DEVO

The DEVO documentary on Netflix is a visually stimulating experience. Those of you who only knew them through their popular hit song from the 80’s called “Whip It” are in for a real treat.

 

The band members were brought up in Ohio surrounded by tire manufacturing plants and evangelical thought. While attending college at Kent State University in the early 1970’s, they experienced first hand one of the most devastating rallies against the Vietnam War in U.S. History. This event, coupled with a number of other questions they had about the state of our world is why they took the term “De-evolution” and turned it into DEVO—a combination of performance art, music, and filmmaking. 

 

DEVO were misunderstood from the get-go. They were lofi before it was even a thing. David Bowie referred to them as American New Wave. The punk rockers didn’t like them and DEVO themselves honestly didn’t know what genre of music they were making. They created music videos before MTV even started, and as they said later…they were happy being an art band, but they didn’t think Warner Bros. (their record label) would like that too much.

 

“They were accomplishing what they talked about doing….We want to infiltrate subversively into the culture.”

 

DEVO made it into the main stream with a lot of ups-and-downs along the way. Brian Eno got on board and produced their first album with input from David Bowie. Richard Branson and Virgin Records tried to poach them from Warner Brothers after they already signed a contract causing a lengthy legal battle. Without any mangers or agents to help them, the band just went with it.

 

“If there’s one thing that has really succeeded, it’s making people understand that DEVO is a visual band with something to say, and that our music is conceived in terms of visual images.”

 

Although they were eventually dropped from the record label after a multi album deal, they accomplished what they set out to do, and that was to enlighten the world about things that were happening around them and they did so on their terms.