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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?”.

Tagged as:

indie, indie rock, alternative, indie pop, rock
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Top Albums

I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
Yo La Tengo
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Popular Songs
Yo La Tengo
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May I Sing With Me
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Fakebook
Yo La Tengo
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Top Tracks

1	Here to Fall	1,622
2	Autumn Sweater	1,409
3	Sugarcube	1,317
4	Periodically Double or Triple	1,279
5	Fourth Time Around full track	1,276
6	Gentle Hour	1,230
7	Nothing to Hide	1,196
8	Avalon or Someone Very Similar	1,183
9	Upside-Down full track	1,177
10	Our Way to Fall	1,117
11	Stockholm Syndrome	1,066
12	You Can Have It All	980
13	Detouring America With Horns full track	966
14	All Your Secrets	866
15	I Wanna Be Your Lover full track	863

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normalpoe wrote:
yesterday evening

If you like this band, you should give Specific Oceans a shot! Here's a track from their new EP. Cardinal Points

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P_Machado wrote:
Monday evening

Uma das melhores bandas que já existiu.

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Beerbaybe wrote:
Monday afternoon

http://www.lastfm.ru/music/Opposite+Villains

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johanathanowl wrote:
Saturday evening

i think summer sun is the best!

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bkelleher wrote:
Saturday morning

And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out = Their best. I am sure.

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barkbarkdisco wrote:
Friday evening

if this is your cup of tea,, watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti8tk-1AJYo http://www.barkbarkdisco.com

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gooberturd wrote:
Thursday evening

one of my new favorites. falling in love with them more with each listen

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exnerd wrote:
Thursday morning

seeing them in hoboken sure would be cool (especially if they play night falls on hoboken that's gotta be one of my favs). and @ mecha51 those songs are always the best. when every listen is more beautiful than the last

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errorb wrote:
Wednesday afternoon

Fahrstuhlmusik.

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MoreDistortion wrote:
last month

Dying to see a show by these guys, please play in Hoboken or NY soon!

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Thinking_Man wrote:
last month

Saw them last night at Granada Theater. Fucking amazing.

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mecha51 wrote:
last month

Listening to Tiny Birds off Summer Sun right now. YLT have so many subtle beauties in their discography. So many songs that you hear once or twice and think meh, it's OK. After a few more listens it clicks and you're like, Damn what a great song!

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Plaumtothashizz wrote:
last month

Yeah, another thing about YLT is that they're so consistent. So many essential albums like I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, Painful, Popular Songs, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Kick Your Ass, Summer Sun..... I mean, I wouldn't blame anyone for having pretty much any one of their albums as their personal favourite. Dang, even their first three ones are considered classics by moiself. I hope some of Kaplan's holiness was transfered to me when I finished his beer in November. Good dude.

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optimistic_tour wrote:
last month

What's really cool is that they have albums even better than I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One... damn they are and always will be one of my all time favorite bands. (PS I speak of Painful, Electr-O-Pura, and And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out) also yeah, Loveless is pretty good too. heh

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Plaumtothashizz wrote:
last month

Yo La Tengo is the greatest band of all time, with Pavement trailing behind. I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One is the greatest album of all time, with Loveless trailing behind. that's not a bad feat.

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quercusrenatus wrote:
last month

Hi, please try this: www.lastfm.de/music/the+loveshakes and tell me what you think!

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LSchaeffler wrote:
last month

just fell in love with popular songs! so good album

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cheapheadphones wrote:
last month

stumbled upon this band yesterday. :) they're amazing.

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Mulaggi wrote:
last month

Maybe this will help you: http://www.setlist.fm/search?query=yo+la+tengo

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erangi wrote:
last month

Does anyone know what songs are they playing of their current tour shows? They'll be coming to Tel Aviv on March, and there's no way I'll miss their show. However, I'd really like to make sure I know most of the songs they are likely to play. Any idea, anyone?

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Videos

Events

Feb 11 Yo La Tengo Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury, Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
3 shouts | 31 attendees
Feb 12 Yo La Tengo Forum Theatre, Melbourne, Australia
1 shout | 59 attendees
Feb 13 Yo La Tengo Moorilla, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
3 shouts | 13 attendees

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News

of olives and dame judi dench

21 Mar 2009 | from blog.myspace.com/yolatengo

Hello out there radio lovers,If you find yourselves in front of a radio and/or a computerSaturday afternoon between 1 pm and 3 pm, eastern time, I hope you'lltune in to WFMU as I return to the airwave. …

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