Misc. Info and References in our Neo-Pre-Macro-Post-Modern Society

Linux

If you run Slackware Linux, you may see the following fortune come up:

"Last week a cop stopped me in my car. He asked me if I had a police record. I said, no, but I have the new DEVO album. Cops have no sense of humor."

There are also related fortunes in the "art" section of the RedHat distribution:
"Oh Dad! We're ALL Devo!"
"Whip it! Whip it good!"
(Run "fortune -im devo" to match all occurences of "Devo" in the fortune databases.)

Pittsburgh

Devo was interviewed for the Pittsburgh City Paper just before Lollapalooza '97, and the Sci-Fi Channel shot footage at Blossom Music Center.

American Cybercast

Mark started writing for American Cybercast around December 1996. Around Christmastime, he was coming out with a column a day! AMCY filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early '97, so it's anyone's guess how long the site will be around...

Neil Young

Devo and Neil Young's relationship goes way back; Neil took the title "Rust Never Sleeps" from a commercial about an anti-rust product Mark and Jerry made back in Ohio!

Cleveland

The site that the Blossom Music Center was built on, in Cleveland, was once owned by Bob and Mark Mothersbaugh's elementary school bus driver. After selling the property, he went out and bought a bunch of Cadillacs and lined them up across his front yard. Devo played the BMC for Lollapalooza '97.

Fast Times

In "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", Mike Damone has a Devo poster (in energy domes and khaki shorts), in his room and another (NuTra cover) in his locker.

EVO

There's a hardcore techno group called EVO who have a 12-inch out called "We Are Not Men".

Get Shorty

In the movie "Get Shorty", when John Travolta and Gene Hackman are driving down Hollywood Boulevard, you can see the (bright green) Mutato Muzika building in the background!

Chocolate Chicken Cabin

There is some kind of "rock 'n roll cookbook" out there that has a recipe by Mark. It involves dunking bits of fried chicken in choclate sauce and stacking them like logs.

Space Ghost

On the super-hip Cartoon Network show "Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast", Zorak was seen wearing an energy dome.

Adventures of the Smart Patrol

If you're having problems in Adventures of the Smart Patrol, click this.

Barbie and Ken in a great big fight

Shedding new light on the Barbie & Ken fight in "Love Without Anger", DJER says:

The fight was not between Barbie and Ken but rather between Barbie and Shawn (I learned this watching the video with a Barbie expert who then produced the dolls used in the video). To throw salt on an open wound, Barbie is wearing Shawn's shirt. So, the natural question, where was Ken and what was that fight really about anyway?
Casual mistake or DEVO messing with our heads, one wonders.

Devo's arrest in Texas

One of the most frequent points of debate on the newsgroup is Devo's arrest in Texas. Here, I've quoted two people who were actually at the show.

Lance Hirsch:

It was the Oh No tour. They did two shows that night at Cullen Auditorium at the University of Houston. During the second show, the aisles up front got crowded and the fire marshal ordered the aisles cleared. The ushers had no luck so the house lights were turned on. After the current song, Jerry announced that everyone needed to clear the aisles or, "the piggies would take Devo to jail." The aisles were cleared, and Devo finished the concert (just another couple of songs). However there was no Booji Boy Beautiful World encore. Jerry was arrested and released soon thereafter. If he hadn't called them piggies, they might have left him alone. Mark never said we could rush the stage, or if he did no one heard him or paid attention to him. I didn't see a gutiar solo with a foot on a cop's head either. Maybe they were handcuffed, maybe not - only Jerry was arrested. I still have the news paper report which I may type in if I feel energetic.

From the audiences point of view. it was no big deal. The light came on half way through a song, Jerry said something when the song was over, and the concert continued.

Brett Kruse:

DEVO was arrested in 11/82 in Houston, TX. They were playing two shows in Cullen Auditorium on the University of Houston campus. The late show was particularly inspiring! Cullen is not too big, about 1,000 capacity max (it has a small balcony). The spudboys were in particularly fine form...perhaps due to a return to Cullen (last time there was the Freedom of Choice tour; the New Traditionalists tour was in the much, much larger Sam Houston Coliseum). Everyone was bouncing the entire show, frenzied by the music, I SWEAR the whole place was shaking! A truly GREAT experience! Personnel from the U of H tried to get the boy's attention as the mean, old Houston Police Department was getting ready to shut them down. Finally, they cut off the power and came out and announced that, if everyone didn't return to their seats and sit down (CAN YOU IMAGINE??), that the show would be ended. After several warnings, people finally kind of sat down at the nearest seat and the boys started up again. (Needless to say, they took several shots at the morons interrupting the show!) They were allowed to do one more song. It was "Beautiful World"...complete with the stage lined with cops with nightsticks drawn! The irony was fantastic!! It is probably one of the most poignat moments from any concert that I have seen. After ending the song, Mark (dressed as Boojie Boy) announced that they "had been bad spuds" and were going to get arrested. They were charged, I believe, with inciting a riot. What a farce! Still, I've seen DEVO quite a few times, although nothing could touch that memory.

Here's hoping they tour again!!!!

Metal Blade

There is a mispressing of Total Devo with the Metal Blade logo next to the Enigma one (Metal Blade had nothing to do with the album).

Name changes

The original name for "Whip It" was "Dumptruck", and "Red Shark" became "It's Not Right".

StangFilms

The "Are You Experienced?" video is available on "PreDobbs StangFilms", a collection of films that Rev. Ivan Stang worked on before becoming a SubGenius. Stang also provided the Barbie and Ken animation in "Love Without Anger" (Bob's picture is on the wall) and other effects in Devo vids.

Shaped vinyl

There was going to be a single around the time of FOC made on red vinyl in the shape of an energy dome, but it never made it past the test press stage.

Mark's Opcode endorsement

There is a promo-only poster out there from Opcode Vision software featuring Mark endorsing their product.

Go Digital and Blender interactive magazines

... did previews of the Smart Patrol CD-ROM around summer 1996. Go Digital had secret bonus hidden Quicktime videos of Devo vids - you have to poke around on the CD, they won't come up if you "play" the CD-mag as you're supposed to.

Rubber in Akron? Really?

Mark Mothersbaugh had a rubber stamp store in o-HI-o before Devo hit the bucks.

Raymond Scott

The music for "Fraulein" comes from Raymond Scott's 1936 song "Powerhouse". His songs are often borrowed and have surfaced in Warner Brothers cartoons, Kronos Quartet, They Might Be Giants, Soul Coughing, Foetus and Rush recordings. Mark is a Raymond Scott Archive chairmember, and owns one of Raymond's inventions.

Retail growths

There is a bakery in a rough part of Chicago, IL named Devo's Bakery. On Pembridge Street in London, there's a restaurant called "SpudUWant". In Santa Barbara, California, there's a donut shop called "Spudnuts".

First video LP

The Men Who Make The Music was going to be the first Video LP released when it was made in 1979. However, legal troubles between Time-Life and Warner delayed its release 'till 1981, by which time Blondie's "Eat to the Beat" video LP had stolen the crown. History repeated itself in 1996, when Smart Patrol lost the title of "First CD-ROM Soundtrack released on Audio CD" to Capcom's Fox Hunt. Fox Hunt was scored by Mutato Muzika, but the soundtrack was comprised of pop bands rather than Mutato's work.

Opening bands

Bands that have opened for Devo include X, Chi Pig, Miss Xanna Don't, aMiniature, and U2!

Mongoloid video

Underground filmmaker Bruce Conner directed a music video for "Mongoloid" just before Devo got into the music business. Look for a compilation video of his in a university film department or perhaps an underground video store.

CD+Graphics

Total Devo is a CD+G, according to The CD+G list. What that means is that there are graphics stored on the disc so that properly equipped players can display them on your TV screen. The list doesn't mention if the Restless rerelease is a CD+G or not. It would kind of make sense that Devo did use CD+G technology at that time, since they went so far as to even release Total Devo on Digital Audio Tape (DAT)...

Devo on Bollywood

"Disco Dancer" was inspired by an indian pop music video with the chorus, "I am a disco, I am a disco!"

Find Out

If you don't feel like shelling out the money to buy the rerelease of Oh No! It's DEVO from IZ just to hear the never-before-released track "Find Out", look for the Infinite Zero Promotional CD #2: PRO-CD 95.ZERO.1 (9 00000-2).

History

"The History Of Rock and Roll" video series includes some words from Jerry in at least two episodes ("Punk" and "Up From The Underground"). They also show and discuss most of the "Whip It" video, including some of the reactions they got at the time.

Lesser-known covers

"Working In A Coal Mine" was written by Allen Toussaint and sung (first) by Lee Dorsey in 1966. "Morning Dew" was written by T.Rose and B.Dobson (or was it Buffy St. Marie?) It was *not* the Grateful Dead; they only covered it.

Songs Booji Boy has sung in concert

Bob Dylan's "You Gotta Serve Somebody" as "You Gotta Serve Yourself"; "In Heaven, Everything Is Fine" from the movie "Eraserhead"; "Roll Out The Barrel" (the music that's played when Devo meets Rod Rooter in TMWMTM); "Worried Man" and "Hey Hey My My" from "Human Highway"; "The Words Get Stuck In My Throat" from the Japanese monster movie "War Of The Gargantuans". The lyrics from a bootleg sleeve, thanks to Mark Lodge:

"If I had a tiny microphone
Hidden in my heart
It would amplify my love for you

But the words get stuck in my throat

If I had a little telegraph
Tapping in my brain
It would tap out a morse code line to you

But the words get stuck in my throat

If I had a little viewmaster
Snapping in my brain
It would snap out pictures all of you"

Dimensions for the Energy Domes (a.k.a. Flowerpot Hats) from Klilin:

This taken from a hat I caught at a concert:
material-thin plastic (vacu-formed), crimson red
form-4layer slightly conical crossection stack
base-9.3/8 tapers to 8.5/8 , 1.3/4 tall
next-7.1/2 tapers to 7 , 1.3/4 tall
next-5.5/8 tapers to 5 , 1.1/4 tall
top- 3.3/4 tapers to 3.1/2 , 3/4 tall
total height-5
logo on top-

 EV
D  O

letter size-3/4
top embossed 3/64
all dimensions in inches

By the way, the domes sold through the fan club are not the same as the ones actually worn by DEVO - DEVO's domes are bigger and don't have the letters on top.

Freaks

When they used to do "Jocko Homo" in The Old Days, Devo would chant "We accept you, we reject you! One of us! One of us!" This is from an old film called "Freaks" (1935, MGM) which was actually made in '32 but was banned due to its controversial nature.

Max Fish

The Max Fish bar on Ludlow Street in NYC has/had Hardcore Devo on their jukebox.

School

The Mothersbaughs went to Woodrige High School.

Pronunciation

Jerry and Bob 2's last name is pronounced "cuh-SAHL-ee".

Apple Computer

From a press release:

... The company also launched a support program for musicians and music publishers creating multimedia content for the burgeoning interactive music market. The Interactive Music Track extends the well-established, 1,500-member Apple Multimedia Program (AMP) to musicians, providing multimedia and interactive music information, contacts, networking opportunities and discounts on software and hardware. Members also receive Apple's QuickTime interactive music tools announced today at no additional charge exclusively as part of the program. Initial members of the Interactive Music Track include: Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Lady Kier of Deee-Lite, Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO.

Muzik For Insomniaks

Mark has released two solo albums called Muzik For Insomniaks, volumes one and two. Supposedly, volumes three through seven were released in Japan only. The music on these is quite different from Devo; it's extremely minimalist, un-poppy and, of course, instrumental. If you can only get one disc, start with #2. They're very hard to get because 1-Enigma had very crappy distribution, as Jerry mentioned, and 2-Enigma closed up around 1991. :):(

Weird Al

"Weird Al" Yankovic has poked fun at Devo on two occasions: first in "Polkas on 45" (from IN 3-D) where he uses the first verse of "Jocko Homo" (plus bits from "Smoke On The Water", "Hey Jude", and "My Generation", plus others), and second in "Dare To Be Stupid" on the album of the same name and also on the Transformers: The Movie soundtrack. The video for "Dare..." is really well done. They're both both a parody and praise of Devo's sound, but because there's a video for "Dare To Be Stupid" it's easier to pick out the individual songs he's using.

Keyboard magazine

... lists Q: Are We Not Men?/A:We Are Devo! as one of the Top 20 Keyboard albums of the past 20 years in the Sept. '95 (20th Anniversary) issue. The point of their blurb was that this album proved that synths had a place in "garage bands". "Whip It" is named one of the top 20 singles of the period. Other musicians on the list include Kraftwerk, Isao Tomita, Jean-Michel Jarre, Peter Gabriel, the Eurythmics, Thomas Dolby and Brian Eno.

Al Mothersbaugh

Brian Dedrick:

If you don't already know, Mark's cousin, Al, is in the Kent, Ohio based band called the Twist-Offs. I have seen the band 11 times, and let me tell you, they are one of the best bands around. Al plays trombone among the rest of the musical chaos. See them live or order their CD's through Dill records.

Frank Zappa

His Does Humor Belong In Music video-concert injects a few bars of "Whip It" into Zappa's own "Tinsel Town Rebellion". Not for anyone but the hardcore fan who can take some ribbing. It's not included on the Tinseltown Rebellion album, so Lookout. Jerry mentioned Zappa awhile back:

From RE/SEARCH issue 11, PRANKS:

"When we started Devo it was really that--a serious prank. People would constantly ask, 'This is a joke, right?' looking to us for some kind of confirmation. Of course, we weren't going to give them any. Our intention was always to subvert the accepted obvious reality behind anything we presented--whether fashion, lyric, role, stereotype, etc.

We never wanted to be like Frank Zappa, where you can be passed off as purely a wierdo, or 'Hey, I know that you know what's going on here (wink, wink)'"

There's a great picture included of Jerry in a priest's outfit, holding "totems of the modern age": rubber lips and a gun. The hand holding the lips is making the peace sign, with the fingers together like Jesus used to make it. :-)

A summary of the short film, "The Beginning Was The End: The Truth About De-Evolution", from Keithstans:

Opening Title: Close up of a TV screen with the title "IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE END - THE TRUTH ABOUT DE-EVOLUTION"

Next: We see our heroes (Boogie boy included) in a plant, strange clear masks over their faces, blue outfits, hard hats. They leave the plant, get into a blue Chevy, drive to a club, go inside.

DEVO performs Secret Agent Man with Bob Mothersbough on vocals in front of big painted DEVO sign. Insert film clips of men in monkey masks, and other odd things throughout. Exit with someone in JFK mask waving.

Next, we see Boogie Boy running up back stairs into a building, meets up with General Boy.

GB: Come in Boogie boy, you're late. Have you got the papers China man gave you?

BB: (Boogie gives him envelope) Here it is dad, is it a surprise?

GB: Yes, Boogie. In the past this information has been suppressed, but now it can be told. Every man, woman and mutant on this planet shall know the truth about De-evolution.

BB: Oh Dad! We're all DEVO!

Cut to Neon Letters spelling out DEVO with "Mechanical Man" in background.

Next, Jocko Homo video. Mark Mothersbaugh dancing the Poot. Everyone in masks..

After song, cut to extreme close up of video screen with the following written on screen:

1. wear gaudy colors or avoid display
2. lay a million eggs or give birth to one
3. the littlest may survive & the unfit may live
4. be like your ancestors or be different
5. we must repeat

Next scene, Boogie Boy tied up in chair, no shirt on. Man with no shirt comes up and pulls mask off, stabs Boogie Boy in chest. Closing credits.

Kim Cattral

I found an old interview with Kim Cattral that was done right after Star Trek 6 was released, and she mentioned that she was dating one of the spuds - "He used to be in a rock group called Devo. They were big in the 70's and 80's." She never got more specific than that, but I have it on some authority that it was Jerry.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

... occasionally uses Devo allusions. (A mad scientist donned his protective goggles and tilted his head, while Joel asked the question, "Are We Not Men?") Look for "The Unearthly", "Crash of the Moons", "Teenagers From Outer Space", "The Robot Vs. The Aztec Mummy", "The Corpse Vanishes", "Mitchell", "Outlaw", "Skydivers", "Starfighters", and others.

Lousy Virgins

The Virgin UK-combo-album-"remastered"-limited-edition-three-disc-box-set STINKS. There are dropouts and the sleeve design is really pathetic. You don't get lyrics and there are about 3 different pictures on each sleeve. (That's not a lot considering there are two albums on each disc.) You can get all the albums domestically except for Devo: Live (1980, not The Mongoloid Years). New Traditionalists, Duty Now For The Future, Shout, and Oh No! It's DEVO were recently released by Henry Rollins' label, Infinite Zero. They run a great service called the Ultimate Band List. Nearly everyone agrees that IZ does a first-rate job of rereleasing classic Devo.

Guitar noise

Devo's axe-meister extraordinaire Bob "Bob 1" Mothersbaugh once said his favorite personal contribution was the bleepy noise in Uncontrollable Urge. Everyone probably thinks that was Eno's work, but it is the sound made by touching the guitar cord tip with his finger. You can't get it with an ordinary amplifier, just with a wierd German amp that Bob found in Germany during the Q/A sessions.

The Simpsons

In the episode of "The Simpsons" where Homer has to pass a nuclear physics course, there is a poster on a wall with five Simpson-esque heads wearing energy domes. It's in the geeks' dorm and only appears for a second. Watch the left side of your screen as Homer is pacing back and forth. Also, in another episode, they showcase three possible "spinoff shows". One of these involved Smithers in a black leather cowboy outfit (hmmm...) singing "Crack that whip! Licorice whip!" while he pranced about with said item.

David Bowie

... is said to have "discovered" Devo. I have been told that this was not entirely true. There's a picture of him with Jerry Casale (both fully dressed) in the liner for Now It Can Be Told. Bowie also supposedly got Brian Eno to produce the first LP. (Eno definitely produced it, but how much Bowie was involved remains to be seen.) As the story now goes, Bowie simply sat in a corner and watched the recording process. It doesn't matter.