Devo: C or D? S & D etc.

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There's an interesting interview with Motherbaugh (or is it Gerry Cassale?) in "The Tenacity of the Cockroach," the compendium of interviews for the Onion's Audio Visual club, wherein he explains the different pronunciations for the moniker (Deeee-vowe vs. d'VOE!, etc.) and the different applications thereof.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:22 (twenty years ago) link

Do any of the pronunciations have one syllable? (I'm sorry, I know I'm nitpicking at a small point of this review, but that just seems like an incredibly stupid thing to say).

NA. (Nick A.), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:35 (twenty years ago) link

The "vo" is silent.

duh.

you'd think people had never seen a french word before.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 16:41 (twenty years ago) link

Hmmm... I distinctly seem to remember
"Are We Not Men? We are DEE-VOE"

D-E-V-O?

Interesting side point- beginning of last year I think, they we're doing musicians alphabetically on VH1... I started watching around V for some reason just so I could laugh at Vanilla Ice, and right after Vanilla was Weird Al. So having been a huge Weird Al fan as a kid, I stuck around to watch what they had to say. At one part they started talking about Al's song "Dare to be Stupid", and how it was inspired by his long time love of Devo, and it was sort of his way of paying homage to them. They then played clips of the original video, which of course made it all click for me. The clips were then followed had by a brief clip from an interview with Mark Mothersbaugh talking about how Weird Al approached him with the song, and played it for him. Mark said it was "one of the most beautiful things I had ever heard... and I hated him for it."

So those really interested might want to bother to look up "Dare to be Stupid"

The Man they call Dan (The Man they call Dan), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 18:17 (twenty years ago) link

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention... I think I first heard "Dare to be Stupid" in the 1985 Transformers movie when I was 5, and it's actually the song that got me into Weird Al. Now looking back, I can see why Devo appealed to me the way they did. I have to admit, I really love Devo. When I tell people I actually do own about 14 albums of Devo, I usually hear "I didn't know they had 14 songs!"

The Man they call Dan (The Man they call Dan), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 18:20 (twenty years ago) link

I don't think you can produce "Devo" as one syllable so long as there's that pesky "v" there.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 18:50 (twenty years ago) link

Unless you read it as a Roman "u."

nickn (nickn), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 19:15 (twenty years ago) link

Lets get back to the subject on how magnificent were Devo. I'm currently on an extreme dose of "Q:Are we not men? A:Wy are Devo", i'm totaly addicted to it. now all i'm missing is an energy dome(or just an empty flower-pot).

rexJr., Thursday, 8 May 2003 07:30 (twenty years ago) link

oops. replace "Wy" with "we".

rexJr., Thursday, 8 May 2003 07:32 (twenty years ago) link

They did perform as the one-syllable DOVE. A born-again spoof on themselves. Plank and Eno aside, I suggest classic up to the time of their first Warner Brothers release. Duds-ville from then on out. The live material from the Mabuhay Gardens is most essential, as are their DIY 7"s.

V (1411), Thursday, 8 May 2003 21:12 (twenty years ago) link

When did they do that DOVE performance? I'm guessing that's when they did "You Gotta Serve Somebody"

The Man they call Dan (The Man they call Dan), Friday, 9 May 2003 01:09 (twenty years ago) link

Goin' Under.
Love Without Anger.
Snowball.
Words Get Stuck In My Throat.
Gates of Steel.

Devo were great. Underrated guitar player, too.

rumple, Friday, 9 May 2003 01:46 (twenty years ago) link

When did they do that DOVE performance?

You can google it.

Try Wikipedia.

"Devo actively embraced the Church of the SubGenius in the early 1980s. In concert, Devo often performed as the opening band for themselves, pretending to be a Christian soft-rock group called "Dove (the Band of Love)". They also recorded "E-Z Listening Muzak" versions of their own songs to play before their concerts. In 2001, members of Devo formed the surf band The Wipeouters, claiming that it was actually a reunion of the first gararge band they formed while in their early teens."

V

V (1411), Friday, 9 May 2003 02:46 (twenty years ago) link

six months pass...
Holy shit...

I just bought the reissue of 'The Complete Truth About...' on a loan (tee-hee!), and I've been scarred for life just by going through it in a hurry. Has anybody seen that "Through Being Cool" video? Two words: BRAIN DAMAGE (in a good way... like LSD, ya know!). Everybody should see this should they have the chance, now that it's on DVD. Being drugged outta your mind would probably help also. It is surprisingly disturbing, moreso than you would expect... even for someone like me.

Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 23:44 (twenty years ago) link

one year passes...
fuck so many wrong pastes

http://www.newsobserver.com/lifestyles/story/2261615p-8641132c.html

The Scottish Restauranteer (ex machina), Saturday, 9 April 2005 17:38 (nineteen years ago) link

Some of their videos used to creep me out a bit..."We're Through Being Cool" and also "Love without Anger" (I think) with the valentine's chocolate box filled with worms....

Joe (Joe), Sunday, 10 April 2005 13:20 (nineteen years ago) link

That's the one. The DVD comp Francis mentions up there is essential -- it's a rerelease of the laserdisc they did in the early nineties and it's pretty damned great.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 10 April 2005 13:25 (nineteen years ago) link

Search: Hardcore Devo Vol. 2
the hardest of the hardcore...

The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Sunday, 10 April 2005 13:45 (nineteen years ago) link

HAHAHAHA, so that guy was/is in Silica Gel? I had their Seeland records release at a certain point. Don't the Silica Gel guys master in collecting old 50s and 60s school PSA films in the Tri area of NC? Or is that another group of folks? I know there's a big Negativland/Triangle-area-North-Carolina connection somewhere.

donut debonair (donut), Sunday, 10 April 2005 20:35 (nineteen years ago) link

five months pass...
devo performed by 17 year olds = CLASSIC

evidence here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chattycathy7575/sets/938749/

maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Thursday, 15 September 2005 14:14 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeh? How about 5th Graders?
The Video: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2679592?showw=no&refsite=6721&htv=12&htv=12

Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Thursday, 15 September 2005 18:21 (eighteen years ago) link

OMG, my head just exploded from all the preciousness on this thread.

maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Thursday, 15 September 2005 18:48 (eighteen years ago) link

preciousness?

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 15 September 2005 18:55 (eighteen years ago) link

"Words get stuck in my throat" is apparently a cover of a song in the Japanese Monster movie "War of the Gargantuas". I read it in Psychotronic Video, so it mus be true.

Soukesian, Thursday, 15 September 2005 21:40 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...
DEVO REVIVAL
HALLELUJAH HOLLA BACK

Marmot (marmotwolof), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 07:35 (seventeen years ago) link

they've been uh "revived" for years now

passiflora incarnata (get bent), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 07:38 (seventeen years ago) link

I meant the thread

Marmot (marmotwolof), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 07:42 (seventeen years ago) link

I thought that I'd go back and try to re-appreciate Total Devo and Smooth Noodle Maps a couple weeks ago, production cornyness and gloss playing a non-factor.

It didn't work. Almost everything on those albums is just not Devo-ish at all.

Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 08:12 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh, No! It's Devo is maybe underrated a little, but I haven't tried with those last three yet. Probably wouldn't even have given ONID a chance if it wasn't on the Freedom of Choice two-fer.

I'm getting into Devo again after not listenening to them much for about a decade. I've got that Complete Truth DVD coming in the mail, hopefully tomorrow.

Marmot (marmotwolof), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 08:41 (seventeen years ago) link

Devo is beyond classic

Uncontrollable Urge live in San Diego in 1981. My uncles were at this concert. Sadly, I was only 7 years old at the time, and could not go. :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BmxN3E548I

tylero (tylero), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 08:46 (seventeen years ago) link

i love this so much.
if you see this in the bins - just get it .. the audience interaction is great, and the stripped down versions of the classics are a joy to behold.

mark e (mark e), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 08:49 (seventeen years ago) link

"listenening"! I meant to do that.

Yeah, I want to hear some live stuff and the Hardcore demo stuff.

Marmot (marmotwolof), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 08:55 (seventeen years ago) link

"Gates Of Steel" on Now It Can Be Told is just amazing.

Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 09:56 (seventeen years ago) link

ahh. i love that one .. such a great track, therefore i should add my declaration

devo : seriously fuckin' classic.

mark e (mark e), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 10:21 (seventeen years ago) link

Anyone who says "dud" = dead to me.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 14:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Nice to see so much spud love on the ILX, but I'm surprised by the near-unanimity. Maybe by (proudly, aggressively) claiming to be the biggest geeks in the universe they kinda short-circuit the collective will-to-criticize. How do you call something lame when it wears total fucking lameness as a badge of honor? Self-conscious lameness can be a marvelous shield, and in this sense, DEVO are 90s indie-culture pioneers. Hooray.

Anyway, CLASSIC, of course. Esp the Hardcore Devo stuff, the initial round of videos and the first couple/three albums. Love to hear some of the early-early live shows mentioned upthread.

Adam Beales (Pye Poudre), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:08 (seventeen years ago) link

"I can see you" *waves hand suggestively in front of face*

You've Got Scourage On Your Breath (Haberdager), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:09 (seventeen years ago) link

devo on letterman 1982:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkZwHVM64qg

scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:12 (seventeen years ago) link

live in 77 killz so hard:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oQql7XXx88

scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:14 (seventeen years ago) link

it wears total fucking lameness as a badge of honor

wow, talk about missing the entire point

passiflora incarnata (get bent), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:21 (seventeen years ago) link

the song 'itchy itchy goo' is infectious.

i have been looking to download it for months now and can never find it.

devo = super.

nijoli (nijoli), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:26 (seventeen years ago) link

Passiflora Incarnata:

Point is that DEVO were proud of being uncool (by conventional standards, anyway). See "Through Being Cool" and basically their whole persona. They presented themselves as this angry, sarcastic bunch of outsiders, not asking for entrance to cool culture, but laughing at it from the outside.

Adam Beales (Pye Poudre), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:28 (seventeen years ago) link

Scourge:

??? I'm sure I'm missing something here...

Adam Beales (Pye Poudre), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:30 (seventeen years ago) link

schooled by dr dullard with ADAM BEALES

mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:31 (seventeen years ago) link

Adam, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2fqIosinRQ

You've Got Scourage On Your Breath (Haberdager), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:31 (seventeen years ago) link

love this live gates of steel from 1980:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZejmxvQAwY

scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:33 (seventeen years ago) link

just in case someone hasn't seen devo & neil young, well, you must:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIMttc0ciKU

scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 10 January 2007 15:36 (seventeen years ago) link

in the original the lyric goes "i'm a barbie doll and i like to fuck", which i think has more panache than the released version.


FWIW whenever they played "Speed Racer" live, the original lyric was back.

Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 18 May 2023 22:30 (eleven months ago) link

Day My Baby Gave Me a Suprise rocks and was a single but obviously didn’t make it.

dan selzer, Thursday, 18 May 2023 23:01 (eleven months ago) link

Wasn't aware of that different version of "Secret Agent Man". Much better than the album version, which I'd probably rank below the Johnny Rivers version

Vinnie, Thursday, 18 May 2023 23:22 (eleven months ago) link

personally i have a fondness for "high wire" myself but i'm weird that way

Kate (rushomancy), Thursday, 18 May 2023 23:43 (eleven months ago) link

Wasn't aware of that different version of "Secret Agent Man". Much better than the album version, which I'd probably rank below the Johnny Rivers version


The Plugz version ("Hombre Secreto") from the Repo Man soundtrack is pretty much the definitive one for me now.

Elvis Telecom, Friday, 19 May 2023 02:00 (eleven months ago) link

as well as the version on the Now It Can Be Told film and the Duty Now version, there's also this third version of Secret Agent Man:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1tXTF_5keE

he thinks it's chinese money (soref), Friday, 19 May 2023 07:39 (eleven months ago) link

I really dig this demo version of Race Of Doom, I don't know when it was recorded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM3y01jb504

he thinks it's chinese money (soref), Friday, 19 May 2023 07:41 (eleven months ago) link

there's a 1980 demo called Time Bomb that appeared on Recombo DNA that sounds like an early version of Race Of Doom, but that Race Of Doom demo sounds like it might have been recorded earlier than Time Bomb, so maybe they reworked it into Time Bomb and then reworked it back into the version of Race Of Doom that then appeared on New Traditionalists? Blow Up from Total Devo sounds like it's a reworking of Time Bomb as well

he thinks it's chinese money (soref), Friday, 19 May 2023 07:48 (eleven months ago) link

Puppet Boy is at 2 million plays on youtube when the other tracks on the Shout album have view-counts on the tens of thousands, it's also showing as the second most popular Devo song on spotify. Has it become a meme song like Temporary Secretary, or was it used in a show or a tiktok video or something?

he thinks it's chinese money (soref), Thursday, 1 June 2023 17:40 (ten months ago) link

one month passes...

Box set of early stuff on the way: https://shop.clubdevo.com/products/art-devo-1973-1977-box-set-akron-gold-vinyl-dev

Tracklist

Exhibit (A) 1973-1976
Boojis Industrial Death
Total Love
Auto Modown (Early version)
Space Girl Blues (Early version)
Live Forever
Androgyny (Live at Kent Kove 74)+
Fraulein (Kent Kove 1974)

Exhibit (B) 1973-1975
Bicentennial Birthday
Man From The Past
Midget/My Lai Mama (Kent Kove 74)
Shimmy Shake
All Of Us
Hubert House
The Tinkle Tune

Exhibit (C) 1973-1975
Private Secretary (Kent Kove 74)+
I Don’t Know Why
Dixie
Pigs Waddle (Kent Kove74)+
Death Of Lt. Casanova (Kent Kove 74)

Exhibit (D) 1975-1977
U Got Me Bugged (Instrumental version)
I Don’t Know What I Do Do
Huboon Stomp
Can U Take It (Early version)
Uncontrollable Urge (Early version)
Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
Falling In Love Again

Exhibit (E) 1975-1977
Devo Corporate Anthem (Early version)
Shrivel Up (Early version)
Smart Patrol (Early version)
I’m Lost at Home
Untitled
Never Go Back
Secret Agent Man (Mark vocal)

Exhibit (F) 1975-1977
Social Fools (Early version)
A Plan For U (Early version)
Nutty Buddy (Live at JB’s 76)
Dogs Of Democracy
Race Of Doom (Early version)
Space Junk (Early version)
Primal Satisfaction*
End Message

Exhibit (G) 1975
Untitled Montage (Harlan Hall)
Untitled Montage (Harlan Hall)

Exhibit (H) 1975-1977
Untitled Montage (Harlan Hall)
Untitled Montage (Greenwood)

Elvis Telecom, Monday, 10 July 2023 16:36 (nine months ago) link

Probably some overlap with the Hardcore releases, but can't really tell from the vague "early version" description. Honestly, I'd just rather have some more complete live shows from 1978-1981

Elvis Telecom, Monday, 10 July 2023 16:44 (nine months ago) link

I'm guessing they won't be the exact same recordings, if something is an "early version" of a tune that only appeared on Hardcore then I assume it's even earlier than that. I've heard the fanmade Hardcore 3 & 4 comp and although some of the material is interesting the recording quality is so low it's pretty much unlistenable. idk it's kinda hard to imagine there's anything worthwhile left in the vault after both the Hardcore & Recombo DNA releases (the latter of which really needs a repress), plus this is limited to 500 copies which implies it's for the hopelessly Devoted only. still worth a download I guess.

frogbs, Monday, 10 July 2023 17:04 (nine months ago) link

Race Of Doom (Early version)

assume that this is the version below which is very good and doesn't appear on Hardcore 3 and 4 comps, so maybe there is still some interesting stuff left to release?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM3y01jb504

he thinks it's chinese money (soref), Monday, 10 July 2023 17:28 (nine months ago) link

interesting, looks like none of the pre-mark stuff here so no "columbo dick", also i guess they don't have a recording of beehive from this era? a lot of these songs aren't really good (many of them are on bootleg), but there's certainly some historical interest here. my gut here is that there isn't any overlap with the "hardcore" releases, that it's all stuff that wasn't on the hardcore records. we'll see tho! it would also be interesting to see the full "sextet devo" video see release.

anybody know where that long rehearsal take of "freedom of choice" is from and if there's any more where that came from?

Kate (rushomancy), Monday, 10 July 2023 19:34 (nine months ago) link

All all thread spuds aware of this site? https://boojiboysbasement.com Just checking...

Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 11 July 2023 03:03 (nine months ago) link

two months pass...

anyone hear the boxset yet? I think most of the tracks have been compiled here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhWOj_4g_IpLiFuOzjGKNQxfpi1iEFNie

wondering if the sound has been cleaned up at all because most of these sound pretty rough. fun clicking through these though, feel like half their studio output has roots to that 1973-1977 period. even a couple of the songs on Total Devo!

frogbs, Wednesday, 20 September 2023 18:22 (seven months ago) link

also, regarding the rough sound quality: I've kind of wondered if parts of the Hardcore comps were actually re-recorded since noticing that "Fountain of Filth" sounds like it was from a much later session. "I Need a Chick" specifically, the drums on that are nothing like the other tracks, and surely that sample at the end isn't from the 70's?

frogbs, Wednesday, 20 September 2023 18:27 (seven months ago) link

listening to it now. really happy that the version on here is much less ambiguous than the previous version i heard - this is _definitely_ a satire on people who see androgyny as a threat, people who think it, I don't know, disfigures the face of man and woman, or something. it's actually really interesting because the attitude it's parodying _does_ strongly resemble the stupid shit bigots say about gender non-conforming people today.

sound quality is predictably rough but is _way_ better than the bootlegs of a lot of this material.

Kate (rushomancy), Tuesday, 26 September 2023 16:34 (six months ago) link

one month passes...

Consumer alert on the new 50 Years Of De-Evolution LP box set just released (via the Hoffmanites). Apparently "Smart Patrol" fades out at the end and "Mr. DNA" is dropped, which is just plain crazy to me. Also, all the New Traditionalists tracks are running fast.

Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 26 October 2023 07:25 (five months ago) link

whoa yeah, "Smart Patrol" is listed at 3:43, that's a baffling decision. I have never really thought of them as two separate tracks.

wonder if speeding up the NT stuff is because they felt it was too slow to begin with? I'd heard the tapes were damaged, or something...wonder if the CD's like that

anyway, I'm not really interested in this, looks to be very little new there. if you ask me they need to reissue Recombo DNA and/or Something For Everybody

frogbs, Thursday, 26 October 2023 13:34 (five months ago) link

basically just some single edits and a '74 version of "i'm a potato"?

Kate (rushomancy), Thursday, 26 October 2023 16:57 (five months ago) link

Re: New Tradionalists tape damage

New Traditionalists was the band's first fully self-produced album. It was recorded on a then-new brand of 2-inch tape from 3M. Unfortunately, when Devo began recording the vocals for the album, the edges of the tape had begun to disintegrate. After asking Warner Bros. if they could start over and re-record the album from scratch and being denied, Devo transferred all the work they had done to digital reel-to-reel tape and finished the album via digital recording at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, California.

Which IIRC caused the original vinyl/cassette release to sound a little muddy, and hich they were able to correct on the last CD master.

an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 26 October 2023 17:01 (five months ago) link

three months pass...

Anyone else see Mark Mothersbaugh, Peter Conheim and Gerald Casale premiere the new restorations of their films at MoMA tonight? It was pretty nice - sold out but luckily they squeezed in a lot of people waiting in the standby line. (Spotted Steve Shelley in the audience - didn’t realize he was a big Devo fan.)

At one point, someone mentioned Gerald’s brother, Bob, and he said even though it’s been nearly ten years since his passing, he still hasn’t removed his number from his phone. Thought that was pretty sweet.

birdistheword, Sunday, 28 January 2024 04:27 (two months ago) link

one month passes...

Wow @ this. Jerry Casale interviewed on the BBC... in 1970!

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

The British Boy of Film Classification (Tom D.), Friday, 1 March 2024 20:18 (one month ago) link

two weeks pass...

"Next: UFO Expert"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1AdD6EfVuQ

Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 19 March 2024 06:46 (one month ago) link


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