Da Yoopers
Encyclopedia
Da Yoopers is a traveling comedy show and musical group from Ishpeming, Mich. They are known primarily for their humorous songs and skits, most of which center around life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
. The band's name includes the term "Yooper," slang for residents of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and the use of "da" instead of "the" is typical of the Yooper dialect
.
Da Yoopers has released thirteen albums, all on their personal label, You Guys Records. The band's lineup comprises Jim Bellmore (guitar
, vocals), Lynn Bellmore (keyboards
, vocals), Jim DeCaire (percussion
, vocals), Reggie Lusardi (bass guitar
, vocals), Bobby Symons (drums
).
pronunciation of "the". The band toured throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula for several years, before recording their first album, Yoopanese, in 1986 on their personal label, You Guys Records. This album included nine songs, all written by Potila and DeCaire.
A second album, Culture Shock, was released a year later. This second album featured several comedy songs, including "Second Week of Deer Camp" and "Rusty Chevrolet" (the latter a parody of "Jingle Bells
"), both of which became local hits, including airplay on stations in Chicago
and Milwaukee
. In addition, "Second Week of Deer Camp" would later be played on several Dr. Demento
shows. "2nd Week of Deer Camp" has also received heavy radio air-play in North Central Pennsylvania annually since 1995 in late November and early December during deer hunting season. This album also featured humorous dialogue and skits between songs, a feature later duplicated both in concert and on subsequent albums. Several local guest musicians also performed on this album.
By the release of Camp Fever, the band's third album, Pennell left and was replaced with Joe DeLongchamp. In addition, Lynn Anderson married Jerry Coffey, who joined as a vocalist and percussionist. It also included the first song of the band's career not to be written by Potila or DeCaire, as DeLongchamp wrote the title track. Yoop It Up, their fourth cassette, was released in 1989. This was the first album to feature DeCaire's son, Jesse.
, released shortly after Dave "Doc" Bradbury took over on bass guitar. Also that year, a compilation titled For Diehards Only was released, featuring a selection of songs from the group's first four albums. Da Yoopers' 1993 album One Can Short of a Six-Pack featured both regular and Christmas songs, including a parody of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
" titled "Grandpa Got Run Over By a Beer Truck". After the release of this album, both Potila and Bradbury departed the group. Potila was replaced with lead guitarist Jim Bellmore, who made his first appearance on the 1995 album We're Still Rockin' . Bellmore also succeeded Potila as the band's main songwriter, usually working with DeCaire. "Cowboy" Dan Collins, who had previously appeared on two other albums as a backing vocalist, also officially joined as rhythm guitarist on this album, and Reggie Lusardi became bass guitarist afterward. Several members soon joined as sketch comedy actors as well: Dick Bunce (who also played bass guitar on some songs), Pete "Casanova" LaLonde, Jerry "Mungo" LaJoie and "Billy Bob" Langson.
Two albums were released in 2000: Jackpine Savage and Naked Elves in Cowboy Boots, the latter an album of Christmas music. Both Dan Collins and Jerry Coffey left shortly after Naked Elves in Cowboy Boots to pursue other interests. 2004 saw the release of the concept album Songs for Fart Lovers and Diehards II (a second compilation composed of songs from the first four albums), with the two-disc 21st Century Yoopers in Space following in 2006. This album also featured several guest contributions in both performing and songwriting. Lynn, who divorced Jerry in 2005, was again credited as Lynn Anderson on 21st Century Yoopers in Space, and married Bellmore shortly after that album's release.
Da Yoopers also own and operate a gift shop near Ishpeming called "Da Yoopers Tourist Trap", located in Ishpeming. This gift shop features various Upper Peninsula-themed merchandise.
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
. The band's name includes the term "Yooper," slang for residents of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and the use of "da" instead of "the" is typical of the Yooper dialect
Yooper dialect
Yooper is a form of North Central American English mostly spoken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which gives the dialect its name...
.
Da Yoopers has released thirteen albums, all on their personal label, You Guys Records. The band's lineup comprises Jim Bellmore (guitar
Guitar
The 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...
, vocals), Lynn Bellmore (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A 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...
, vocals), Jim DeCaire (percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, vocals), Reggie Lusardi (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals), Bobby Symons (drums
Drum kit
A 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 ....
).
History
Da Yoopers was founded in 1975 by drummer Jim DeCaire and guitarist Rodney "Joe" Potila, along with keyboardist Lynn Anderson and bass guitarist Jim Pennell. The band took their name from the word "yooper", a common term for people of the of the "U.P.", an abbreviation for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and "Da" came from the Yooper dialectYooper dialect
Yooper is a form of North Central American English mostly spoken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which gives the dialect its name...
pronunciation of "the". The band toured throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula for several years, before recording their first album, Yoopanese, in 1986 on their personal label, You Guys Records. This album included nine songs, all written by Potila and DeCaire.
A second album, Culture Shock, was released a year later. This second album featured several comedy songs, including "Second Week of Deer Camp" and "Rusty Chevrolet" (the latter a parody of "Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...
"), both of which became local hits, including airplay on stations in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
. In addition, "Second Week of Deer Camp" would later be played on several Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
shows. "2nd Week of Deer Camp" has also received heavy radio air-play in North Central Pennsylvania annually since 1995 in late November and early December during deer hunting season. This album also featured humorous dialogue and skits between songs, a feature later duplicated both in concert and on subsequent albums. Several local guest musicians also performed on this album.
By the release of Camp Fever, the band's third album, Pennell left and was replaced with Joe DeLongchamp. In addition, Lynn Anderson married Jerry Coffey, who joined as a vocalist and percussionist. It also included the first song of the band's career not to be written by Potila or DeCaire, as DeLongchamp wrote the title track. Yoop It Up, their fourth cassette, was released in 1989. This was the first album to feature DeCaire's son, Jesse.
Early 1990s–present
Yoopy Do Wah, released in 1991, was the band's first album on compact discCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, released shortly after Dave "Doc" Bradbury took over on bass guitar. Also that year, a compilation titled For Diehards Only was released, featuring a selection of songs from the group's first four albums. Da Yoopers' 1993 album One Can Short of a Six-Pack featured both regular and Christmas songs, including a parody of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a novelty Christmas song, which led to the creation of an animated movie with the same title.Written by Randy Brooks, the song was originally performed by the husband and wife duo of Elmo and Patsy Trigg Shropshire in 1979...
" titled "Grandpa Got Run Over By a Beer Truck". After the release of this album, both Potila and Bradbury departed the group. Potila was replaced with lead guitarist Jim Bellmore, who made his first appearance on the 1995 album We're Still Rockin
Two albums were released in 2000: Jackpine Savage and Naked Elves in Cowboy Boots, the latter an album of Christmas music. Both Dan Collins and Jerry Coffey left shortly after Naked Elves in Cowboy Boots to pursue other interests. 2004 saw the release of the concept album Songs for Fart Lovers and Diehards II (a second compilation composed of songs from the first four albums), with the two-disc 21st Century Yoopers in Space following in 2006. This album also featured several guest contributions in both performing and songwriting. Lynn, who divorced Jerry in 2005, was again credited as Lynn Anderson on 21st Century Yoopers in Space, and married Bellmore shortly after that album's release.
Tourist Trap
Members
The band's membership comprises the following:- Jim "Schween" Bellmore - lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals, sketch comedy - Lynn Bellmore - 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...
, vocals, sketch comedy - Jim "Hoolie" DeCaire - 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 ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, vocals, sketch comedy - Reggie Lusardi - bass guitar, vocals, sketch comedy
- Bobby "Sy" Symons - drums
Studio only
- Glenn Adams – narratorNarratorA narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
, sketch comedy - Jessie DeCaire – drums, bass guitar, vocals, sketch comedy
Former members
- Jim Boyer – sketch comedy
- Dave "Doc" Bradbury – bass guitar, vocals
- Dick Bunce – bass guitar, sketch comedy
- Steve Calhoun – sketch comedy
- Jerry "Cuppa" Coffey – drums, percussion, vocals, sketch comedy
- "Cowboy" Dan Collins – guitar, vocals, sketch comedy
- Joe DeLongchamp – bass guitar, sketch comedy
- Jerry "Mungo" LaJoie – sketch comedy
- Pete "Casanova" LaLonde – sketch comedy
- "Billy Bob" Langson – sketch comedy
- Robert "Dill" Nebel – sketch comedy
- Jim Pennell – bass guitar, vocals
- Joe Potila – lead guitar, vocals, sketch comedy
- Mike "Mikku" Powers – sketch comedy
Discography
All albums released on You Guys Records.| Album | Release |
|---|---|
| Yoopanese | July 4, 1986 |
| Culture Shock | November 1, 1987 |
| Camp Fever | August 1, 1988 |
| Yoop It Up | August 1, 1989 |
| Yoopy Do Wah | October 1, 1991 |
| One Can Short of a Six-Pack | November 23, 1994 |
| For Diehards Only | April 16, 1995 |
| We're Still Rockin | December 10, 1996 |
| Jackpine Savage | August 15, 2000 |
| Naked Elves in Cowboy Boots | November 14, 2000 |
| Songs for Fart Lovers | February 10, 2004 |
| Diehards II | 2004 |
| 21st Century Yoopers in Space | 2006 |