Editing Yellowcard (section)

===Formation and early material (1997–2002)===
Yellowcard was formed in 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida, after its members met at [[Douglas Anderson School of the Arts]]. The band got its name from a phrase its members used in high school: whenever somebody did something stupid at a party, such as spilling beer on the carpet, they cited [[Association football|soccer]] laws and gave the offender a "[[Penalty card#Yellow card|yellow card]]" for committing a "party foul".

Yellowcard's original lineup featured Ben Dobson on vocals, Todd Clary on guitar and vocals, [[Ben Harper (musician, born 1980)|Ben Harper]] on guitar, Warren Cooke on bass, and [[Longineu W. Parsons III|Longineu Parsons III]] on drums. Modern Amusement frontman [[Ryan Key]] appeared as a guest, on background vocals, as did violinist Sean Mackin. Key had also been in California band [[Craig's Brother]].

Yellowcard recorded their first LP, ''Midget Tossing'', at the Music Factory in [[Jacksonville Beach, Florida|Jacksonville Beach]] with Michael Ray FitzGerald at the board. ''[[Where We Stand]]'', the band's second album, featured the same lineup as ''Midget Tossing'', while Mackin was brought in for more songs. Soon, however, the band fired Dobson and replaced him with former guest vocalist Key. This changed the band's style from [[hardcore punk]] to [[pop punk]].

In early 2000, Yellowcard recorded the ''Still Standing'' EP. Soon after it was released, Todd Clary left the band. Key then filled both Clary's and Dobson's duties, guitar and vocals respectively. After sending the new EP to friend Steve Lubarsky at Lobster Records, the band signed its first recording contract in June 2000 and in November, headed west to [[Camarillo, California]], to begin working on another full-length album. The group released its third album, ''[[One for the Kids]]'' (Lobster Records), in 2001 and followed up with ''The Underdog EP'' ([[Fueled by Ramen]] Records) in 2002. Both of these were well received by fans. However, soon after ''The Underdog EP'' was released, Warren Cooke left for personal reasons on July 16, 2002.<ref name="Oxford Music Online">{{cite book|title="Yellowcard." Encyclopedia of Popular Music |edition=4th|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> The band then asked [[Pete Mosely]] from [[Inspection 12]] to play bass, and he joined the band four days later.