GBI (German Bold Italic)

"GBI: German Bold Italic"
File:Towa Tei - GBI (German Bold Italic).png
Single by Towa Tei featuring Kylie Minogue
from the album Sound Museum
Released	October 19, 1998
Format	5" CD single 12" vinyl single cassette single
Recorded	London, England
Genre	Pop
Length	4:37
Label	Warner Bros. East West Japan Akashic Coalition
Writer(s)	Towa Tei Kylie Minogue
Producer(s)	Towa Tei
Kylie Minogue chronology
"Cowboy Style" (1998) "GBI: German Bold Italic" (1998) "Spinning Around" (2000)
Towa Tei chronology "Luv Connection" (1995) "GBI: German Bold Italic" (1998) "Butterfly" (1998)

"GBI (German Bold Italic)" is a single from Towa Tei's 1998 album Sound Museum. The song is a collaboration with Australian singer Kylie Minogue. At the time, Tei was best known as one of the DJs behind New York club sensations Deee-Lite, having produced their biggest hit "Groove Is In The Heart" (and appearing in the promotional video, from which some audio blips were re-used on this single); Minogue meanwhile was going through a difficult point in her musical career - critics were praising her musical ventures on the Deconstruction Records, but the public were failing to warm to it, particularly the Impossible Princess album. Minogue co-wrote GBI in 1996, during the recording sessions for the aforementioned album and it is perhaps the most avant-garde entry in her entire discography (and probably the most unknown).

Music video

By far, "GBI" is one of Minogue's strangest videos to date. The video follows Kylie throughout New York City as she is decked out in a full Geisha outfit and make-up and towards the climax of which the singer was collared like a dog and carried by a Japanese man on a leash. It was directed by then-boyfriend Stéphane Sednaoui. Again, the video fails to appear on any Minogue compilation, although a remixed version of it appears on the "Fever Tour" DVD, released in 2002. The video can be seen on Stéphane Sednaoui's website and on YouTube.

The song itself is based around the font name German Bold Italic. The font is seen on the single cover, and was included as a bonus feature on the CD single and the enhanced CD version of the Sound Museum album.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "GBI: German Bold Italic".

• UK CD1 & JP CD2

1. GBI (Radio Edit) – 03:31
2. GBI (Sharp Boys Deee-Liteful Dub) – 08:58
3. Boldline (Non-Kylie track) – 02:40

• UK MC

1. GBI (Radio Edit) – 03:31
2. GBI (Album Version) – 06:58

• UK CD2

1. GBI (Radio Edit) – 03:31
2. GBI (Album Version) – 06:58

• OZ CD & JP CD2

1. GBI (Intro) – 00:26
2. GBI (Album Mix) – 04:17
3. GBI (Ebony Boogie Down Mix) – 05:14
4. BMT SP-1200 Remix (Non-Kylie track)
5. GBI (Rekut/DJ Krust Mix) – 08:15
6. GBI (German Bold Light Mix) – 02:49

• JP 2x12"

1. GBI (Album Mix) – 04:17
2. GBI Kylie-Pella) – 01:40
3. BMT SP-1200 Remix (Non-Kylie track)
4. Boldline (Non-Kylie track) – 02:40
5. GBI (Ebony Boogie Down Mix) – 05:14
6. GBI (Rekut/DJ Krust Mix) – 08:15

Live performances

Minogue performed the song as Dance Interlude in KylieFever2002.

Charts

It spawned numerous remixes and also fared well in Japan, while in Australia and the United Kingdom the song was not a commercial hit, reaching number 63 in the United Kingdom and number 50 in Australia. To further compound its ignominy, it was not released on any Minogue album or compilation, possibly because it was property of the Athrob label. Melbourne-based DJ Wilde Rose was the first to play this song on Australian radio after receiving an advance copy from Kylie herself. To this day they remain good friends.

Chart (1998)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	63
Australian Singles Chart	50
Japan Singles Chart	20

External links

• Official site