D E V O

[scuzzphut]

Recently there was a thread asking for "your top 3 musical moments".
I nailed my first 2 straight away, but couldn't really pick a 3rd out.

This morning, I got it

In the second half of "Jocko Homo" on DEVO's debut album "Q:Are we not men? A: We are DEVO" there is a sequence which starts with the lyric
"God made man, but he used a monkey to do it".
That section is my no.3. No question.

If you've never heard DEVO, then this album is a revelation. It's chock full of corkers.

Background
When I was in my early teens, my big brother played DEVO incessantly in the next room. I always liked them but if I'm honest, I've only listened to them a few times over the last 10-15 years.
The other day I picked up "Q:Are we not men...." and realised just HOW much I liked them way back then. As a debut album in the late 70s , it must have broken a whole bunch of moulds.

If you like angular guitar riffing, off-kilter lyrics and , most importantly, *great tunes* then I would encourage you to seek out this little gem.

DEVO are also masters of the intro ("Girl U Want","Gates of Steel" the list goes on) and one of the few guitar-led outfits that make the synth seem like part of the band.

The opening instrumental riffage of "Gut Feeling" is also fantastic as it builds to a glorious climax before the "song proper" hits.

Finally, their version of the Rolling Stones "satisfaction" remains my all time favourite cover version.

All hail DEVO

Those Lyrics from "Jocko Homo" in full
God made man
but he used a monkey to do it
Apes in the plan
and we're all here to prove it
I can walk like an ape, talk like an ape
I can do what a monkey can do
God made man
But a monkey provided the glue

There then follows an extended call and response of

Are we not men?
We are DEVO


that is just sublime.



Guys - seek it out. Love it. I wish I had reminded myslef of DEVO many, many years ago. As it is, I'll now be making up for those lost years with gusto


Amazon Link

[kingkong]

All Hail the De EVOulion!

Also one of my absolute favourite album/artists. And the Eno pruduction is outstanding.
I can recomend to read the DEVO intervievs in Search and Destroy (RE search) if you havent allready.

I just want to see the movie they made…

[ksn]

"Mongoloid" used to be one of my favorite songs of these late 70's

[opiadream]

yes that is a sublime moment scuzzphut

my personal fave by them is 'smart patrol/mr DNA'

guess i'm just a spud boy
looking for that real tomato

[scuzzphut]

guess i'm just a spud boy
looking for that real tomato

I've been thinking for quite some time now that I'm over-complicating my music-making process.

This album has solidified that thought.

There is no complexity in the synth sounds.
They haven't spent a whole day session getting the guitar sound right.
The vocals aren't processed through a pitch corrector
It's all about the ideas and those ideas are crackers, every one.

From now on, I write with my guitar in another room. My computer is for recording and that's all. I'll just get Brian Eno in when I've written an albums worth of songs

[chrissill31]

YEAH D E V O

Some highlights for me are

Peek a boo
Mongaloid
Joko Homo
Whip It
Thats Good
Speed Racer
Patterns
Out of Sync

And my fave - Time out for fun

[xepha]

Ah, but did you ever join the Devo Fan Club and get a flower-pot hat?

[chrissill31]

[quote="xepha"]Ah, but did you ever join the Devo Fan Club and get a flower-pot hat?[/quote

You lucky bastard

[GaryG]

another vote for Mongoloid, i just love that stuttery guitar thing.

first heard it years ago on some late night art program, showcasing some more 'out there' music vids (ie. actually made by artists as art, not promos)

my poor little pc brain got a bit a little confused though over the lyrics ("oooh, should they even use the word mongoloid?")

i know better now.



.g

[Yagushi]

my personal fave by them is 'smart patrol/mr DNA'

It's my favorite as well... You've got good taste!

And no DEVO thread would be complete without me doing my best to plug their Japanese simulacrum... Polysics!

As much as I loved DEVO when I was growing up, Polysics are hands-down the most rocking band on the face of the Earth and in the history of electronic music! I was fortunate enough to see the first show of their "7 Days To Die" concerts at Club Que in Shimokitazawa (Tokyo) two months ago. It was the second greatest concert I've ever seen; seeing DEVO in '82 is still #1!

[experimental.crow]

'swelling itching brain ' ...

oh yes ...
i've got tickets for their chicago show ...

[annode]

Just recently viewed a UK auction/appraisal show called "flog it".
Knowing the lyrics from "whip it" seem to be saying how and that you can solve your probs if you put your mind to it...well...now i`m wondering what "flog it" and auctioning in the UK have to do with the song "whip it"...if anything!

Any limeys wanna run w/that?

[Dave Blakely]

To Flog something means to sell it, not to whip it, was the guy on "Flog it" flogging all his Devo albums? Was he flogging a Whip? or even whipping a Flog? ........ these and many more questions will be answered next week at precisely 12.30 GMT.

And speaking personaly my fav Devo album is New Traditionalists, where they dumped all the guitars bass and drums scenario and everyone grabbed a synth and did exactly what they did previously.. only on synths, amazing programming on that album.

Dave Blakely (honourary Limey)

[puffer]

One of my few claims to true hipster-dom is that the first LP I purchased with my own money was DEVO "Duty Now for the Future" at a time when I was still mostly listening to the top 40. I lived just south of the middle of nowhere and had read about DEVO in Skateboard magazine - kids didn't listen to this kind of music where I lived. Punk (which I wouldn't "get" until much later) was curious to me in a frightening way, but it still seemed rock n roll just angry and violent. But DEVO was weird and alien in a way I could never wrap my mind around. And I loved that. There was no precedent in my world for something like DEVO. I saw a picture of M. Mothersbough in concert, where he was sweaty, with his coke bottle glasses and yellow jump suit, playing a guitar that was 3 strings with a huge Electro-Harmonix effect peddle strapped to the body of the guitar with electrical tape.

I dug the album out many years later when I as a practicing hipster, thinking it would be a hoot, only to discover that the album was simply amazing. The level of musicianship is amazing. Their secret weapon was definitely their drummer. Listen to the beats on those first two albums: they're not flashy in any conventional sense, but they are astoundingly complex and rock-solid. For me, DEVO became much less interesting after they began getting enough money to buy proper synths and the drums were done on synthetic kits. I liked DEVO when it was the lo-tech approach to high-tech. Those first albums, where they were actually practicing de-evolution are unlike anything.

[scuzzphut]

I agree, Puffer.

The drums on "satisfaction" define the whole piece. Awesome.

You're right about the musicianship, too.

I also remember them seeing playing guitars that they had sawn half the bodies from. Imagine the shap of a guitar body if it was just enough to hold the electronics. Fantastic stuff.

postscript - the track "beautiful world" is a perfect blend of pop and cynical lyricism. top stuff