DVD Review: DEVO – The Men Who Make the Music / Butch Devo & the Sundance Gig

Text © Robert Francos / FFanzeen, 2015

Images from the Internet

DEVO – The Men Who Make the Music / Butch Devo & the Sundance Gig

Directed by Chuck Statler and Gerald V. Casale

 MVD Visual

114 minutes, 1981 / 2014

www.mvdvisual.com
 

I’m sure there are going to be those who are interested in this mix of live and video footage, but I’m going to do something rare and actually start with the bonus film, called Butch Devo and the Sundance Gig. This is a 65-minute live concert the band did in nearly two decades ago in 1996, at the overhyped (sorry but it’s true, Redford) Sundance Film Fest.

Introduced and patted down by Robert Rodriguez film star Cheech Marin (much more interesting to me than that stoner “comedy” duo he was in), Devo appears on stage in 1920’s prison uniforms and jumps right into the music.

With both standard instrument, some cool ones (Gerald Casale’s headless bass), and some modified (three pedals embedded directly onto Mark Mothersbaugh’s guitar), the troupe (including the late Bob Casale, d. 2014) keep their classic dit-dit-dit sound as they pound through their bigger and lesser known repertoire. The concert lasts more than an hour, and is filled with flights of fancy, some theatrics and non-dance choreography, and other madness. To me, this is more of what makes this DVD enjoyable. I just sat back and enjoyed the show, which was visually decent and had a clear sound taken straight off the boards.

I never noticed before just how much their material is in some sideways way similar to They Might Be Giants, but with more of a lean towards the industrial and less in the Bohemian. Both groups like to take the unusual road and, again use theatrics, though TMBG feels more organic and less rehearsed. Also, I hadn’t realized how much of Devo’s sound is actually centered on drummer extraordinaire Josh Freese.

The crowd is enjoyable to watch as well. There isn’t much moshing or stagediving as much as pogoing, but it’s interesting to see people body surfing to songs like “Mongoloid” (query: why does Mothersbaugh grab his own crotch every time the lyric “Brings home the bacon” comes up?).

Yeah, the usual mix-up of their songs like “Satisfaction,” “Everybody Wants a Good Thing,” and “Whip It” makes their presence, but that doesn’t mean it’s all predictable. For example, they do a slow, emo version of “Jacko Homo” while sitting on stools.

Of course, Booji Boy makes an appearance at the end.

The main feature is 49-minute glom of music videos (all of which had been collected in a previous DVD release called The Truth About De-Evolution, released originally in 1993, and then released in 2014; reviewed HERE), and varied live performances from 1978 through 1979. The boys are a lot younger, obviously, and much more mobile onstage. Yes, they still moved quite well in 1996, but by that show, they were around 50 years old, as opposed to being in the late 20s/early 30s, so energy levels are definitely different. Also, Mothersbaugh has kept his voice, which is easily identifiable, but it was much stronger in the early footage.

A lot of the live songs from 1996 are also performed in the early 1978-79 footage, such as “Praying Hands,” which again makes interesting comparisons. Truthfully, most of the music video footage was okay, but it’s same-old-same-old that I’ve seen before (and yes, I did sit through all of it again); it’s the live performance that make this for me. In all, they wear their now iconic yellow jumpsuits (aka onesies) and/or black shorts and tees as they jerk around the stage.

Whether you like Devo or not, and I do to some extent, their musicianship is undeniable, such as those mentioned above, and I also need to give credit to guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh, who sadly has a tendency to be drowned out by the electronica.

Which brings me to the next thing: when Devo first struck it big, they actually had a very large influence on mainstream music (thanks in part of constant rotation on MTV), being one of the forerunners of the ‘80s sound that would mix pop, electronic and industrial together, in the same way Blondie was in the lead bringing punk into vanilla pop overproduction. While Devo became famous talking about De-Evolution, they actually revolutionized radio, and also brought then-futuristic technology (computers, for example) into their media. Even more ironically, in rear-view mirror looking, the quality of the images here are not that great, being shot on video in the pre-HD world, including the 1996 footage which looks better, but is still a bit muddy.

This is an interesting collection of old and new, live and video, and if you’re a D-E-V-O fan, it’s a M-U-S-T have.

Song List:
Jocko Homo (Music video, taken from "The Truth About De-evolution")

General Boy 1 (talking video)

Wiggly World (Live)

General Boy 2 (talking video)

The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprise (Music video)

Roll Out the Barrel (AKA "Rod Rooter's Big Reamer")

Praying Hands (Live)

General Boy 3 (talking video)

Uncontrollable Urge (Live)

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Music video)

General Boy 4 (talking video)

Jocko Homo (Live, partial performance)

Secret Agent Man (Music video, taken from "The Truth About De-evolution")

Smart Patrol / Mr. DNA (Live)

Come Back Jonee (Music video)

General Boy 5(talking video)

Red Eye (Live)

Devo Corporate Anthem (video)

 

 

DVD Review: DEVO: The Complete Truth About De-Evolution

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2014
Images from the Internet

                                                      

DEVO: The Complete Truth About De-Evolution
MVD Visual
70 minutes, 1993 / 2014
www.MVDvisual.com

Looking back, the Dada-inspired band Devo represents everything I would come to hate about the ‘80s onward, i.e., electronica and arty theatrical music. And yet, they hold a bit of a special place in my musical history, even though I never saw them live.

I remember buying the original “Jocko Homo” single on Booji Boy Records (their own imprint) on 8^th Street at Disc-O-File when it was first released; yes I still have it. It definitely sounds stronger than the album version that was turned into a hit song/video on MTV not much later. Singer/creator Mark Mothersbaugh’s voice was sharp as a razor on the catch phrase “Are we not MEN!?” But then again, there was no sideways dancing as he would do on the video that attracted so many other fans. I remember seeing people dancing like that when they played the song on the PA at the Peppermint Lounge.

 The basic premise of this DVD is a collection of 20 of the band’s videos over the years (listed below). I’ll comment on some of them, as the odds are you’ve seen them at some point or another if you – er – wanted your MTV.

 While not as disturbing as the Resident’s version of the Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” the Devo cover is probably among the best well known. The spastic British second wave punk dancer flipping himself over in the occasional shot has become iconic of the early 1980s video days. As for the song, well, they certainly made it their own and it truly is an ear worm that is enjoyable.

If you’re like me, there are three things you remember about the “Come Back Jonee” video/song is (a) the cowboy outfits, (b) the repetitive rhythm (a Devo hallmark), and (c) the girl dancing by the keyboard. ‘Nuff said.

By the time they reached the “Whip It” stage, Devo sort of said everything they were going to say musically, but this is a band that wasn’t just oral, they were also optical. Their work in early digital video technology pushed its limits, using the medium as a palate of art, through color, effects, animation and experimentation. To me, that is one of the more important legacies of the band. Also, as far as I remember, they were among the pioneers of having videos that went beyond the song, and often had prologs and / or epilogs, making the songs into mini-movies, especially in the earlier ones, a wave that Michael Jackson would successfully jump on for Thriller.

Speaking of “Whip It,” watching it in retrospect, as this is the uncut version, it really does go into the whole promotion of rape culture. One woman’s clothes are violently and literally “whipped” off, while a cross-eyed woman is sexually assaulted by a rancher while his girlfriend yells (via caption scrawl) “Ride ‘em cowboy.” And, of course, the victim in this case is shown as willing (where is Tex Antoine when you need him). But at least the song is catchy, right? They do address it in the commentary, explaining, in part, that the cowboys represent the Reagan Republicans. Still…

An interesting aspect about watching these videos in a row is that you can notice themes, such as many of the songs are about individuality (e.g., “Freedom of Choice.” “Through Being Cool,’ and “Peek-A-Boo”), but the images promote getting it by being like everyone else. Reminds me of when Culture Club was first popular, in New York they had a Boy George lookalike contest (teenage girls showed up), and when questioned why they were dressing that way, one girl said, “Boy George is unique, and I want to be unique just like him” (shades of the crowd scene in Life of Brian). Uniformity is not unique; even within subcultures (e.g., hardcore and suspenders, grunge and plaid). Even when one is trying to be an individual, to fit into an ostracized group you must be recognizable to that collective. Devo seem to promote that. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, as it’s natural, I’m just pointing it out.

There is also a surprisingly large amount of images of violence, “Whip It” is the easy choice, but people are shooting others with ray-gun (usually to transform them into uni-bots), stabbings, electrocutions, and the like. Yes, it’s also used as social commentary in “Beautiful World,” but just check out “Love Without Anger.” Even in the later “Post-Post Modern Man” someone shoots the band’s name into a wall with a machine gun.

Sadly, by the end of these videos, they had gone from New Wave to jumping on the post-disco wave (much like the Clash). Meh.

To call this merely a collection of videos, though, is a major understatement because it extras are clearly as numerous and as historically important. In part, as there are too many to mention here, there is a collection of live footage from throughout the band’s tenure, including some crude b&w video from their very first performance at Kent State in – are you ready for this? – 1972. Even then, you can see what was coming, though they weren’t there yet. Humorously, there are a lot of empty seats in the theater. There are also commercials, shorts, a brief interview with the director their first video (“Secret Agent Man”), Chuck Statler, and the obligatory yet consistently interesting commentary track by band co-founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald V. Casale.

The only thing missing was the spoof, "Dare to Be Stupid" by Weird Al Yankovic.

Song List:

Devo Corporate Anthem
Secret Agent Man
Jocko Homo
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Come Back Jonee
The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprise
Worried Man
Whip It
Girl U Want
Freedom of Choice
Through Being Cool
Love Without Anger
Beautiful World
Time Out For Fun
Peek-A-Boo
That’s Good
Theme from Dr. Detroit
Disco Dancer
Post-Post Modern Man
Post-Post Modern Man (Remix)
 
 Jocko Homo (LP version):

 

BONUS VIDEOS:

Original single version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FmtP6-a3gs

 

Weird Al’s “Dare to be Stupid”