| "GBI (German Bold Italic)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Towa_Tei_-_GBI_(German_Bold_Italic).svg) UK CD1 single cover | ||||
| Single by Towa Tei featuring Kylie Minogue and Haruomi Hosono[a] | ||||
| from the album Sound Museum | ||||
| Released | September 10, 1997 | |||
| Recorded | 1996 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 6:59 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Towa Tei | |||
| Towa Tei singles chronology | ||||
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| Kylie Minogue singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "GBI (German Bold Italic)" on YouTube | ||||
"GBI (German Bold Italic)" is a song by Japanese music producer Towa Tei from his second studio album Sound Museum (1997). The song features vocals by Australian singer Kylie Minogue and Japanese musician Haruomi Hosono.[a] Tei produced the song and co-wrote it with Minogue. It was released as a single in Japan by Elektra, Akashic, and East West Records on September 10, 1997, featuring several remixes and an original typeface designed by Hiro Sugiyama and the design team Enlightenment. A year later, Arthrob and East West Records distributed the single in Australia and the United Kingdom.
The minimal house, techno-pop and club song contains an uncredited sample from the introduction track of The Art of Belly Dancing, a 1969 belly dancing instructional record. It portrays Minogue as a newly invented typeface titled "German Bold Italic". Music critics lauded the tongue-in-cheek song for its distinctiveness in Minogue's repertoire, regarding it as a highlight of Sound Museum and a defining moment in her career. "GBI (German Bold Italic)" had little success on the singles charts, peaking within the top 60 in Australia, Scotland, and the UK.
Minogue's then-boyfriend, French director Stéphane Sednaoui, directed the song's accompanying music video. The video features Minogue dressed in a kimono and Tei walking through the streets of New York City and Tokyo. Minogue incorporated the track in her KylieFever2002 tour and made several live performances where she wore traditional Japanese costumes. Tei re-produced the track in 2017 and released another song with Minogue, titled "Sometime Samurai" in 2005.
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