Yahoo! The Yodel Heard Around the World
8/27/202526 min
It’s one of the quirkiest, most iconic sonic logos ever: a four-note vocal flourish that defined the early internet. In this episode, we follow the Yahoo Yodel on its unlikely journey from the snowy Swiss Alps to ‘90s country bars to Super Bowl ads. Along the way, we meet the real-life cowboy behind this yodel, whose voice launched a billion clicks... as well a high-stakes legal battle. Featuring musician and yodeler Wylie Gustafson.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDallas Taylor· Host0:00
This episode was made in partnership with Riverside, the best tool I've found for remote recordings and studio quality. You can use it to make audio or video podcasts, webinars, and even go live directly on YouTube. Riverside works right in your web browser with no complicated setup and records each person locally in up to 4K video and uncompressed WAV audio. I'll go into more detail in the ad break, but you can sign up for free right now at creators.riverside.com/20k. And if you upgrade to Riverside Pro, click I have a coupon and use promo code 20K to get 20% off your subscription. There's also a link in the show notes.
Wiley Gustafson· Guest0:42
This is 20,000 Hertz with Dallas Taylor.
Dallas Taylor· Host0:48
The voice you just heard is one of the most famous pop culture voices of the last 30 years thanks to this.
Wiley Gustafson· Guest0:57
Yahoo-hoo.
Dallas Taylor· Host0:58
But to tell his story, we have to rewind about 500 years to the wild and crazy world of the beautiful Swiss Alps. Back then, the Swiss Alps looked pretty much exactly as you might imagine: snow, little wooden houses, plenty of sheep, and of course, yodeling. Here's a Swiss yodeler named Amedée Parrig doing a traditional yodel.