anyone who knows me knows that i love devo, that their sick brand of robot-rock changed my life at a critical time. while i wish i’d spent more time writing it, i love the band so much i wrote this article about their beginnings and their career, because i had questions, dammit.
close friends also know that in 1999-2000 i came very very close to producing a record of solo work by devo’s co-founding bassist/singer gerry casale along with early band members bob lewis and peter gregg. this record was proposed to pair gerry and his new material with the mighty drumming of the jesus lizard’s mac mcneilly and to be released on perishable records, the label i was working for at the time. (to make a long story short, we wined and dined mr. casale and short of a great and memorable experience, nothing happened. gerry didn’t believe in the numbers we were proposing (i think he was insulted at how few zeros were on paper) c’est la rock and roll.)
devo’s story is nothing short of amazing and finally a book has been written documenting this saga of outsider art, mass-media commerce, fake science and real experiments. mark mothersbaugh (devo’s mccartney to casale’s lennon) is today one of hollywood’s top score composers along with devo members bob mothersbaugh and bob casale at mutato muzika studios in los angeles, ensuring that the dementia of devo is embedded deeply into mass culture (take a look at the film credits for a brief peek as to how much they’ve already affected you.) get the records and get the book!
