back in the 1980s.
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.[3]
Yello[4]
Additional personnel
| Chart (1987–1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Australian Music Report)[5] | 8 |
| Germany[6] | 47 |
| United States (Billboard Hot 100)[7] | 51 |
| United States (Dance Club Songs chart)[8] | 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.[9]
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.[10]
A remix of the song, entitled, "Oh Yeah Oh Six" went toNo. 1 on the US dance charts in 2006.[11]
After its use in the 1986 filmFerris Bueller's Day Off — an "incredibly infectious song" from which it became virtually known as "the Ferris Bueller song"[12][13] — the song was used in various other film soundtracks through the end of the decade and developed a reputation as a 1980s Hollywood cliche.[14][15][16] It was prominently used in the 1987 filmThe Secret of My Success.[14][15][16][A] It was also part of the soundtrack inShe's Out of Control. [10] In 1990,Faith No More frequently included samples of the song on the tour for their albumThe Real Thing.[18]
Film critic Jonathan Bernstein observed that despite never reaching hit status, the song "has become synonymous withavarice andlust. 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…".[19] A 2014 article onThe Dissolve website, suggests the song is used tometaphorically representlust (in various forms) andcocaine.[16] The song became aconceit onThe Simpsons, being used whenDuffman appears; anidiomatic staple in video games; and a repeated choice intelevision advertisements.[10][15][20] The song is also featured inGran Turismo 4 as the license test fail theme.[21]
The song's use inThe Secret of My Success is referenced in theIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode "Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack", with character Ronald "Mac" McDonald referring to it as "The 'Day Bow Bow' Song"; he and his friend Charlie then proceed to sing the song themselves briefly, using the aforementioned phrase, and the song features across several more points in the episode from then on.
Matthew Broderick reprised his Bueller role in aHonda commercial aired during theSuper Bowl XLVI, in which "Oh Yeah" was featured.[22] A teaser for the ad had appeared two weeks prior to the Super Bowl, which had created rumors of a possible film sequel.[23][24] It was produced by Santa Monica-basedRPA and directed byTodd Phillips.[25]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."[25] On the other hand,Jalopnik's Matt Hardigree called the spot "sacrilegious".[26]
Oh Yeah!, a short documentary film about the song and its cultural impact, was released at theTribeca Festival on June 7, 2025.[27]
CD handed out to promote using Yello songs for advertising, tv and moviesFrom liner notes
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
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."
...and a soundtrack that has been hand-picked to get an audience on side.
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 movieFerris Bueller's Day Off. How a simple song like this came to almost epitomize an entire era is a pretty fascinating phenomena.
[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.
Ferris Bueler impact on culture.
