![]() They eventually signed with Warner (Bros.) Records in America (which they later regretted) and Virgin Records in England. The band soon attracted the attention of celebrity fans like David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Brian Eno, the first two having been in the audience at the Ann Arbor festival. 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 and Bob 1s dad, Robert Mothersbaugh Sr). 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 Doctor Moreau). Their first 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 edged out of the band shortly before the recording of their first album, and a couple of temporary members were 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 drummer, most prominently the late Alan Myers (1976-1985) and more recently Josh Freese (1996-present). The band's aesthetic blends futuristic, sci-fi 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 are outlandish. Their vocals are of the nasal "geek" variety, and one of the key things holding the entire concoction together was the precise rhythms played by their original, and most famous, drummer, Alan Myers. note Those early years, from 1974-1977, are chronicled on the two Hardcore Devo albums. This was often in jarring and dissonant ways, especially their early, more experimental years, before they got a record deal. ![]() Their sound, practically from the start, was based on energetic New Wave Music guitar work (largely divorced from Blues Rock tradition) but largely brought the synthesizer to the forefront. They were formed by Mark Mothersbaugh, Jerry Casale, and Bob Lewis in 1973 partly as a response to the Kent State shootings (which Casale and Lewis personally witnessed). the "spud", or potato, a midwestern staple food). "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. Greetings, beautiful mutants! And how may we be of service?ĭevo (often spelled DEVO or DEV-O), is a new wave/post-punk group hailing from Akron, Ohio. ![]()
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