Devo: C or D? S & D etc.

Whatever happened to the girl from the Whip It video?

SAN ANTONIO -- She was a successful entrepreneur, entertainer, and mother. That is, until failing health and the failing economy took her on a downward spiral. She's a woman you may have seen before.

Shay Spitz-Ober rocked the role of leading lady in the 1980 music video for Devo's "Whip It." Her husband played trumpet for the artist known as the godfather of Tejano music. She and her family lived in a $300,000 dollar home. But in a heartbeat, they lost almost everything they had.

"I lost my self-esteem," said Shay. "I lost my hair."

Shay was diagnosed with back-to-back bouts of breast cancer. Not long after, her business went under and she found herself and her family homeless.

(story continues at link. has nice outcome)

I'll just leave this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_M9ZMo5TiU&feature=related

Gotta grab that gusto
Gotta get there first

Long time no sugar...

That Jermaine Jackson & Devo video!

Now, c'mon, you can't do that without a link!

Oh wait, it's upthread!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0ImnOLzVBc&feature=player_embedded

Just for convenience.
It's not the best song but it's crazy that it happened!

Devo have a new single themed around Mitt Romney's dog being strapped to the roof of a car.

...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuXunulTYpU

It's kind of embarrassing.

This is probably a familiar factoid to most of you, but I was just reading Rip It Up and Start Again and saw that Devo used to refer to themselves as an "Industrial 80s band" - in the 70s. That's so amazing!

"Let me tickle your fancy" is funny and cute. I mean crabby people nearly ruined my enjoyment of radio. I didn't want those kind of people riding in a car with me.

Bob 1 and Bob 2 explain how it's done. Best quote is "the sounds we're using are confidential"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrXgJKDxagU

http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/04/devo-to-reissue-hardcore-compilations/

Very good news, although I imagine it's a little late. These discs were unavailable for so long and sold for such a ridiculous price that I imagine most Devo fans have pirated them already. A few bonus tracks are nice. I have heard "Doghouse" and it's hilarious. I think Jerry breaks out laughing in the middle of the song which is a break from Devo's regular straight-faced absurdity. Either way if you're a Devo fan who hasn't heard this yet it really is an essential, maybe my favorite Devo releases outside of Q: Are We Not Men and Freedom of Choice.

http://www.futurismoinc.com/news/mwhannouncement

New issue of previously never released concert in 1977 coming (titled Miracle Witness Hour). "Uncontrollable Urge" sounds pretty tight, and based on the sample I'd imagine the rest of it will be good.

interesting new label.
good luck to them.
i have the 3 live concerts now (stiff release, truth can now be told, expanded 'are we not men'), so may skip this ..

I'm excited for this release. I have a bootleg tape of this show - actually not the whole thing - about two thirds. It's a favourite of mine thanks to having killer versions of Be Stiff and Social Fools and also a couple of rare tracks that are really good - Huboon Stomp and The Last Time I Ever Saw St Louis. Stoked.

they can't release enough of these early Devo shows as far as I'm concerned

Correct. Anything from 77-82 is great but I think the ones I've heard from 77 are the absolute best - one from Mabuhay Gardens and the Max's Kansas City ones that you can watch on youtube.

Got this new live disc. It's the same recording as the old bootleg cassette I've had of this gig since the 80s - and the sound quality is more or less the same. But it's not the complete show - it's just half the songs, not even in the same order they performed it. This is a bit weird as the disc opens with Mark announcing Be Stiff and you can tell it's partway through the show. It's a subtle difference but nevertheless there is an absence of verisimilitude about the whole thing. Or at least it feels like you turned up late for the show to find the band already onstage. Omits some great tracks like Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy, Too Much Paranoias etc and also a rarity they really should have included called "The Last Time I Ever Saw St Louis".

But...great performances. The whole thing is played at the more relaxed tempos of the early recordings which is brilliant for tracks like Be Stiff (which is awesome here) and Smart Patrol/Mr DNA which here is over eight minutes long without any extra bits, just played slowly and heavy.

http://www.sonicstate.com/amped/2014/12/16/-devo-signature-guitar/

Hardcore Live album is on Spotify. Effortlessly brings awesome crunchy, clanging, heaviness to the hardcore material, with a great vibe throughout. Seriously check this out if you are a devotee of any level. Too many highlights really but O NO, Stop Look & Listen, Clockout, Be Stiff...amazing. Weirdly no version of Smart Patrol though.

As I understand it the concept was to only play tunes from 1977 and back - I don't think Smart Patrol was around back then? And yeah the live album rules - was worried at first that the tunes were too clanky and low-battery to really pull off live, but they really do 'em justice. Plus there's a perfectly Devo tribute to Bob 2 at the end.

Smart Patrol (sans Mr DNA) is the oldest song from any of their albums. Also the longest btw. Pre-dates Jocko Homo even. First performed in April 1975 at Kent State University Auditorium! My guess is they didn't want to clutter up the old stuff with tooo many familiar numbers. They already have Gut Feeling, Satisfaction and others on there.

Good interview with Jerry Casale and Josh 2.0 on Ken Reid's "TV Guidance Counselor" podcast

http://www.tvguidancecounselor.com/

^ Focusing on early videos and TV appearances

A modest fifteen.

no gut feeling?

I read "Recombo DNA" by Kevin C. Smith. This book covers all the pre-history of Devo from the 60s on and then ends in 1980 before Freedom of Choice. Good concept. Indepth coverage of Ohio scene, college years, Kent State shootings (the Casales were present), the various religious tracts and conspiracy books they were inspired by, their other art projects and home recording from 70-77, working with Bowie, Eno, Conny Plank etc. Nice to get more info about early members like Jim Mothersbaugh and Bob Lewis. Great read but man those guys are whiners. They have nothing good to say about anyone.

I'm reading the fancy new book which is all great pictures and oral history from Mark and Jerry. Might be a good complement. It's not a great history on its own, sort of assumes a bit of knowledge. Would've been nice to have a bit more context within, but the pics and anecdotes are great.

This is the one that like $250? I want it but I'll wait for the cheapo paperback reprint I guess.

There's already a cheaper version...I didn't pay that much, I got the "Classic Edition" for 65 bucks.

its strange that they've been so silent these last few years. the most powerful nation on the planet electing an idiot game show host to lead them is just about the most Devo thing of all time.

Never too late for a Devo 2.0 reunion.

Interview with Jerry Casale here (starts about 18 mins in): https://www.mixcloud.com/DublinDigitalRadio/xxx-devo-with-gerald-casale/"> https://www.mixcloud.com/DublinDigitalRadio/xxx-devo-with-gerald-casale/

Ugh I borked that link but click on the end and it works.

But today Devo is merely the house band on the Titanic.

https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/qvqek5/devo-open-letter-devolution-rock-hall-trump-2018

I feel like that rant would have more bite if he wasn't such a (closet?) gourmet food & wine expert.

I did wonder when one of 'em was gonna step out and use Trump as the ultimate evidence that their theory was correct all along. There's no satire anymore.

hang on, you cant rant if you like food/wine ?

I mean you can, but knowing personally that he orders multiple $1000 bottles of wine on the reg at elite-tier restaurants kinda softens the blow.

The theory is not anti-capitalist. It's that humans are de-evolving. $1000 bottle of wine seems to be either a step forward, or at least neutral in that.

Devo has never been anti-capitalist, they've been about subverting capitalism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1J99Z0BIMc

"Everyone has their own facts, their own private Idaho stored in their expensive cellular phones," he sneers as he taps his Khlebnikov caviar spoon against the decanter of 1962 Saint Emilion Cheval Blanc.

"The earbuds are in, the feedback loops are locked, and the Frappuccino’s are flowing freely."

I feel like that rant would have more bite if he wasn't such a (closet?) gourmet food & wine expert.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli)

not closeted at all, has gone on the record about being a wine aficionado

personally i have no kick against the luxury left

Fantastic documentary and a must watch if you're on this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thy0gQzqgY0

grrrr ... unavailable to those of us in the uk.

what is it ?

thank you for posting (doc is the story behind how the mutant image of Chi Chi Rodriguez ended up on the first album cover)

the idea of a doc that puts the Kent State footage together with Chi Chi's golf career is some direct version of the truth, I'm sending that to my mom (I started listening to Devo when I was 12, and she definitely remembers that)

my earliest Devo memories are from about the same time as I saw that episode of WKRP in Cincinnati where the golfer's name is pronounced "chee-chee-rod-rih-gweez"