Trio (band)


Trio was a German band, formed in the town of Großenkneten, West Germany in 1979. The band is most known for the 1982 song "Da Da Da" which was a hit in 30 countries worldwide.

History

The band recorded a number of albums, the first of which was TRIO, released in 1981, that included their signature song, Da Da Da, whose entire English title is "Da Da Da " and which was released in 1982. The next album was Bye Bye, released in 1983, was marketed with different images on its cover and there were many versions of it: for example versions in North America were known as TRIO and Error but featured no artwork.
In the period of their activity, the early 1980s, Trio enjoyed some popularity in Germany, UK, Canada, and the U.S. The German version of "Da Da Da" was a #2 hit on the charts. Their most notable songs, in addition to "Da Da Da", are "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 in lyrics, and were also released in the English-speaking world. "Da Da Da" hit #2 on 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 film called Drei gegen Drei, meaning "Three Against Three". In the movie, three people kill doubles of themselves as part of a twisted scam to gain riches. The film was a flop; even avid Trio fan Matthias Klein noted that, " Trio are not actors". The corresponding soundtrack is the album Whats the Password; however, drummer Peter Behrens did not perform on any of the songs, despite appearing on the album's cover. He left the band due to disagreement with Krawinkel and Remmler over financial matters, leading to the complete break-up of Trio in 1986.
The 1997 CD re-issue of TRIO and Error was also released as Da Da Da in the United States, in response to the U.S. Volkswagen commercial that featured their most famous song. The re-release had some changes: two songs were added and the album was digitally remastered.
Krawinkel died in 2014 and Behrens died in 2016, making Remmler the sole living former member.

"Da Da Da" in popular culture

Many cover versions of "Da Da Da" have been recorded worldwide in various languages including the Spanish version by disc jockey Nacho Dogan, which was a No. 2 hit 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. An Italian version was also released in 1982 to celebrate the Italian Team's winning the FIFA World Cup.
In addition to the famous Volkswagen ad, several others have featured "Da Da Da". A Pepsi ad 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" ; as did Lois Jeans. Others who have 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 of the car.
The rice cracker brand Sakata also used the song in advertisements with the lyrics changed to "sa-ka-ta".
The song has been used in the Italian film Il Divo, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, a fictional biography of Italian politician Giulio Andreotti. The song was also included in the comedy film Bio-Dome, directed by Jason Bloom, starring Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin, and in the thriller Thick as Thieves, starring Alec Baldwin and Rebecca De Mornay.

Musical style

Trio was part of the Neue Deutsche Welle ; however, the band preferred the name "Neue Deutsche Fröhlichkeit", which means "New German Cheerfulness", to describe their music.
Trio's main principle was to remove almost all the ornamentation and polish from their songs, and to use the simplest practical structures. 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 pre-programmed rhythms and melodies on his small Casio VL-1 keyboard while Behrens played his drums with one hand and ate an apple with the other.

Personnel

The band was produced by Klaus Voormann, who also played bass on a few songs.

Discography

Albums

Studio