BERLIN (Reuters) - German police investigating reports of screams coming from an apartment said Wednesday they had Services found a 76-year-old woman practicing for a yodeling diploma.
Neighbors called police after hearing noises coming from the flat in the western town of Offenbach near Frankfurt. "The officers weren't able to judge whether the neighbors were unfamiliar with Bavarian folk music or whether the lady still requires a lot of practice," police said in a statement.
Earlier, police in the city of Aachen said they had cautioned a man for screaming in a forest to relieve his stress. The man's yelling had frightened neighbors.
Wylie Gustafson of Wylie and The Wild West made headlines in 2002 when he sued Yahoo for proper recompense for the use of his voice in Yahoo's commercials. Thanks, Wylie, for striking a blow for fair compensation of musical and voiceover artists!
March 8, 2002 - US rescuer finds lost German skier with yodel
The new Reese's and Hershey's Pieces spot shows a cowboy (yodeling Alpine style) on the TV while two slackers nurse their sugar high and attempt to yodel. American advertising is in love with yodeling as the epitome of "square" and "wacky". (2/3/03)
Apparently a documentary called "New Zealand: In Search of the Lonesome Yodel" featured Lucy Lawless, among others. Despite her great vocal talents, Lucy can't yet yodel. Lucy, if you're reading this, I'd be only too happy to teach you next time you're in the San Francisco Bay Area. (8/30/02)
The new Michelob Light commercial with Annika Sörenstam shows her hitting a golfball to Sweden. In true Ugly American style, Alpine yodeling is played in the background as a way of representing Sweden. Hey, Sweden, Switzerland...they both start with a "s-w"...so what's the diff? I'm surprised Sörenstam went with this gross misrepresentation of her country.(5/20/00)
On night 3 of NBC's The Tenth Kingdom, our heroes travel to Little Lamb Village, which is in the midst of throwing a big fair. One scene shows a small vaudeville-like stage on which "The Yodeling Milkmaids" sing in harmony. Another scene shows a placard in the background on which is a schedule for the various contests. A yodeling contest is listed. (3/1/00)
An AMEX commercial with Jerry Seinfeld taking a road trip also has Alpine yodeling in the background at one point. (9/10/99)
A Saturn LS commercial trumpeting German engineering has the de rigeur Bavarian yodeling in the background. (8/28/99)
The commercials for the movie "Dudley Do-Right" feature Alpine yodeling in the background. It sounds like Mary Schneider to me. I don't know whether the movie will include it. (8/27/99)
On an episode of Spin City, supermodel Heidi Klum yodels as a way of basking in the afterglow after a tryst with Michael Flaherty.
On a PBS show about volcanoes, a French vulcanologist yodels while ascending a steep volcano. I noted his name and will put it up as soon as I've located it again. (In the preparations for moving, I finally found his name. It's François LeGuern who is the yodeling volcanologist. 8/28/99)
I don't perform professionally as much as I'd like to. RSI has made it so that I can't back myself up on guitar anymore. Yodeling is just one tool in my arsenal of vocal techniques, so I'm rarely hired specifically for my yodeling skills. In 1998, I performed to taped accompaniment for the SF AIDS Foundations Oktoberfest. In August 2002, I subbed on short notice for a member of a cowboy band that entertains guests at Western Trail Ride Adventures. The yodeling was the big hit of the night. A guest demanded we perform "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart" again and she jumped up onstage to yodel along with!
I haven't yet uploaded any samples of my more conventional yodeling, but you can hear me yodeling a bit in my song "Eris".
Last modified on 2/3/03
I used to update something on this site about every two weeks. Unfortunately, things are probably going to be mothballed for a while due to a hellacious flareup of Repetitive Strain Injury. I also had some bad data loss, so if you wrote in before with a suggestion or comment, please write again! There are some folks I would love to keep in touch with, but whose addresses I've lost.
Yak Back to Spidra Webster: spidra at speakeasy dot net