Yo La Tengo
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Hoboken, New York NJ, United States (1984 – present)
Yo La Tengo is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, vocals), and James McNew (bass, vocals).
Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called “the quintessential critics’ band” and maintain a strong cult following. Additionally, the band is renowned for its encyclopedic repertoire of cover songs both in live performance and on record.
Formation and Early History: 1984–1985
Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, a husband/wife duo, formed the band in 1984. They chose the name “Yo La Tengo” (Spanish for “I’ve got it!”) in an effort to avoid any connotations in English. The name came from a baseball anecdote. During the 1962 season, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, “I got it! I got it!” only to run into Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, “¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!” instead. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words “¡Yo la tengo! as a way to avoid outfield collisions. After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, “What the heck is a Yellow Tango?”.
Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called “the quintessential critics’ band” and maintain a strong cult following. Additionally, the band is renowned for its encyclopedic repertoire of cover songs both in live performance and on record.
Formation and Early History: 1984–1985
Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, a husband/wife duo, formed the band in 1984. They chose the name “Yo La Tengo” (Spanish for “I’ve got it!”) in an effort to avoid any connotations in English. The name came from a baseball anecdote. During the 1962 season, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, “I got it! I got it!” only to run into Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, “¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!” instead. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words “¡Yo la tengo! as a way to avoid outfield collisions. After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, “What the heck is a Yellow Tango?”.
Shouts:
1,741 shouts
Top Albums
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I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
Yo La Tengo
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And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Yo La Tengo Buy- Download Album
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Popular Songs
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May I Sing With Me
Yo La Tengo Buy- Download Album
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Shoutbox
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michaelmcguire wrote:
¡Tengola!
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cgiv6n wrote:
YOUNG BAND
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Sentenzia22 wrote:
Tribute to Megaupload R.I.P: http://www.lastfm.es/group/We'll+miss+you%2C+Megaupload
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Emptyinsides wrote:
Tears are in my eyes whenever I listen to their best... (And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out)
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VK1990 wrote:
You Can Have It All
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helloimjoshua wrote:
yes you are.
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poeq wrote:
but i am pretty.
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poeq wrote:
*pretty sure
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poeq wrote:
i'm pretty it's pronounced almost exactly like it looks. yo luh tango.
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helloimjoshua wrote:
so uh hot chicken is a reference to prince's hot chicken shack in nashville? interesting
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Sosen wrote:
Does anyone else have one of those fancy computers in their car that you can talk to and it plays music? It took me a while to figure out that I have to pronounce this band Yo L.A. Tengo.
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Nakkinak wrote:
really amazing band
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LiveBootlegs wrote:
Yo La Tengo - Live @ Triple Door, Seattle, USA, 17-02-2011 http://livebootlegconcert.blogspot.com/
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WilliamPowers wrote:
In fairness, tango is yellow.
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lyooonya wrote:
STAY ROCK \Ь/
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Anira_Sugar wrote:
yo yo yo yo yo yo la tengo
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houghster27 wrote:
What the hell is yellow tango.
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readaryan wrote:
YLT the best
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oaquard wrote:
Your the tangles makes extraordinary music.
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SDSbass wrote:
Yellow Tango is the best band ever
Videos
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Play
"Periodically Double Or Triple"
2 shouts
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Play
"Avalon Or Someone Very Similar"
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Play
All Your Secrets
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Play
"Nothing To Hide"
Events
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May
30
Primavera Sound 2012
Parc del Fòrum, Barcelona, Spain
1,261 going
558 shouts
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Jun
7
Optimus Primavera Sound 2012
Parque da Cidade, Porto, Portugal
611 going
317 shouts
News
Broken Social Scene acompaña tu café
10 Jun 2010 | from blog.myspace.com/artsandcraftsmexico
“World Sick”, de Broken Social
Scene, es la canción de esta semana en Starbucks. Al
acudir a cualquier Starbucks
encontrarás la tarjeta de la selección
de la semana dónde viene el código p...
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9 Jun 2010 | from blog.myspace.com/artsandcraftsmexico -
3 Jun 2010 | from blog.myspace.com/artsandcraftsmexico -
3 Jun 2010 | from blog.myspace.com/artsandcraftsmexico
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Recent Activity
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themoonsong, abber-deen, Spacefloat and 9 other people added Yo La Tengo to their libraries. 1 hour ago
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pkachnik tagged Yo La Tengo with rock, indie pop, alternative and 2 other tags. Tuesday afternoon
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hip_hippie and jennymellor added Yo La Tengo to their libraries. Tuesday afternoon
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KindOfDude tagged Yo La Tengo with ‘dream pop’. Tuesday morning
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ChristineTran, vancesteven, jorkhurk and 19 other people added Yo La Tengo to their libraries. Tuesday morning
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Thetic- tagged Yo La Tengo with american, noise pop, dream pop and 4 other tags. Sunday afternoon
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skateruls, flor2212 and iisthomas added Yo La Tengo to their libraries. Sunday afternoon
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adam_clayton tagged Yo La Tengo with alternative, indie rock and indie. Sunday afternoon
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yu-1-low added Yo La Tengo to yu-1-low’s library. Sunday afternoon
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Bojana_ tagged Yo La Tengo with alternative and indie. Sunday afternoon
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