Trio (band)
Encyclopedia
Trio was a German band. It formed in the small German town of Großenkneten
in 1980. The band is most noted for the song "Da da da, ich lieb dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha
" (usually simply "Da Da Da") which was a hit in 30 countries worldwide. Trio was a product of the Neue Deutsche Welle
(or NDW). However, Trio preferred the name Neue Deutsche Fröhlichkeit, which means "New German Cheerfulness", to describe their music. At that time, as now, popular songs were based on extremely simple structures that were ornately produced. Trio's main principle was to remove almost all the ornamentation and polish from their songs, and to use the simplest practical structures (most of their songs were three-chord song
s). For this reason, many of their songs are restricted to drums, guitar, vocals, and just one or maybe two other instruments, if any at all. Bass was used very infrequently until their later songs, and live shows often saw Remmler playing some simple preprogrammed rhythms and melodies on his small Casio VL-1
keyboard while Behrens played his drums single-handedly while eating an apple.
The band produced a number of albums. There are many versions of Bye Bye (marked with different advertisements on the cover); versions in North America are called TRIO and Error and feature no advertisements. The 1997 CD of TRIO and Error was also released as Da Da Da in the United States, in response to the 1997 US Volkswagen
commercial that featured the song "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha", often contracted to simply "Da Da Da". The re-release had some changes: two songs were added and the album was digitally remastered.
The band never got very popular outside of Germany, and are largely forgotten even for their one hit. However, in its time, Trio had some popularity in Germany. For instance, the German version of "Da da da" was #2 on the charts (April 1982). Its most notable songs, other than Da Da Da, are probably "Broken Hearts for You and Me", "Boom Boom", "Hearts are Trump", and "Anna Letmein Letmeout". All of these songs except the first have a corresponding German version, which sometimes differs considerably, and these were also released in the English-speaking world. "Da da da" hit #2 in the UK Singles Chart
in July 1982, and #3 in Canada in December 1982. They had another three top ten hits in Germany until the end of 1983, then disbanded the following year. Every member launched a solo career, with only Remmler managing to be somewhat successful.
They produced a movie called "Drei gegen Drei", meaning "Three Against Three". In the movie, three people (played by Trio) kill doubles of themselves as part of a twisted scam to gain riches. However, the movie flopped miserably; even avid Trio fan Matthias Klein said, "[the members of] Trio are not actors". The corresponding soundtrack is the album What's the Password, however, drummer Peter Behrens does not perform in any of the songs, despite appearing on the album's cover. He left the band due to dissatisfaction with Kralle and Remmler over financial matters, leading to the complete breakup of Trio in 1985.
s of "Da Da Da" have been done worldwide in various language
s including the Spanish version by the disk-jockey Nacho Dogan, which was hit #2 in Spain in 1982; a Mexican version by the band Molotov
on their 2004 cover album Con Todo Respeto
; alternative
band Elastica
on their 1999 album The Menace; and Filipino
entertainer Yoyoy Villame
in 1982. Pett Productions used "Da Da Da" in the second series of Tittybangbang
for the intro to Pete Wade's sketches.
In addition to the famous Volkswagen ad, several others have featured "Da Da Da". A Pepsi
ad (Google Video) for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
starred several footballers including Thierry Henry
, Raúl
, Roberto Carlos, Fernando Torres
, Frank Lampard
, Ronaldinho
and David Beckham
playing football inside of an Oktoberfest
tent.Christina Aguilera
sang the tune in several Pepsi spots, including duets with Rain and Elissa
. Ariston
used the song in their 1987 spots featuring animated white goods, clothing and kitchen utensils forming dancing humanoids. Some ads used modified lyrics. Teletext
replaced "da da da" with "blah blah blah" (vocalized by Ewan Bailey);, as did Lois jeans. Others to use the tune in advertisements include Vicks
cough drops, and Speeds shoe stores.
Following the popular Volkswagen commercial, ABC
aired a promo for the sitcom Spin City
parodying the car ad. In the original VW commercial, two men drive around and pick up a smelly couch, which they quickly dispose of. In the ABC ad, Michael J. Fox
and Michael Boatman
's characters pick up Richard Kind
's character, who becomes so obnoxious that they throw him out the car.
The brand of rice cracker Sakata
also used the song with the lyrics changed to "sa-ka-ta".
Also in the 1990s, Microsoft
launched an ad with Steve Ballmer
and Bill Gates
where they are driving the same car in the Volkswagen ad, doing the same things, etc. Just in this case, they picked up a Mac instead of a couch and of course they put it back in the street.
This song has been used in the Italian movie Il Divo
, directed by Paolo Sorrentino
, a fictional biography of Italian politician Giulio Andreotti
. The song was also included in the movie Bio-Dome
, directed by Jason Bloom
, starring Pauly Shore
and Stephen Baldwin
.
The band was produced by Klaus Voormann
, who also played bass
on a few songs.
Großenkneten
Großenkneten is a municipality in the district of Oldenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-Geography:Großenkneten is one of the largest municipalities in Germany, in terms of its area, and is situated between the rivers Hunte and Lethe, in the landscape called Wildeshauser Geest...
in 1980. The band is most noted for the song "Da da da, ich lieb dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha
Da Da Da
"Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha" was an international hit record for German band Trio formed in 1980 by Stephan Remmler, Gert 'Kralle' Krawinkel and Peter Behrens. "Da Da Da" released in 1982 was a hit in Germany and about 30 countries worldwide and sold 3 million copies...
" (usually simply "Da Da Da") which was a hit in 30 countries worldwide. Trio was a product of the Neue Deutsche Welle
Neue Deutsche Welle
Neue Deutsche Welle is a genre of German music originally derived from punk rock and New Wave music...
(or NDW). However, Trio preferred the name Neue Deutsche Fröhlichkeit, which means "New German Cheerfulness", to describe their music. At that time, as now, popular songs were based on extremely simple structures that were ornately produced. Trio's main principle was to remove almost all the ornamentation and polish from their songs, and to use the simplest practical structures (most of their songs were three-chord song
Three-chord song
A three-chord song is a song whose music is built around three chords that are played in a certain sequence. Perhaps the most prevalent type of three-chord song is the simple twelve bar blues used in blues and rock and roll....
s). For this reason, many of their songs are restricted to drums, guitar, vocals, and just one or maybe two other instruments, if any at all. Bass was used very infrequently until their later songs, and live shows often saw Remmler playing some simple preprogrammed rhythms and melodies on his small Casio VL-1
Casio VL-1
The VL-1 was the first instrument of Casio's VL-Tone product line, and is sometimes referred to as the VL-Tone. It combined a calculator, synthesizer, and sequencer...
keyboard while Behrens played his drums single-handedly while eating an apple.
The band produced a number of albums. There are many versions of Bye Bye (marked with different advertisements on the cover); versions in North America are called TRIO and Error and feature no advertisements. The 1997 CD of TRIO and Error was also released as Da Da Da in the United States, in response to the 1997 US Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
commercial that featured the song "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha", often contracted to simply "Da Da Da". The re-release had some changes: two songs were added and the album was digitally remastered.
The band never got very popular outside of Germany, and are largely forgotten even for their one hit. However, in its time, Trio had some popularity in Germany. For instance, the German version of "Da da da" was #2 on the charts (April 1982). Its most notable songs, other than Da Da Da, are probably "Broken Hearts for You and Me", "Boom Boom", "Hearts are Trump", and "Anna Letmein Letmeout". All of these songs except the first have a corresponding German version, which sometimes differs considerably, and these were also released in the English-speaking world. "Da da da" hit #2 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in July 1982, and #3 in Canada in December 1982. They had another three top ten hits in Germany until the end of 1983, then disbanded the following year. Every member launched a solo career, with only Remmler managing to be somewhat successful.
They produced a movie called "Drei gegen Drei", meaning "Three Against Three". In the movie, three people (played by Trio) kill doubles of themselves as part of a twisted scam to gain riches. However, the movie flopped miserably; even avid Trio fan Matthias Klein said, "[the members of] Trio are not actors". The corresponding soundtrack is the album What's the Password, however, drummer Peter Behrens does not perform in any of the songs, despite appearing on the album's cover. He left the band due to dissatisfaction with Kralle and Remmler over financial matters, leading to the complete breakup of Trio in 1985.
"Da Da Da" in popular culture
Many cover versionCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of "Da Da Da" have been done worldwide in various language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
s including the Spanish version by the disk-jockey Nacho Dogan, which was hit #2 in Spain in 1982; a Mexican version by the band Molotov
Molotov (band)
Molotov is a four-time Latin Grammy Award-winning Mexican rock band formed in Mexico City on September 23, 1995. Their lyrics feature a mixture of Spanish and English, rapped and sung by all members of the group. Musically, Molotov blends heavy basslines with heavy guitar riffs...
on their 2004 cover album Con Todo Respeto
Con Todo Respeto
Con Todo Respeto is a 2004 covers album by the Mexican band Molotov. The album was released in October 2004 by the label Universal Latino. The songs covered are from a variety of genres, including New Wave, Hip hop music, Punk, and traditional music of Mexico...
; alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Elastica
Elastica
Elastica were an English alternative rock band that played punk rock-influenced music. They were best known for their 1995 album Elastica, which produced singles that charted in the US and the UK.-History:...
on their 1999 album The Menace; and Filipino
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
entertainer Yoyoy Villame
Yoyoy Villame
Yoyoy Villame born Roman Tesorio Villame, was a Filipino singer, composer, lyricist, and comedian. Villame was a native of Calape, Bohol and was the father of singer Hannah Villame. He died of cardiac arrest at the Las Piñas Medical Center in Metro Manila on May 18, 2007...
in 1982. Pett Productions used "Da Da Da" in the second series of Tittybangbang
Tittybangbang
Tittybangbang is a female-led television sketch comedy, performed by Lucy Montgomery and Debbie Chazen, which ran between 2005 and 2007 on BBC Three. The show was largely written by Bob Mortimer and Jill Parker and produced by their company Pett Productions.-History:Bob Mortimer and Lisa Clark...
for the intro to Pete Wade's sketches.
In addition to the famous Volkswagen ad, several others have featured "Da Da Da". A Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
ad (Google Video) for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
starred several footballers including Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry
Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and...
, Raúl
Raúl González
Raúl González Blanco , known simply as Raúl, is a Spanish footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for German club Schalke 04....
, Roberto Carlos, Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz , nicknamed , is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker....
, Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side...
, Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira , commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Flamengo and the Brazilian national team as an attacking midfielder or forward. He is a two-time winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year, awarded to the best player over the year...
and David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
playing football inside of an Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest, or Wiesn, is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The...
tent.Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
sang the tune in several Pepsi spots, including duets with Rain and Elissa
Elissa (singer)
Elissar Zakaria Khoury simply known as Elissa is a Lebanese singer. She is known for her collaborations with well-known Arab and international artists, notably Ragheb Alama, Cheb Mami, Fadl Shaker, Chris DeBurgh and Gerard Ferrer.Born to a Lebanese father and a Syrian mother , her debut was in...
. Ariston
Indesit
Indesit Company, an Italian multinational company based in Fabriano, Ancona province, Italy, a leading appliance manufacturer in Europe.- History :...
used the song in their 1987 spots featuring animated white goods, clothing and kitchen utensils forming dancing humanoids. Some ads used modified lyrics. Teletext
Teletext
Teletext is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules...
replaced "da da da" with "blah blah blah" (vocalized by Ewan Bailey);, as did Lois jeans. Others to use the tune in advertisements include Vicks
Vicks
Vicks is a line of over-the-counter medications owned by the American company Procter & Gamble. Vicks manufactures NyQuil and its sister medication, DayQuil. The Vicks brand also produces Formula 44 cough medicines, cough drops, VapoRub, and a number of inhaled breathing treatments...
cough drops, and Speeds shoe stores.
Following the popular Volkswagen commercial, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
aired a promo for the sitcom Spin City
Spin City
Spin City is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 until April 30, 2002 on the ABC network. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike...
parodying the car ad. In the original VW commercial, two men drive around and pick up a smelly couch, which they quickly dispose of. In the ABC ad, Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
and Michael Boatman
Michael Boatman
Michael Patrick Boatman is an Image Award-nominated American actor and writer. He is best known for his roles as U.S. Army Specialist Samuel Beckett in the ABC drama series China Beach, as New York City mayoral aide Carter Heywood in the ABC sitcom Spin City, and as sports agent Stanley Babson in...
's characters pick up Richard Kind
Richard Kind
Richard John Kind is an American actor known for his roles in the sitcoms Mad About You and Spin City .- Early life :...
's character, who becomes so obnoxious that they throw him out the car.
The brand of rice cracker Sakata
Sakata
- People :* Jeanne Sakata, American actress and playwright* Lenn Haruki Sakata , former American professional baseball player* Toshiyuki "Harold" Sakata , American Olympic medalist and professional wrestler...
also used the song with the lyrics changed to "sa-ka-ta".
Also in the 1990s, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
launched an ad with Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer
Steven Anthony "Steve" Ballmer is an American business magnate. He is the chief executive officer of Microsoft, having held that post since January 2000. , his personal wealth is estimated at US$13.9 billion, ranking number 19 on the Forbes 400.-Early life:Ballmer was born in Detroit, Michigan to...
and Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
where they are driving the same car in the Volkswagen ad, doing the same things, etc. Just in this case, they picked up a Mac instead of a couch and of course they put it back in the street.
This song has been used in the Italian movie Il Divo
Il Divo (film)
Il Divo is a 2008 Italian biographical drama film directed by Paolo Sorrentino. It is based on the figure of former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. It competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, where it was awarded the Jury Prize...
, directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He was born in Naples.Sorrentino's first film as screenwriter, Polvere di Napoli, was released in 1998. He began directing several short movies, like L'amore non ha confini, in 1998, and La notte lunga, in 2001...
, a fictional biography of Italian politician Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
. The song was also included in the movie Bio-Dome
Bio-Dome
Bio-Dome is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Jason Bloom. Bio-Dome was produced by Motion Picture Corporation of America on a budget of $15 million and was distributed theatrically by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer....
, directed by Jason Bloom
Jason Bloom
Jason Bloom is a lacrosse player on the Washington Stealth of the National Lacrosse League. He also played for Coquitlam Adanacs of the Western Lacrosse Association in the summer of 2006. Bloom was the captain of the Under-19 British Columbia Selects, MVP of the B.C...
, starring Pauly Shore
Pauly Shore
Paul Montgomery "Pauly" Shore is an American comedian and actor who starred in several comedy films in the 1990s and hosted a video show on MTV in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
and Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Andrew Baldwin is an American actor, director, producer and author. One of the Baldwin brothers, he is known for his roles as William F. Cody in the western show The Young Riders and as Stuart in the movie Threesome...
.
Albums (in order)
- 1981: TRIO
- 1982: TRIO Live im Frühjahr '82 ("Live in Spring '82")
- 1983: Bye Bye / Trio And Error
- 1985: Whats the Password
- 1986: 5 Jahre zuviel ("5 years too many" compilation)
Singles (in order)
- "Halt mich fest ich werd verrückt" ("Stop me before I go crazy") (Germany-only)
- "Da Da Da ich lieb dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha" ("Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha")
- "Anna - lassmichrein lassmichraus" ("Anna - Letmein Letmeout")
- "Bum Bum" ("Boom Boom")
- "Herz ist Trumpf" ("Hearts Are Trump")
- "Turaluraluralu - Ich mach BuBu was machst du" ("Tooralooralooraloo - Is It Old & Is It New [Literally 'I make BuBu, what do you make?']")
- "Tutti Frutti"
- "Drei gegen drei" ("Three against three")
- "Ready For You"
- "My Sweet Angel"
- "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha" (US promo CD-single only)
CD releases
- 1982: Trio
- 1982: Trio live im Frühjahr 82 (MC only, 1992 re-released on CD)
- 1983: Bye Bye (in the US sold as Trio and Error)
- 1985: Whats the Password
- 1986: 5 Jahre zuviel ("Five years too many", compilation)
- 1997: Da Da Da (US only)
- 2000: Triologie (best-of compilation)
- 2003: Trio Deluxe Edition
Band members
- Stephan RemmlerStephan RemmlerStephan Remmler is one of three members of the German band Trio. He performed most of the vocals for the band's songs...
- VocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, occasional keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Gert KrawinkelGert KrawinkelGert Krawinkel is a German musician and guitarist. But he is known as "Kralle".- Life :...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Peter BehrensPeter Behrens (musician)Peter Behrens is a German drummer, actor, musician and clown.-Life:Peter Behrens is the illegitimate son of an American GI, and was put up for adoption by his biological mother. He was adopted by the Behrens family, where he grew up in northern Germany...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
The band was produced by Klaus Voormann
Klaus Voormann
Klaus Voormann is a German Grammy Award-winning artist, noted musician, and record producer. He designed artwork for many bands including The Beatles, The Bee Gees, Wet Wet Wet and Turbonegro. His most notable work as a producer was his work with the band Trio, including their worldwide hit "Da Da...
, who also played bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
on a few songs.
External links
- http://www.stephan-remmler.de Stephan Remmler/Trio fansite