yellowcard - Yellowcard is a band from Jacksonville, Florida. Their music can be classified as pop punk. A characteristic of the music of Yellowcard is Sean's use of a violin. School of the Arts. The band was made up of six members: Ben Dobson (vocals), Todd Clarry (vocals, guitar), Ben Harper (guitar), Warren Cooke (bass guitar), and Longineu W. Parsons III (drums). Yellowcard got their name from a phrase they used in high school. Whenever somebody did something 'stupid' at a party, such as drop a beer on the carpet, they enforced soccer rules and gave them a 'yellow card' for committing a 'party foul'. At the beginning of their career there was confusion over how their name was spelled, with or without a space. The band has clarified this by publicly announcing that is spelled 'Yellowcard', without a space. [edit] Early years The band released their first album, Midget Tossing, in 1997. While Sean Mackin was featured on some of the songs, he was not a full-fledged member yet, as he still objected to many of the band's messages. Where We Stand, their second album, featured the same lineup as Midget Tossing, and Mackin was featured on more songs. Soon Ben Dobson lost interest in the band and left, while others believe he was sacked from the band because of a hip-hop addiction. He was replaced by Ryan Key (vocals & Rhythm Guitar) who convinced the band that they would not achieve success in Florida in the long run, so they decided to move to Los Angeles. In 2001 The band recorded the 'Still Standing EP'. Soon after 'Still Standing EP' was released, Todd Clary left the band. Ryan Key then filled both Clarry's and Dobson's duties: vocals and guitar. The new group released their debut album, One for the Kids (Lobster Records), in 2001, and followed up with The Underdog EP (Fueled by Ramen Records) in 2002 which were both well-received by fans. However, soon after 'The Underdog EP' was released, Warren Cooke got into a fight with the other band members and left. The band then asked an old friend, Pete Mosely from Inspection 12, to play bass for them. Finally, they met up with Wesley Lau from Calgary, Canada. [edit] Ocean Avenue Yellowcard's real public reception came after signing with Capitol Records in 2003 and releasing Ocean Avenue. Fans loved the album's sincere lyrics and unique musical style. During the recording of Ocean Avenue, Mosely left, citing personal problems. The band began the search again for a new bass player and found Alex Lewis. The band released the first single from the album, which was Way Away. The song did well on MTV2 and rock radio, peaking at #25 on the modern rock charts, the song created enough buzz for the band's mainstream explosion that was about to happen. In the middle of the band's tour in support of Ocean Avenue, Pete Mosely returned from his semi-retirement and asked if he could rejoin. Because Mosely had been an integral part of the writing for Ocean Avenue and had been friends with most of the band's members since high school, Lewis was asked to leave and Mosely was reinstated as the bass player. In late 2003, the band released what would become their breakthrough single, Ocean Avenue. The song was premiered on MTV's TRL program, and quickly shot up the charts to #1. Radio eventually picked up on the single, and the song made it to #37 on the Billboard Hot 100. Suddenly, Yellowcard were everywhere from the covers of Alternative Press, to be headliners of the 2004 Warped Tour, to on stage at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, performing Ocean Avenue and taking home the MTV2 Award as well. They were also featured on an episode of MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge, performing 'Way Away' while cast members trashed a mockup hotel room in true rockstar fashion. Following Ocean Avenue's success, the band released the single Only One, a rock ballad which also did fairly well on TRL and radio. Eventually, the Ocean Avenue album sold over 2 million copies in the US alone. As Ocean Avenue's popularity began to die down, the band spent some time contributing songs to various soundtracks. The first, Gifts And Curses, appeared in the hit film Spider-Man 2. Another, a cover of Lagwagon's Violins, was featured on the Rock Against Bush compilation album. At the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, Yellowcard performed a cover of the song Don't You Forget About Me during a special tribute to the movie The Breakfast Club. A song on the album, entitled 'Life of a Salesman' was written as a reference to the popular play 'Death of a Salesman'.