Devo ( , originally
dee-VOH) is an American New Wave band formed in Akron, Ohio
in 1973. They are best known for their 1980
hit "
Whip It", which made it to #14 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their
style has been variously classified as
punk,
art rock and
post-punk, but they are most often
remembered for their late 1970s and early 1980s
New Wave sound.
Devo's music and
stage show mingle
kitsch science
fiction themes,
deadpan surrealist humor, and mordantly
satirical social
commentary via sometimes-
discordant pop songs that often
feature unusual synthetic instrumentation and
time signatures, and their work has proved
hugely influential on subsequent popular music, particularly New
Wave,
industrial and
alternative rock artists.
Devo was also a pioneer of the
music
video, creating many memorable clips for the
Laser Disc format, with "Whip It" getting heavy
airplay in the early days of
MTV.
Their use of the video
medium dates right back to their very first appearance on stage at
Kent State
University
in 1973, which was recorded with an early
black-and-white portable video system. They were also one of
the first groups in the world to regularly use radio
microphones and wireless guitar amplifiers on
stage.
History
Early years
The name "Devo" comes "from their concept of '
de-evolution' - the
idea that instead of evolving, mankind has actually regressed, as
evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American
society."
This idea was developed as a joke by Kent State
University art students Gerald
Casale and Bob Lewis as
early as the late 1960s. Casale and Lewis created a number
of art pieces in a vein of devolution satirically. At this time,
Casale had also performed with the local band
15-60-75. They met
Mark Mothersbaugh around 1970, who
introduced them to the pamphlet
Jocko Homo
Heavenbound, which includes an illustration of a winged
devil labeled "D-EVOLUTION" and would later inspire the song
"
Jocko Homo".
The first form of Devo was the "Sextet Devo" which performed at the
1973 Kent State performing arts festival. It included Casale, Lewis
and Mothersbaugh, as well as Gerald's brother
Bob Casale on guitar, and friends
Rod Reisman and
Fred Weber on drums and vocals,
respectively. This performance was filmed and a part was included
on the home video
The Complete Truth About
De-evolution. This lineup only performed once. Devo
returned to perform in the Student Governance Center (featured
prominently in the film) at the 1974 Creative Arts Festival with a
line-up including the Casale brothers, Bob Lewis, Mark
Mothersbaugh, and Jim Mothersbaugh on drums.
Devo later formed as a quartet. They recruited Mark's brothers
Bob Mothersbaugh and
Jim Mothersbaugh. Bob played electric
guitar, and Jim provided percussion using a set of homemade
electronic drums. This lineup of Devo lasted until 1976 when Jim
left the band. The lineup was occasionally fluid, and Bob Lewis
would sometimes play guitar during this period. In concert, Devo
would often perform in the guise of
theatrical characters, such
as
Booji Boy, and The Chinaman. Live
concerts from this period were often confrontational, and would
remain so until 1977. A recording of an early Devo performance from
1975 with the quartet lineup appears on
DEVO Live: The Mongoloid
Years, ending with the promoters unplugging Devo's
equipment.
Following Jim Mothersbaugh's departure, Bob Mothersbaugh found a
new drummer in
Alan Myers, who
played with mechanical precision on a conventional, acoustic drum
set. Casale re-recruited his brother Bob Casale, and the popular
line-up of Devo was formed. It would endure for nearly ten
years.
1975–1980
Devo gained some fame in
1976 when
their short film "
The
Truth About De-Evolution" won a prize at the
Ann Arbor Film Festival. In 1977
Devo were asked by
Neil Young to
participate in the making of his film "
Human Highway". Released in 1982, the
film featured the band as "Nuclear garbagepersons." The band
members were asked to write their own parts and Mark Mothersbaugh
scored and recorded much of the soundtrack, his first of
many.
In 1976 Devo released their first single
Mongoloid b/w
Jocko Homo on their independent label "Booji
Boy", followed in 1977 by the warped re-working of
the Rolling Stones'
" Satisfaction".In 1978
the "
Be Stiff EP" was released
by English independent label
Stiff
Records, which included the single
"Be Stiff" plus two
previous Booji Boy releases. "Mechanical Man", a 4 track 7" EP of
demos; apparently a
bootleg,
rumored to be put out by the band themselves, was also released
that year.
Devo caught the attention of
David Bowie
and
Iggy Pop, who championed the band and
enabled Devo to secure a recording contract with
Warner Bros. Records. By this time
Alan Myers had replaced Jim
Mothersbaugh as drummer. After Bowie backed out due to previous
commitments, their first album,
Q: Are We Not
Men? A: We Are
Devo! was produced by
Brian Eno
and featured re-recordings of their previous singles
Mongoloid and
Satisfaction, their
cover version of
the Rolling Stones classic. Devo gained
national exposure with an appearance on
Saturday Night Live, a week after the
Rolling Stones, performing "Satisfaction" and "Jocko Homo."
The band followed up with
Duty Now for the Future in
1979, which moved the band more towards electronic instrumentation.
While not as successful as their first record, it did produce some
fan favorites with the songs "Blockhead" and "The Day My Baby Gave
Me a Surprise", as well as a re-recorded version of "
Secret Agent Man". "Secret Agent
Man" had been recorded first in 1974 for Devo's first film and
performed live as early as 1976. 1979 also brought Devo to Japan
for the first time, and a live show from this tour was partially
recorded. Devo also appeared on
Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in
1979, performing "Blockhead", "Secret Agent Man", and "Mongoloid".
During this period, Lewis successfully sued the band for theft of
intellectual property.
Devo gained a new level of visibility with 1980's
Freedom of Choice which included
their best-known hit, "
Whip It", which
immediately became a
Top 40 hit. The album
moved to an almost completely electronic sound, with the exception
of acoustic drums and Bob 1's guitar. The tour for "Freedom of
Choice" featured the band performing in front of large custom light
boxes which could be laid on their back to form a second, smaller
stage during the second half of the set. Other popular songs from
"Freedom of Choice" were "Girl U Want," the title track (both of
which had popular music videos, along with "Whip It"), and "Gates
of Steel". Devo made two appearances on the TV show
Fridays in 1980, as well as on Don Kirchner's Rock
Concert,
American Bandstand, and
other shows.
Devo remained popular in countries such as Australia, where the
nationally broadcast 1970s–1980s pop TV show
Countdown was one of the first
programs in the world to broadcast their video clips. They were
given consistent radio support by Sydney-based noncommercial rock
station
Double Jay (2JJ), one of the
first rock stations outside America to play their recordings. The
late-night music program
Nightmoves aired
The Truth
About De-Evolution. This paid off, as in August 1981, they
found commercial success in Australia when their
Devo Live E.P. spent
3 weeks at the top of the Australian charts. Later in the year,
they came out to Australia and appeared on the TV show
Countdown
During the 1980s, Devo produced the albums
New Traditionalists (1981),
Oh, No! It's Devo (1982),
Shout (1984), to diminishing
commercial returns and critical success, though they managed to be
a successful live band during this time. Following the commercial
failure of
Shout, Warner Bros. dropped Devo from their
label. Shortly after, claiming to feel creatively uninspired, Alan
Myers left the band. Devo went on hiatus for two years.
Devo actively embraced the
Church of the SubGenius. In concert,
Devo sometimes performed as their own opening act, pretending to be
a
Christian soft-rock group called
"Dove (the Band of Love)", which is an
anagram for "Devo". They appeared as "Dove" in the
1980 televangelism spoof
Pray TV.
They also recorded music, later released on the CD
E-Z Listening Disc (1987), with
Muzak style versions of their own songs to
play before their concerts.
During the interim, Mark Mothersbaugh began composing music for the
TV show
Pee-Wee's
Playhouse, and released an elaborately packaged solo
cassette,
Musik for Insomniaks, which was
later expanded and released as two
CDs in
1988.
1987–1994
In 1987, Devo reformed with new drummer
David Kendrick, formerly of
Sparks. Their first project was a soundtrack
for the flop horror film
Slaughterhouse Rock, starring
Toni Basil. Devo had previously
collaborated with Basil on her 1982 album
Word of Mouth, and she had been in a
relationship with Gerald Casale. The band released
Total Devo in 1988 on
Enigma Records. This album included two songs
used in the
Slaughterhouse Rock soundtrack. The song "Baby
Doll" was used in the film
Tapeheads, with newly recorded Swedish
lyrics, and was credited to (and shown in a music video by) a
fictitious Swedish band called Cube-Squared. Devo followed this up
with a world tour, and released the live album
Now It Can Be Told: DEVO
at the Palace. However,
Total Devo was not a
commercial success, and received poor critical reviews.
In 1989, members of Devo were involved in the project Visiting
Kids, releasing a self-titled EP on the New Rose label in 1990. The
group featured Mark's then wife
Nancye
Ferguson, as well as David Kendrick, Bob Mothersbaugh, his
daughter Alex Mothersbaugh. Their record was produced by Bob Casale
and Mark Mothersbaugh; Mark also co-wrote some of the songs.
Visiting Kids also appeared on the soundtrack to the film
Rockula, as well as on
The Late Show with David
Letterman. A promotional video was filmed for the song
"Trilobites".
1990 saw the release of
Smooth
Noodle Maps, which would be Devo's last album for nineteen
years. It, too, was not a commercial success. Devo launched a
European concert tour, but poor ticket sales caused it to be ended
early. The band had a falling out soon after, though played two
shows in 1991 before breaking up. Around this time, members of Devo
appeared in the film
Spirit of
'76, except for Bob Mothersbaugh. Posthumously, two albums of
demo recordings from 1974 to 1977—
Hardcore Devo: Volume One
(1990) and
Hardcore Devo:
Volume Two (1991)—were released on
Rykodisc, as well as an album of early live
recordings,
DEVO
Live: The Mongoloid Years.
Following the split, Mark Mothersbaugh started
Mutato Muzika, a commercial music production
studio, taking with him Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale. The former
works as a
composer, and the latter as a
recording engineer. David
Kendrick also worked at Mutato for a period during the early 1990s.
Mark has gained considerable success in
writing and producing music for
television programs (starting with
Pee Wee's Playhouse and perhaps
most famously with
Rugrats),
video games,
cartoons, and movies (notably working alongside
director
Wes Anderson). Gerald Casale
began a career as a director of music videos and commercials. He
has worked with bands including
Rush,
Silverchair, and the
Foo Fighters. Also, in the wake of Devo's
demise, Bob Mothersbaugh attempted to start a solo career with The
Bob I Band, recording an album that was never released. The tapes
for this are now lost, though a bootleg of the band in concert has
surfaced.
1995–2006
In 1995, Devo reappeared with a new recording of "
Girl U Want" on the soundtrack to the movie
Tank Girl.
In January 1996, Devo
performed a reunion concert at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah
. The band performed on part of the 1996
Lollapalooza tour in the rotating
Mystery Spot, with a setlist largely composed of material from
their heyday between 1978 and 1982. Also in 1996, Devo, perhaps
inspired by
The Residents, also
released a
multimedia CD-ROM adventure game,
The Adventures of
the Smart Patrol with
Inscape. The
game was not a success, but the Lollapalooza tour was received well
enough to allow Devo to return in 1997 as a headliner.
While they did not release any albums during this period, Devo
recorded a number of songs for various films since their reunion,
including a cover of the
Nine Inch
Nails hit, "
Head Like a Hole"
for the film
Supercop. In
2001, members of Devo formed the
surf
band The Wipeouters, describing it as a reunion of the first
garage band they started
while in their early teens.
In 2004,
Devo reunited for a benefit concert at New York City's famed
performing arts venue Central Park SummerStage
alongside the Yeah Yeah
Yeahs and stellastarr*.
Devo also has used their music in advertising. In 2005 Devo
recorded a new version of "
Whip It" to be
used in
Swiffer television commercials, a
decision they have said they regretted. During an interview with
the Dallas Observer, Gerald Casale said, "It's just aesthetically
offensive. It's got everything a commercial that turns people off
has."
In 2005, Gerald Casale announced his "solo" project,
Jihad Jerry & the
Evildoers (the Evildoers themselves including the other members
of Devo), and released the first EP,
Army Girls Gone Wild in 2006. A
full length album,
Mine Is
Not A Holy War was released on September 12, 2006 after a
several-month delay. It features mostly new material, plus
re-recordings of four very obscure Devo songs: "I Need A Chick" and
"I Been Refused" (from
Hardcore Devo: Volume Two), "Find
Out" (which appeared on the single and EP of "Peek-A-Boo" in 1982),
and "Beehive" (which was recorded by the band in 1974, at which
point it was apparently abandoned with the exception of one
appearance at a special show in 2001). Devo continued to tour
actively in 2005 and 2006, unveiling a new stage show at shows in
October 2006, and an appearance of the Jihad Jerry character
performing "Beautiful World" as an encore.
Also in 2006, Devo worked on a project with
Disney known as
Devo 2.0. A band of child performers was assembled
and re-recorded Devo songs. A quote from the
Akron Beacon Journal elucidates, "...Devo recently
finished a new project in cahoots with Disney called Devo 2.0,
which features the band playing old songs and two new ones with
vocals provided by children. Mothersbaugh doesn't rule out the idea
of the band gathering in the studio, eventually, to record a new
Devo album." Their debut album, a two disc CD/DVD combo entitled
"DEV2.0", was released on March 14, 2006. The lyrics of some of the
songs have been changed for
family-friendly airplay, which has been
claimed by the band to be a play on irony of sorts of the messages
of their classic hits.
2007–present
260 px
In an April 2007 interview, Gerald Casale mentioned an upcoming
project for a movie about Devo's early days. A script is supposedly
being developed, tentatively called
The Beginning Was the
End, though the production hasn't been confirmed yet. Casale
also stated that there may be some new Devo material as well, but
whether this is related to the release of a movie or not is
unclear. Devo played their first European tour since 1990 in the
summer of 2007, including a performance at
Festival
Internacional de Benicàssim.
In December 2007, Devo released their first new single since 1990,
"Watch Us Work It," which was featured in a
commercial for
Dell. The song
features a sample drum track from the song "The Super Thing" off of
their 1981 album
New
Traditionalists. The band has announced in a July 23,
2007,
MySpace bulletin that a full length
music video for the song was forthcoming, and the song itself is
available on iTunes and
eMusic. Casale said
that this song was chosen from a batch of songs that the band was
working on, and that also this is the closest the band has been to
a new album. Devo's song, "Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy", was
featured in EA Sports'
skateboard video
game,
Skate. The songs "Girl U Want" and "Through Being
Cool" were released as downloadable content for the video game
Rock Band on August 19, 2008. The
song "Uncontrollable Urge" is featured in the video game
Rock Band 2. All three songs
have been rerecorded exclusively for
Rock Band.
In a December 5, 2007 article on
Mutato
Muzika,
LA Weekly reported that "After
touring sporadically over the past decade but not releasing any new
material, Devo are spending December at Mutato trying to create an
album’s worth of new material and contemplating a method of
dispersal in the post-record-company world." In a recent interview
, Mothersbaugh revealed a song title from the in-progress album:
"Don't Shoot, I'm a Man". However, in a radio interview on April
17, 2008, Jerry stated that Mark had "killed the project" and that
there would be no new Devo album. Casale, however, later stated
that "We're going to finish what we started."
In June 2008
McDonald's released a
Happy Meal toy wearing the Devo
Energy Dome that they named "
New Wave Nigel". It was reported by
AAP that a band member had
initiated legal action against McDonald's as the hamburger chain
had copied
trademarked elements of the
band's look. The following week it was reported a
gag order had been placed on the band regarding
further public statements on the matter. By July 2008 various
blogs referred to "an
e-mail" from a colleague of the band's attorney that
suggested the issue was "amicably resolved".
Devo played dates in the United States, Japan, Australia, France,
and Spain in the summer of 2008. Also in 2008 the band remixed the
Attery Squash song 'Devo Was Right About Everything' which was
released on the B-side to the
Watch Us
Work It vinyl 12" single. They also remixed a song by
Datarock, "Computer Camp", which can be heard on
the band's MySpace page. Datarock routinely cites Devo as an
influence. 2008 also saw a Japan exclusive
box
set containing the band's first six albums,
This is the Devo Box. On October
17, 2008, Devo performed a special concert at the Akron Civic
Theater, their first in Akron since 1978, to promote Democratic
presidential candidate
Barack Obama.
They were joined at the concert by fellow Akron-area musicians
The Black Keys and
Chrissie Hynde.
In recent interviews, Devo has confirmed that they will be
completing their new album. The Studio Notes section of the
November 27 issue of
Rolling Stone
stated that "Devo are working on their first album of new material
since 1990's Smooth Noodle Maps. 'We have about 17 songs we're
testing out," says frontman Mark Mothersbaugh. 'We've already been
contacted by 20 producers - including
Snoop
Dogg and
Fatboy Slim.'" Fall 2009
has been confirmed as a release date.
Devo announced in early 2009, that they would be performing at
SXSW on March 20th, with a warmup show in
Dallas on March 18th. At these shows, Devo performed a new stage
show utilizing synchronized video, similar to the 1982 tour, new
costumes, and three new songs: "Don't Shoot, I'm a Man!", "What We
Do", and "Fresh". All of these songs included a video backdrop
which the band performed in front of. Devo also confirmed that they
would be performing at
All Tomorrow's
Parties on May 6 and 8, with the May 6th performance featuring
the band performing their first album,
Q: Are We Not
Men? A: We Are
Devo!, in its entirety. The May 8th performance was a
"greatest hits" show, for the ATP "Fans Strike Back" event.
On Friday, April 10, 2009, Devo debuted the music video for
"
Don't Shoot " on their
website, through
Vimeo. In an interview for
the website "Subba-Cultcha", Casale stated, "regardless of the
final title, it will be 'Fresh'!" It is slightly unclear as to
whether or not this indicates the final album title or not. In the
June 2009 issue of
Rolling Stone, the
band noted that the album's release had been pushed back to 2010 to
allow for "radical remixing".
On September 16, 2009, Warner Brothers and Devo announced a
re-release of
Q: Are We Not
Men? A: We Are
Devo! and
Freedom
of Choice, with a tour performing both albums. In an
interview with Gerald Casale in late October 2009, he announced
that Devo's new album will be picking-up from where they left off.
"We think it’s the best record that we’d ever done although we’re
not certain that
Fresh will be the title. There are more
good songs on this album than any other record that we’ve made.
We’re aiming for a spring release," quoted Casale.
Discography
Mark Mothersbaugh performing as part
of Devo at the "Festival Internacional de Benicàssim", on July 20,
2007.
Line up
Sextet Devo
(1973) |
The Sextet Devo performed only once in 1973 at the Kent State
Performing Arts festival |
Quartet Devo
(1974-1975) |
|
Classic Line Up
(1975-1985) |
- Gerald Casale - Bass Guitar, Bass
Synthesizer, Vocals
- Mark Mothersbaugh -
Synthesizers, Guitar, Vocals
- Bob Mothersbaugh ("Bob 1") -
Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards (studio)
- Bob Casale ("Bob 2") - Guitar,
Keyboards, Vocals, Engineer
- Alan Myers - Drums,
Electronic Percussion
|
Enigma Records
(1987-1991) |
|
| Current (1996-Today) |
David Kendrick performed with Devo at
several 2003 shows, including their tour of Japan due to the
unavailability of Josh Freese.Neil Taylor, Devo's drum technician
also performs when Freese is unavailable, and performed on the 2008
Australian Tour. |
See also
References
- The DEVO FAQ, Info from Jerry Casale
- Interview with Devo
- Devo Bio ClubDevo.com, Retrieved September 11,
2007
- Oh Yes, It’s Devo: An Interview with Jerry
Casale Brian L. Knight, The Vermont Review, Retrieved
December 15, 2007
- Interview, April 25, 2001 at liveDaily.com Retrieved
September 5, 2007
- The Dallas Observer
- EA
: Skate
- LA Weekly Article
- Access Atlants Article
- YouTube Radio Interview w/ Gerald Casale re: New
Album
- Timeout Sydney
- McDonald's sued over Happy Meal toy AAP, June 13, 2008,
Retrieved July 26, 2008
- Devo Suing McDonald's Over Happy Meal Toy |
Pitchfork
- Law Blog - WSJ.com : Whip It! Devo's Law Firm Says
Band Isn't Suing Over McDonald's Doll
- Akron Beacon Journal online
-
http://www.laweekly.com/2008-10-30/music/preschool-confidential/2
- http://www.nme.com/news/devo/43368
-
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-devo_0318gd.ART0.State.Edition1.4a824a0.html
- http://clubdevo.com/mp/news_pgs/dontshoot_video.html Don't
Shoot, I'm a Man video.
- http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article_feature.php?id=5967
Subba-Culture interview revealing album title.
- "In the Studio" section of June 2009 Rolling
Stone
- Warner Brothers and Devo press release on
re-release and tour
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