It all began for me on October 14, 1978. That’s when Saturday Night Live host, Fred Willard introduced an oddly named band called “Devo”. I watched these guys -garbed in yellow radiation suits, who moved robotically- tear into a brilliantly off-kilter version of “Satisfaction” --- and in that instant they altered the musical landscape for me.
Devo was a breath of fresh ‘weird’ air. Devo was Dadaistic concept art with a social bent. And Devo had a lead singer with this wonderful nerd voice that blistered the air to my great delight.
The next day I took a bus downtown to the only record store open on Sunday and picked up a copy of Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! rushed home, breathlessly placed the record on the player, and was swept away.
This is a look at the albums in my collection
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (August 1978)
Tracks: Uncontrollable Urge / (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction / Praying Hands / Space Junk / Mongoloid / Jocko Homo / Too Much Paranoias / Gut Feeling (Slap Your Mammy) / Come Back Jonee / Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin') / Shrivel-Up
It’s 45 years old, and still amazing to this day. Aside from those on the fringe, music was dire for me at that time, but this was different, original, off beat, unpolite and beautifully mutated.
Devo’s seminal work. Today it is generally highly regarded, but upon its release some critics took their shots and called it sterile, cold. I don’t see it, or how someone could listen to the frantic cadences of "Uncontrollable Urge", and not feel their pulse race. Sterile? Cold? Na.
Are We Not Men sizzles with organic sounds. Sure, there were the beeps and pops of the synths, there were the stops and starts and unpredictable chord structures associated with New Wave… but they also rocked with good old-fashioned bass, drums and guitars.
"Gut Feeling (Slap Your Mammy)" in particular offered up a taste of Devo as guitar crunching punks. Alan Myers was a strong drummer, punctuating his heavy backbeat with quick exciting fills, but that was more evident in the live shows than on record. With Gut Feeling though, you feel him working those sticks for all his worth. Bob Mothersbaugh’s guitars snarled aggressively during the transitions from Gut to Mammy and Gerald Casales’s bass playing is given its due. One unfortunate side effect to the Devo electronic sound was that Gerald’s bass got buried. So, I’m thrilled that there’s a song (and album) that puts his talents on full display – we can clearly hear him dart and slide across those strings like a master, and it gives Devo’s sound a bit O’ muscle and warmth that would be lost in subsequent recordings.
"Satisfaction" is proof that DEVO does the best covers, ever (Mick called it the best cover of the song). Funny that Devo played this a week after the Stones performed on SNL. In addition to this, Devo draws from rocks past with a catchy sequel to Johnny B Goode ("Come Back Johnnie").
"Jocko Homo" is one of the great anthems, and they added to it since filming of the video, made it even more memorable - "Too Much Paranoias" is often ranked as the worst song on the record; not for me, I find it a nightmarish joy
I know most people wouldn’t dare compare Devo to the Beatles, but in those days in 1978 I felt like I did when I discovered the Beatles. Like I found something special. I’d sit there and listen to these wild songs, and stare at that ugly/wonderful cover, which was perfectly Devo. I’d pour over the pictures on the sleeve and read the lyrics as the music played - and rocked like crazy in my chair, with those 4 speakers surrounding me, just as I did when I’d listen to the fab four all those years before.
Unlike the Beatles, who had a wide fan base, I was flying solo with these guys. I had no one to share this with - no one was interested. I’d try to get my band to play "Mongoloid", but the song and the music in general, freaked them out too much. Devo, at least for the first 2 years (78-79), was pretty much mine and mine alone.
Tracks: Devo Corporate Anthem / Clockout / Timing X / Wiggly World / Blockhead / Strange Persuit / S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain) / Triumph of the Will / The Day My Baby Gave me a Surprise / Pink Pussycat / Secret Agent Man / Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA / Red Eye - Bonus Tracks: General Boy Visits Apocalypse Now / Soo Bawls / Be Stiff (Still Version) / Penetration in the Centerfold / Secret Agent Man (Live)
After discovering Devo, the floodgates started to open. In my little town they began airing a late-night radio show on Sundays, which introduced me to new breaking bands as well as a couple of treasured oddballs (the Fabulous Poodles). Also in 1979, I got a taste of Beatlemania in the guise of a band called The Knack. Who exploded on the scene with the hook filled "My Sharona". Music was making a big comeback in my universe and the summer of ‘79 brought the promise of a new release from Ohio’s favorite spud boys.
Devo’s second album was initially not well received, folks suggested that Brian Eno was responsible for what made the band great, and without him they were lost. The tracks were actually culled from the same gene pool as Are We Not Men? – Had you attended concerts from 75 to 77, you would have heard a mix of songs from both LPs. But the tone of Duty was decidedly different. While I didn’t agree with critics who said that AWNM Was cold… Duty would definitely give you frost bite.
The freaky five were pulling away from standard rock and roll instruments and began pushing the electronics to the fore. Alan’s still hitting the toms and kicks, but there's emphasis on the snappy snares, and while the Bob's plug away on those screaming guitar strings, it's all so oddly detached. Even the vocals have a strange remoteness, as if they were being transmitted from an alien planet. It took me a while to warm up to the album, though even today I find its frigid terrains exhausting (I always feel tired after listening to it)
There are a few deviations from the robotic. The frantic "Clock Out" allows Jerry Casale to show off his slick bass playing and "The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise" is rather melodic and catchy. "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA" had a driving tempo and opened with an underlying theremin sound straight from a 50s sci-fi flick. And "Secret Agent Man" is yet another stellar cover-song (though better live).
I get the sense that Devo was cleaning out their musical closet on this release, ala the B-side of Abbey Road (without the trick of fusing the tracks together). Reflecting on it today, I think that Duty Now for The Future was actually a very good record that simply had the misfortune of being released after a truly great one. Oh, and lastly...
The colorful Janet Perr artwork satirized the new requirements for bar codes on albums, which a lot of bands felt defaced the art. 'Course, Devo, being Devo see the Orwellian possibilities and de-evolution in it, take it and use it to make a statement. BTW - The rectangular image of the band originally came perforated and could therefore be removed from the "offending" barcodes surrounding it.
Tracks: Girl U Want / It's Not Right / Whip It / Snowball / Ton o' Luv / Freedom of Choice / Gates of Steel / Cold War / Don't You Know / That's Pep / Mr. B's Ballroom / Planet Earth
Their appearances on Fridays (and perhaps Bandstand, I’m not sure the month that aired) whet my appetite for the new album. I could tell that this release was going to offer warmth not found on Duty. And I recall rushing off to the record store on the day of its release.
From the first notes of "Girl U Want" I was in heaven. This was an incredible LP and like always, different from what came before. So far Devo had not repeated them-selves. FOC was the transitional album that would see them shift from New Wave to Synth Pop. It wasn’t as perfect as Are We Not Men - but there really wasn’t a bad tune in the bunch. In addition to Girl and -gasp- the hit record "Whip It" (with its nice B-side number, “Turn Around”), was the powerful title track, "Freedom of Choice" (single peaked at 103 on Billboard charts). Freedom is an example of Devo’s literary leanings as the lyrics are inspired by Aesop’s fable “The Dog and the Bone”. Musically, Alan Myers steady, hammer-like drumming gives the track a rousing pulse. Oh, and speaking of drawing from other sources, "That's Pep" (which acts as kind of a bookend to Whip It) was inspired by an early 20th century poem by Grace G. Bostwick
Lyrically the band was in a romantic mood. Songs about desire and heartbreak pepper the production. But that’s not to say they’d abandoned themes of De-evolution – the urgent "Gates of Steel" -for example- addresses mankind being bound by logic, which is undone by their irrational, impulsive, and illogical natures.
With a new LP comes another costume change. This one left an indelible mark as everyone had something to say about those Aztec Energy Domes (yeah, the flowerpot hats) and any die-hard DEVOtee put in an order and proudly wore them to concerts (I’d even wear mine for a song or two during my own gigs)
With all this radio attention and TV appearances, 1980 was a hell of time to be a beautiful mutant and it got even better for me on August 12th, 1980. That’s when my father and I drove off to Seattle. He was to conduct business and visit family, and I was anxiously awaiting a concert.
As for details on how R&B influences impacted the tone and sound in the bottom end, among other topics - an interview with producer Robert Margouleff on the making of the album - Sound on Sound
What was next? Nightflight and later MTV (8/1/81) hit the air and showed music videos, while VJs keep us updated on all the news. At first, these shows/channels didn’t have a lot to choose from in the mainstream. All they could do is turn to the oddballs, the new wave artists who were all about visuals and had plenty of material to offer. It was perfect timing for bands like Devo, the B-52s, Talking Heads, Oingo Boingo, XTC, Gary Numan, Mi-Sex, the Brains, Adam and the Ants etc – radio might have been a tough nut to crack, but TV was desperate for them. And it helped that these arty types liked filming striking and interesting images.
Tracks: Though Being Cool / Jerkin' Back 'N' Forth / Pity You / Soft Things / Going Under / Race of Doom / Love Without Anger / The Super Thing / Beautiful World / Enough Said - Bonus Tracks: Nu-Tra Speaks (New Traditionalist Man) / One Dumb Thing / Modern Life / Faster and Faster / Psychology of Desire (Demo) / It's a Beautiful World" (E-Z Listening Version)
Devomania was at an all-time high. The previous year they had a hit record, and in 1981 music television was running their vast catalog of video on a steady basis. In addition to that, "Working in a Cole Mine", from the Heavy Metal Soundtrack was getting plenty of airplay (though it topped out at #43 on the charts). At this high peak was where I met my first Devo disappointment.
NT wasn’t a horrible album, but it was a flat one. In each of their first 3 releases Devo gave a fresh spin on their sound, but they stood pat for NT as it sounds a lot like castoffs from Freedom of Choice.
It starts with the funky "Through Being Cool", an okay tune, but not scorching enough for an album opener. The next cut, "Jerkin' Back 'N' Forth" fares better, but it’s not a complete killer either. I remember listening to the record for the first time and this feeling of dread washing over me track after track after track. I kept waiting for them to ramp it up, and while the songs weren’t terrible (and "Going Under" and "Pity You" were both solid, groovin numbers), for the most part little sparkled. There were no Whip Its or Girl U Wants in sight. On top of that, Devo decided to helm the LP themselves. This was met with less than stellar results. The production was muddy, low key and dry, though happily, the 2010 remaster gave it more clarity, gave it a little oomph.
It wasn’t until the second to last tune that the album finally struck gold. "Beautiful World" was the LPs lone gem and one of Devo’s very best songs as well as one of their finest videos. Beautiful World is quintessential Casale (and he was the one who painstakingly scoured through hours of archives to find the clips he wanted for the video), it’s the quintessential Devo message song/video, it exemplifies the theory of De-evolution sharpened in the aftermath of the bloodshed at Kent State. Oddly it’s kind of a sequel to the FOC song, Planet Earth, Beautiful surpasses that one - the only time Traditionalists betters its sister album.
Overall, the lyrics are strong. The humor, when present, seems darker to me; it’s generally more straight-out serious and maybe a little angry. Many critics offer that in Through Being Cool, Devo is dissing those who jumped on the “Whip It” bandwagon and wanted to make it clear who they were and what they were about. "Enough Said" is full of contempt for political leaders.
2010 Bonus tracks were good, but 3 came from sessions for the next LP - why didn't Warners include the single, "Working in A Cole Mine" or the B-Sides, "Hello Kitty" and "Mecha-Mania Boy"?
Notes: The outfits for this release were “Utopian Boy Scout Uniforms” and plastic, molded hair modeled after JFKs. The tour was massive and included a Greek temple motif.
* Human Highway, Neil Young’s little seen film that Devo appeared in as workers in a nuclear power plant, has a limited release in 1982. A video for their cover of “It Takes a Worried Man”, from that film, gets some coverage (which includes bookend appearances from Rod and Donut Rooter). The movie featured Mark Mothersbaugh’s first foray into film scores.
Tracks: Time Out for Fun / Peek-a-Boo! / Out of Sync / Explosions / That's Good / Patterns / Big Mess / Speed Racer / What I Must Do / I Desire / Deep Sleep
Before it got serious, Devo started off as a laugh (Jerry found about a book about brain eating monkeys, and how this contributed to backward evolution). And when it became a band there was a postmodernist philosophy attached to it. When Mark or Jerry speak of the group, they speak of it in the third person, as if it were a performance art piece created around a fictional band who have come to the planet with a message. So, Devo was always more than just a bunch of guys making music, Devo was a concept
With "Oh, No", the concept might have defeated itself. The intent was always to pull further away from guitars and into electronics, but I wonder if Devo shot themselves in the foot. Adhering so faithfully to the idea of Devo, that they sacrificed the quality of the music of Devo. It would have been preferable to have said, “Screw the concept, let’s get a real bass and drum and put some depth and meat on these bones.” (something Gerald and Bob wanted for Shout, but couldn't convince Mark, who had a new musical toy)
I say this because the production on Oh, No sounds thin and tinny. The programmed drums and synths all have a similar sound - the danger there is that it can make the LP mesh together in one undistinguishable mass.
Despite these flaws, on a song-by-song basis, I like this record. Unlike the murky New Traditionalist, Oh No is exciting - it has fire and energy. There are catchy grooves in "That's Good", and some of those electronics can be quite captivating (the siren sound in "Peek-A-Boo!")
Devo is now pure synth pop, and the effort sounds so bubbly - and with titles like "Time Out for Fun" - you might think this was Devo-lite, fluffy and sweet like cotton candy. But the lyrics hide a darkness - with mental illness and unrest a reoccurring theme - "Big Mess" draws inspiration from the Cowboy Kim letters (schizophrenic missives sent to TV game shows - Devo was friends with someone who worked in the mailroom and got their hands on them). "I Desire" sounds like a thousand other urgent songs about a man who’ll do anything for his love. Until you discover that the lyrics were inspired by letters John Hinkley Jr. sent to Jodie Foster – the line between love and madness is thin indeed. I always thought I Desire, while robotic, had a pretty melody and I’ve always enjoyed singing along with the track.
Sadly, the mutated stitches are starting to unravel. There were rumblings that Alan Myers was not happy with Devo’s growing reliance on programming/drum machines, as many drummers of electronic bands often become. I remember the Cars drummer issuing the same complaints, ironic in a way, the Cars producer Roy Thomas Baker, was the man in the control booth for this record (he also produced Alice Coopers "Flush the Fashion", which I felt was too gutless on that side of things).
MTV is also acting like snippy brats and for some reason turns on the band. It was the French fry that did it! In the video for "That’s Good", an animated French fry inserts into a donut, which cuts to footage of a woman in the throes of passion. MTV refused to air the video and things got heated. Mark laughs about it today and nails the double standard on the head, when he stated that Madonna could stick a French fry in her ass, and they’d have had no problem with it.
Tracks: Shout / The Satisfied Mind / Don't Rescue Me / The 4th Dimension / C'mon / Here to Go / Jurisdiction of Love / Puppet Boy / Please Please / Are You Experienced?
This is the beginning of the end. This would be Alan’s last stand with the band. Saying that he felt “creatively deprived”, the drum master takes his leave after this release. Alan wasn’t the only disgruntled one, fans and critics were none too happy with it, the album failed to chart, and Warners dropped them.
Shout does sound like a group with nothing left to say. There’s little new here (other than the Fairlight CMI computer synthesizer’s they used for the first time), and it sounds almost like the work of a Devo knock-off. It’s similar in style to Oh, No! It’s Devo, with its video game synths. But it’s actually a bit fuller, more bass heavy and we get some guitar work from Bob 1. This is the second stab at production for the guys, and I think they do a better job this time out.
I won’t argue that Shout is a great album - the title track is strong, but after that it fades into melodies and lyrics that have been done before and done better. There are good moments in songs like "The 4th Dimension" (with its Day Tripper riff) and I liked the detached alien-like backing vocals throughout, but overall Shout is pleasantly non-descript, and I can’t blame those who threw up their hands and gave up.
I can’t blame them, but they should have stuck with it. Because Shout’s second side actually offers up some entertaining material: "Puppet Boy" and "Please Please" aren’t going to make anyone forget "Jocko Homo" or "Uncontrollable Urge", but they are solid tracks. The funky Puppet Boy in particular was a hell of a kick, convulsively danceable and delivering that old Devo humor, with a defiant Puppet (Booji) Boy piping in his protests.
The spuds from Ohio saved the best for last with one of their trademark classic covers. This time they do Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced? The tune opens with noise that hearkens back to "Too Much Paranoias" and then throbs with a cool fusion of 80s new wave and 60s psychedelic (and inserting a lick inspired by Hendrix’s Third Stone from the Sun). It’s a fitting end (though not truly the end). I discovered these guys performing the brilliant Satisfaction” and finished with them doing Hendrix.
I never bought but have listened to Total Devo (May 1988) - Aside from "Baby Doll", it was pretty weak stuff, a few bad ones, a few decent ones, and a lot that sounded like they were borrowing bits from previous numbers - Devo had run out of fresh ideas. Next was the near unlistenable dance popper Smooth Noodle Maps (June 1990) and that was it - aside from a good song showing up here or there, I thought my days of full-length Devo records were done. Until...
Tracks: Fresh / What We Do / Please Baby Please / Don't Shoot (I'm a Man) / Mind Games / Human Rocket / Sumthin / Step-Up / Cameo / Laster Is Now / No Place Like Home / March On
There wasn’t much news out of Spudland, until 2007 when they recorded a song for a commercial in Japan. That song was the great "Watch Us Work it", and it put us Devotees into a spin. Would they, could they, make a return and record again?
It was uncertain for a while; they went back and forth for years. Mark announced the band was regrouping in his studio, later Gerald said that Mark had halted the project and that there would be no new Devo album. Then it was back on, release dates were suggested, set – and then changed again. They leaked a few songs, but it was taking so long that I started to wonder if they’d ever get it in gear. Finally, they’d re-signed with Warners, a website was set up for a song study and clever promos were played. It was a hoot (I loved the guy who hosted it, Jacob), but I think people maybe took it too seriously and a few got upset when the fans choices weren’t followed to the letter. I could care less what they’d release at this point, I just wanted the CD.
Soon the day arrived, a listening party for cats was planned (I watched some of it and laughed like mad at the idea) and after work I sped on down to the local Best Buy and grabbed my copy!
Ahh the beautiful noise they made was like taking a trip back to my past. The production was brilliant, smoother and fuller than they’d done in ages. The synths were there of course, but they didn’t sound as cheap and tinny as with Oh No, It’s Devo. The songs rattled with energy, the pulse pounding album opener "Fresh" ripped right through me. I wanted to get up and make these creaky old bones of mine dance. Unlike other comeback albums, this wasn’t a tired old band wheezing and sputtering through safe music, and resting on past glories - this music was as bright and relevant as what they’d done with Are We Not Men? and Freedom of Choice. The insightful lyrics, rousing music and slick production were all aces. And the underlying commercialized concept and message tied it all together and added to the experience. SFE was a success on all phases.
"Fresh" opens the album and it quickly became one of my all-time favorites. Bob Mothersbaugh’s lead guitar adds spice and Joah Freese’s drums are big and bold. The lyrics (I think) are about advertisers etc, dangling every new bauble in front of consumers like a carrot. And how we go for it like starving dogs, thinking it’ll be the thing that makes our lives perfect. That sums up the concept of the album, as well as the costumes (Plastic faceplates that obliterate the individual. Every person looks the same).
Even though "Cameo" received the fewest votes among fans, Devo included it… and I’m glad they did (I actually voted for its inclusion). I like quirky weird Devo (Paranoias, Speed Racer) and Cameo is indeed, odd. "Sumthin"’ features a sweet instrumental handoff during the verses - from synths to a quick strum from the rhythm guitar, which gives way to a lead guitar lick from Bob 1.
Reviews were generally positive (though many critics still don’t get it, judging by comments -that in all seriousness- attacked the commercialism and promotions. They couldn’t see that the marketing campaign, the lyrics rife with catch phrases… it’s all part of the joke, it’s all part of de-evolution’s dark satirical twist). The album was their 3rd highest charter (peaking at #30), the band played on Letterman, there were cool new videos to watch… man it was like old times but with an Internet twist, which offered up more access and entertainment.
That song study allowed us fans to know what we were missing. Personally, I’d have replaced "No Place Like Home" and "March" with "Knock Boots" and "Watch Us Work It", but those tunes, and 2 others are now available.
And lastly, a word about EPs, a concert and a video compilation.
B Stiff (September 1978)
Tracks: Jacko Homo / (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction / Be Stiff / Mongoloid / Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Getting) / Social Fools
I remember seeing this EP in the important section of my favorite local record store (Strawberry Jams) but didn't pick it up until years later. B Stiff collects the three singles released by Stiff Record in the UK - so these cuts were different from was heard on the "Are We Not Men?" album, and there was a tune I wasn't familiar with (Social Fools), so that was cool.
Tracks: Freedom of Choice Theme Song / Whip It / Girl U Want / Gates of Steel / Be Stiff / Planet Earth
I saw a show during this tour, and had to have this EP, thought it wasn't the same as seeing them in person. I didn't listen to it a lot (though I liked this faster version of Be Stiff).
As for the concert I attended - I arrived early (with a book to entertain me), I was like 5th, 6th in the queue. And by the time the doors opened, the line had wrapped around the block (the show sold out and they added another one for later that night!)
I remember Devo came around the corner; the Bobs had guitars in hand and walked in through the front entrance. We cheered and I was jacked. I’d never seen a band just walk out in front and nod at all their fans in line. I could hear rehearsals and sound checks and when they let us in, I must have had the biggest assed smile pasted on my face. I was tired, I’d spent the morning in a car, going from the far western part of the State to the far eastern end of it, then about 2/3 hours standing in a line - but that weariness was about to disappear.
Devo was their own warm up act, as they showed all their videos, including a few exclusives (like the death of Booji Boy).
The guys had on vests, each emblazoned with a letter. After the first song, the lights when out and all you could see those letters, glowing in the dark, spelling out DEVO. What cheesy good fun. The crowd went wild. I noticed that Alan didn’t play drums behind everyone else, as was the tradition; he was up front on the left. I had a good view of him and was really impressed watching him play. The drums were strong live; you could feel them pounding in your chest.
The concert was brilliant, the best I’ve ever seen. It was without a doubt the most fun I’ve had at a show - and as a bonus... during the performance, Mark wiped his brow and threw the towel in the audience, right in my direction. I raised my hand, never thinking it would actually find me. When I felt it fall into place. I quickly pulled it into my chest. No one were going to take this away from me!
I'll watch it from time to time, it's a nice trip down memory lane.
My Five Favorite Albums
1. Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
2. Freedom of Choice
3. Something for Everybody
4. Duty Now for the Future
5. Oh, No! It's Devo
