![]() In 1980, they broke through to the mainstream with their third album, Freedom of Choice, which produced the hit single "Whip It" and its accompanying video. DNA" (the latter being a six-minute synth-punk fest that only picks up in intensity). They followed up their debut with Duty Now For The Future in 1979, featuring more songs from their underground years, such as "Wiggly World" and "Smart Patrol/Mr. Their debut album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! was released in 1978 that same year they appeared on Saturday Night Live in yellow jumpsuits and dark 3-d glasses, playing their infamous cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" and "Jocko Homo". They eventually wound up with a contract with Warner Bros Records, which they later regretted. The band soon attracted the attention of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Brian Eno. The film also introduced two recurring characters in Devo media, Booji Boy - "the infantile spirit of de-evolution", played by Mark Mothersbaugh in a baby mask - and his military father figure, General Boy (played by Mark's dad). This film, In The Beginning Was The End: The Truth About De-Evolution, contained performances of a warped semi-cover of "Secret Agent Man" and the Devo manifesto, "Jocko Homo" (featuring the repeated chant "Are We Not Men?", a line borrowed from an early movie adaptation of The Island of Dr. Their first "music video", in fact, was independently filmed in 1974 and debuted at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 1976. The band had a large part to play in the early days of MTV, since so few bands at the time were making music videos and Devo had jumped aboard the idea well before the market really took off in the 80s. ![]() ![]() The band went through a couple of incarnations as time passed by Bob Lewis was eventually edged out of the band shortly before the recording of their first album, and a couple of temporary members was loosely attached to the group in the early days, but in 1976 a consistent core group was established, consisting of Mark Mothersbaugh, Jerry Casale, their respective brothers Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale (Bob 1 and Bob 2) and a changing drummer (most prominently Alan Myers (1976-1985) and most recently Josh Freese (1996–present)) The band's aesthetic blends futuristic themes with primitive ones, emphasizing the role of modern humans as, in their words, "technologically sophisticated cavemen." Onstage, they make use of visuals and costumes that were and still is outlandish, sci-fi, or just plain devolved. ![]() Their vocals is of the nasal "geek" variety. Their sound, practically from the start, was somewhat blues-influenced but largely brought the synthesizer to the forefront often in jarring and dissonant ways. They were formed by Mark Mothersbaugh, Jerry Casale, and Bob Lewis in 1973 partly as a response to the Kent State shootings (which Jerry Casale personally witnessed). "Devo" stands for "De-evolution", the band's part-satirical, part-serious take on social and political corruption, bigotry, increasing dependence on consumerism and willful surrender of freedom among the common individual (a.k.a. Most people remember them for their red Energy Dome hats and the 1980 single "Whip It", but their catalogue and achievements extend well beyond that. Devo (often spelled DEVO or DEV-O), is a new wave/post-punk group hailing from Akron, Ohio. ![]()
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