Yo! The History of Yodeling
Finally, the book we've all been hollering for: disk jockey Bart Plantenga has released "The Secret History of Yodeling around the World." More than just a Swiss miss, the vocal style is found in folk traditions from Hawai'i to Central Africa, and in recorded music from Kid Rock and De La Soul to Fugees, Focus, and Rossini.

It may come as a surprise that Plantenga's book is the first to explore the complete story of yodeling. "I can't believe there are 10 books on Britney Spears and nothing on something that is ages old," he states in a recent Reuters article.

Plantenga started noticing yodeling when samples of the style started appearing in the music he was playing on his free-form New York radio show in the mid-1990s. His research uncovered a vocal technique that shows up in music in traditions among New Zealanders, African pygmies, and native inhabitants of Mexico, in addition to the better-known Alpine singers (who inspired its adoption into American cowboy music).

Not a yodeler himself (or even a singer), Plantenga hopes his book will bring more respect to the curious technique. Yahoo!

Browse Plantenga's Free Radio 100 show, based in Amsterdam

Read more about Yodel-Ay-Ee-Oooo: The Secret History of Yodeling Around the World at Amazon.com

Listen to an interview with Bart Plantenga on The Connection, a radio show produced by WGBH Boston