Yellowcard

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This article is about the band. For other uses, see Yellow card.
Yellowcard
Yellowcard at a pre-concert signing in April 2006.
Yellowcard at a pre-concert signing in April 2006.
Background information
Origin U.S. flag Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Genre(s) Pop punk, Alternative rock
Years active 1997 – present
Label(s) EMI, Capitol
Website Official website
Members
Ryan Key
Sean Mackin
Peter Mosely
Longineu W. Parsons III
Ryan Mendez
Former members
Ben Dobson
Todd Clarry
Warren Cooke
Alex Lewis
Ben Harper

Yellowcard is a band from Jacksonville, Florida. While Yellowcard are generally considered a Pop Punk band, their music features a unique contribution to the genre with the use of a violin.

Contents

[edit] History

Yellowcard was formed in 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida after meeting at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. The band was made up of six members: Ben Dobson (vocals), Todd Clarry (vocals, guitar), Ben Harper (guitar), Sean Mackin (violin, backing vocals), Warren Cooke (bass guitar), and Longineu W. Parsons III (drums). Yellowcard got their name from a phrase they used in high school. Whenever somebody did something "stupid" at a party, such as drop a beer on the carpet, they enforced soccer rules and gave them a "yellow card" for committing a "party foul". At the beginning of their career there was confusion over how their name was spelled, with or without a space. The band has clarified this by publicly announcing that is spelled "Yellowcard", without a space.

[edit] Early years

The band released their first album, Midget Tossing, in 1997. While Sean Mackin was featured on some of the songs, he was not a full-fledged member yet, as he still objected to many of the band's messages. Where We Stand, their second album, featured the same lineup as Midget Tossing, and Mackin was featured on more songs. Soon Ben Dobson lost interest in the band and left. He was replaced by Ryan Key (vocals & Rhythm Guitar) a local of Jacksonville that was currently playing in a band called "Craig's Brother". In early 2000 The band recorded the "Still Standing EP". Soon after "Still Standing EP" was released, Todd Clary left the band. Ryan Key then filled both Clarry's and Dobson's duties: vocals and guitar. After sending the new EP to friend Steve Lebarski at Lobster Records the band signed their first recording contract in June 2000 and by November had headed west to Camarillo, CA to begin working on their next full length.

The group released their third album, One for the Kids (Lobster Records), in 2001, and followed up with The Underdog EP (Fueled by Ramen Records) in 2002 which were both well-received by fans. However, soon after "The Underdog EP" was released, Warren Cooke left the band due to personal reasons. The band then asked an old friend, Pete Mosely from Inspection 12, to play bass for them.

[edit] Ocean Avenue

Pete Mosely under the stage lights (April 2006).
Pete Mosely under the stage lights (April 2006).

Yellowcard's real public reception came after releasing Ocean Avenue in 2003. Fans loved the album's sincere lyrics and unique musical style. During the recording of Ocean Avenue, Mosely left, citing personal problems. The band began the search again for a new bass player and found Alex Lewis. The band released the first single from the album, which was Way Away. The song did well on MTV2 and rock radio, peaking at #25 on the modern rock charts, the song created enough buzz for the band's mainstream explosion that was about to happen. In the middle of the band's tour in support of Ocean Avenue, Pete Mosely returned from his semi-retirement and asked if he could rejoin. Because Mosely had been an integral part of the writing for Ocean Avenue and had been friends with most of the band's members since high school, Lewis was asked to leave and Mosely was reinstated as the bass player.

In late 2003, the band released what would become their breakthrough single, Ocean Avenue. The song was premiered on MTV's TRL program, and quickly shot up the charts to #1. Radio eventually picked up on the single, and the song made it to #37 on the Billboard Hot 100. Suddenly, Yellowcard were everywhere from the covers of Alternative Press, to be headliners of the 2004 Warped Tour, to on stage at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, performing Ocean Avenue and taking home the MTV2 Award as well. They were also featured on an episode of MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge, performing "Way Away" while cast members trashed a mockup hotel room in true rockstar fashion. The album's 2nd track, "Breathing", also appeared in EA's Burnout 3: Takedown. Following Ocean Avenue's success, the band released the single Only One, a rock ballad which also did fairly well on TRL and radio. Eventually, the Ocean Avenue album sold over 2 million copies in the US alone.

As Ocean Avenue's popularity began to die down, the band spent some time contributing songs to various soundtracks. The first, Gifts And Curses, appeared in the hit film Spider-Man 2. Another, a cover of Lagwagon's Violins, was featured on the Rock Against Bush Vol. 2 compilation album. At the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, Yellowcard performed a cover of the song Don't You Forget About Me during a special tribute to the movie The Breakfast Club.

A song on the album, entitled "Life of a Salesman" was written as a reference to the popular play "Death of a Salesman".

[edit] Lights and Sounds

Yellowcard performing in 2004.
Yellowcard performing in 2004.

For a large part of 2005, Yellowcard worked on their new album, entitled Lights and Sounds. The album was released on January 24, 2006. Pete and Ryan moved to New York City in January 2005 and started writing the album while the rest of the band recuperated in California from 18 straight months of touring. The album is something of a concept album, with many songs based on the band's negative feelings towards Los Angeles. 20 songs were recorded for the album, 14 of which are on the CD, plus a B-side available on import versions, CD singles and at the iTunes Music Store, called "Three Flights Down". Shortly after recording the album, lead guitarist and founding member Ben Harper was dismissed amid unknown claims. He was replaced by Ryan Mendez.

The title track, "Lights and Sounds", was the first single released and is also featured on Burnout Revenge. In the first week of release the album sold just over 90,000 copies. World Wide "Lights and Sounds" sold over 900,000 copies. "Rough Landing, Holly" is the second single, with a video released in March 2006.

Yellowcard chose to fade their unique violin style in the background and settle for more of a rock feel.

[edit] Paper Walls

On October 16, 2006, the band announced over their official website that they were back in the studio recording a new album. Guitarist Ryan Mendez posted on the official Yellowcard message board on October 21, 2006 that 3 songs are currently completed and states "I really think fans of both older and newer Yellowcard are going to be very happy."

Pre-production began in October 2006 and tracking began on January 2007. The upcoming record is targeted for Summer 2007, according to their Myspace page. But it also says in a new blog on the bands myspace that they think they could finish a bit earlier than they thought they would.

Studio footage regarding their progress is currently viewable on the band's Myspace, with a new video added every Thursday. As of January 2007, some sample demo songs have also been released on the band's Myspace, though they are only rough recordings from pre-production and not the final recorded versions. Also, as of January/February 2007, Yellowcard's home page has changed to a temporary layout, meaning they will be choosing an album and website design in the upcoming weeks/months. Yellowcard expects the album to be in stores this summer.

The first Yellowcard show since October of 2006 took place on March 29th 2007, at the Troubadour in Hollywood, California. At the show lead singer Ryan Key announced to a sold out crowd that the new album will be titled "Paper Walls". He said he will "probably get in trouble for this," but went on to announce the title anyway. During the show Yellowcard played two songs off their new album ("Fighting" and "The Takedown"). Yellowcard played an acoustic set the next night at the Troubadour and also played two new songs, "Shadows and Regrets" and "Light Up The Sky".

[edit] Members

[edit] Current

[edit] Former

  • Ben Dobson (1997 - 2000) : vocals
  • Todd Clary (1997 - 2001) : guitar, vocals
  • Warren Cooke (1997 - 2002) : bass
  • Alex Lewis (2003 - 2004) : bass, vocals
  • Benjamin Harper (1997 - 2005) : guitar

[edit] Discography

Some confusion surrounds Yellowcard's "official" discography due to the fact that the band's current leader, Ryan Key, was not one of the original line-up (and nor were Pete Mosely, Ryan Mendez and even Sean Mackin). Under the band's discography on their own official website, no albums were seemingly released before "One for the Kids" , even though "Where We Stand" was re-released in 2005 as a promotion preceding the "Lights and Sounds" release. However "Where We Stand" and "Midget Tossing" were before the departure of Ben Dobson, replaced by Key. Consequently, there is also a question of what may be accurately titled the band's "first" album. See the talk page for more information.

[edit] Albums

Midget Tossing
1997
Where We Stand
1999
re-released 2004 and 2005
Still Standing EP
2000
One for the Kids
2001
The Underdog EP
2002
Ocean Avenue
2003
2x Platinum
Lights and Sounds
2006
Gold
Paper Walls
Summer 2007

[edit] Singles

Year Song US Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock UK Singles chart AUS Album
2003 Way Away 25 63 36 Ocean Avenue
2003 Ocean Avenue 37 21 65 15 Ocean Avenue
2004 Only One 15 - - Ocean Avenue
2006 Lights and Sounds 50 3 56 24 Lights and Sounds
2006 Rough Landing, Holly - 27 - 49 Lights and Sounds

[edit] DVDs

[edit] Other appearances

[edit] External links

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