Devo

Devo (The De-Evolution Band) is a proto-industrial New Wave/Rock band originating from Akron, Ohio, whose first performance was in 1972. Co-founders Gerald Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Bob Casale, were students at Kent State University at the time the National Guard shot and killed students at a protest against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia - the 'pivotal moment' in their founding, according to co-founder Gerry Casale.

Related Topics:
New Wave - Rock - Akron, Ohio - 1972 - Gerald Casale - Mark Mothersbaugh - Kent State University - National Guard - Shot and killed students - Cambodia

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Devo's music and stage show mingled kitsch science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor, and satirical social commentary in discordantly synthesized pop songs that often featured unusual time signatures. They proved hugely influential on new wave music.

Related Topics:
Kitsch - Science fiction - Surrealist - Discordantly - Time signature - New wave music

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The band's deliberately constructed 'geeky' image also enabled them to expound often provocative commentaries about the state of American society and, like Frank Zappa, beneath the clownish exterior there was serious musicianship, and socio-political content.

Related Topics:
Geek - Commentaries - Frank Zappa

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Devo was probably as well known for their image as for their music, donning uniforms that mocked industrial culture and pop consumerism, such as the yellow chemical-protection suits during the early Q: Are We Not Men? period, matching plastic hairdos, masks and the signature "flower pot" hats (energy domes) for Freedom of Choice -- which were intended (according to the band) to channel their sexual energy into their voices. Mark Mothersbaugh also donned a baby mask to create his famous alter-ego, Booji Boy (pronounced Boogie Boy), who symbolised the infantile regression that Devo saw in so much of American culture. The character featured in many stage performances and video clips, as did Booji Boy's father, General Boy (played by Mothersbaugh's own dad), who satirised American authority figures.

Related Topics:
Culture - Consumerism - Energy dome - Freedom of Choice - Mask - Booji Boy

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Devo were pioneers of the music video; the video for 'Whip It' became an early staple of MTV — and their many promotional films and video clips are important landmarks in the development of this genre. They also pioneered the use of long-form promotional video cassettes with releases such as The Truth About De-Evolution and The Men Who Make The Music, which mixed self-produced conceptual video clips with live performance footage and mock-documentary segments. Devo created and directed many of their own videos, and the band has cited the video for the song "Beautiful World" as their favourite example of their video work.

Related Topics:
Music video - MTV - Promotion - Video cassette - Documentary

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Devo were strongly influenced by the German Krautrock genre and the music of European groups such as Neu!, Can and the production work of Conny Plank, and they are certainly one of the few American acts who were able to incorporate these influences while still achieving widespread mainstream commercial and critical success. Other likely influences were American rock iconoclasts Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and the Residents. They were one of the first American groups to use the services of noted British producer, musician and artist Brian Eno, who produced several landmark American New Wave music groups including Talking Heads.

Related Topics:
German - Krautrock - Genre - European - Neu! - Can - Production - Conny Plank - Iconoclast - Frank Zappa - Captain Beefheart - The Residents - British - Brian Eno - Talking Heads

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In the liner notes of their album "Greatest Hits", there is a transcript of a late 70's interview in which the band describes their music as "industrial", implying the dehumanization (devolution) of music content as well as the actual sound. (In this context, the term predates the posthumous application of the label to 70's avant-garde noise bands such as "Throbbing Gristle.") Their extensive mechanization of popular music through synthesizers and deconstructed instruments (sometimes their broken guitars falling apart on stage) helped to inspire the more modern industrial pop acts of the late 80's, early 90's.

Related Topics:
Industrial - Dehumanization - Noise bands - Throbbing Gristle - Synthesizers

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