Devo

Books About DEVO:.
Money for Nothing (1988) - compilation
On The Night (1993) - live
Live at the BBC (1995) - live
Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits (1998) - compilation. Mark Mothersbaugh, some solo and soundtrack releases:. "Tunnel of Love", which contains an instrumental section based on music from Carousel but is otherwise all Knopfler's own work.). As The Wipeouters:. (The best-of album Sultans of Swing contains only two songs not credited to Knopfler alone: "Money For Nothing", which is credited as co-written with Sting, in fact Sting, at the behest of Knopfler, merely added the line "I want my MTV" in the style of The Police hit, "Don't Stand So Close To Me". As a backup band for others:. The band's line-up changed over the years, but one constant was Mark Knopfler, who wrote most of the band's songs and acted as clear leader of the band.

Compilations:. Mark Knopfler would later concentrate on solo projects and film music. Discography:. The band's final original studio album, On Every Street was released in 1991 to mixed reviews and moderate success (guest star Vince Gill, who sang backup on several of the album's songs, turned down an offer to join the band full time). In the early 21st century, the band did a special version of "Whip It" for Swiffer commercials. A long period of inactivity followed with only a hits compilation and a live set released for the next six years. Gerry Casale, the group's bass player, has directed rock videos by other bands, including Rush and Foo Fighters. The popularity of the band extends beyond the UK and US: in many parts of the world including India, Southeast Asia and Africa, Dire Straits has been one of the most well-known and admired western bands.

His company, Mutato Muzika, provides employment for Devo guitarists Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale: the former works as a composer, and the latter as a recording engineer. Partly as a result of this (and a successful appearance in Live Aid), Dire Straits were the biggest selling band in the world in the mid 1980s. In 1985, he released an elaborately packaged solo cassette, "Musik for Insomniaks," which was later expanded and released as two CDs. This had the accidental side effect of making it one of the "must buy" albums for consumers wishing to demonstrate the new technology. Equally, the new format was an excellent showcase for Knopfler's meticulous production values on the earlier albums, leading many existing fans to repurchase the whole back catalogue. Mothersbaugh has gone on to considerable success writing and producing music for television programs (starting with Pee Wee's Playhouse), video games, animated cartoons and movies. Aiding the success of Brothers in Arms was the fact that it was one of the first fully digitally recorded and produced albums available in the (then) new Compact Disc format. In 2001, members of Devo formed the surf band The Wipeouters, claiming that it was actually a reunion of the first garage band they started while in their early teens. The band's 1985 release Brothers in Arms was an international hit and spawned several singles including the number one hit "Money for Nothing".

After the release of Smooth Noodle Maps in 1990, the band folded, although it has been revived on several occasions for one-off performances and short tours in 1996, 2000 and 2004. The third album, Making Movies featured keyboardist Roy Bittan (from Bruce Springsteen's band) and marked a move towards more complex arrangements and production which would continue throughout the band's career. Their popularity and sales slipped over the next few years, however, although they produced the albums New Traditionalists (1981), Oh, No! It's Devo (1982), Shout and Total Devo (1988). The second album followed soon afterwards; these first two albums featured a stripped-down band sound. Devo remained popular in many countries and they had a large and loyal following in Australia, where the '70s-'80s pop TV Countdown was one of the first in the world to broadcast their video clips. Dire Straits recorded and released their first, self-titled album in 1978 to little fanfare but five months later a single release, "Sultans of Swing" became an unlikely chart hit and album sales took off. In 1982, they appeared in the Neil Young film "Human Highway.". Despite this complete antithesis to popular culture at the time, Dire Straits still became hugely successful.

They also recorded "E-Z Listening Muzak" versions of their own songs to play before their concerts. Mark Knopfler (the band's frontman) was heard to have asked pub managers to turn down the sound, so people could talk over the music, while they were still in their early days. In concert, Devo often performed as the opening band for themselves, pretending to be a Christian soft-rock group called "Dove (the Band of Love)". In an era when punk rock reigned, they played subdued, almost old-school rock and roll. Devo actively embraced the Church of the SubGenius in the early 1980s. Dire Straits are a British rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass) and Pick Withers (drums), and managed by Ed Bicknell. Although they started out with a mixture of traditional rock instruments and electronic effects, during the early 1980s Devo adopted mostly or entirely synthetic instrumentation, becoming one of the first American acts to perform on stage using only synthesizers; they were also one of the first groups in the world to regularly use radio microphones and microphone headsets on stage. "Encores EP" (1993) #31 UK.

They scored a major success in 1980 with their third album Freedom of Choice and the single 'Whip It', which became a big hit thanks to regular MTV screenings of its unique music video. "Calling Elvis" (1991) #21 UK. Devo might have remained a cult attraction but for the advent of American cable TV music station MTV. "Your Latest Trick" (1986) #26 UK. Their first album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo was produced by Eno and featured a radical cover of the Rolling Stones' (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction and the controversially titled Mongoloid. "Walk of Life" (1986) #2 UK; #7 US. By this time Alan Myers had replaced Jim Mothersbaugh as drummer and Gerry Casale's brother (also called Bob) joined as second guitarist (dubbed 'Bob II'). "Brothers in Arms" (1985) #16 UK.

Devo's big break came in 1976 when their short film The Truth About De-Evolution won a prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival; it was then seen by David Bowie and Iggy Pop, who championed them and enabled Devo to secure a recording contract with Warner Brothers Records. "Money for Nothing" (1985) #4 UK; #1 US. The first lineup formed in 1972 with Gerry Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh and Mark's two brothers Jim on homemade electronic drums and Bob (aka Bob I) on lead guitar. "So Far Away" (1985) #20 UK; #19 US. (Gerry) Casale, the group's bassist and main songwriter. "Twisting by the Pool" (1983) #14 UK. The core members of the group are Mark Mothersbaugh, the band's lead singer, guitarist and synthesizer player, and Gerald V. "Private Investigations" (1982) #2 UK.

This metaphor is carried throughout Devo's work as an abstraction of modern society. "Skateaway" (1981) #37 UK. Formed in 1972, Devo's original inspiration came from Oscar Kiss Maerth's "The Beginning Was the End": a pseudoscientific anthropological thesis which attributes the rise of man as an evolutionary accident caused by a species of sex-crazed, cannibalistic apes who developed tools to exploit each other sexually and feed on each others' brains. "Romeo and Juliet" (1981) #8 UK. 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. "Sultans of Swing" (1979) #8 UK; #4 US. Other likely influences were American rock iconoclasts Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart.

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. Devo created and directed many of their own videos, and the band have cited the video for the song "Beautiful World" as their favourite example of their video work. 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 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.

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. 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. 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. 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 social and political content -- founder member Gerry Casale had witnessed the killing of students at Kent State University when National Guard troops infamously opened fire on demonstrators in 1970.

They proved hugely influential on new wave music, and to a lesser extent on punk rock and geek rock. Devo (The De-Evolution Band) was a rock music band from Akron, Ohio whose music mingled kitsch science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor, satirical social commentary and thinly veiled sexual allusions in discordantly synthesized pop songs that often featured unusual time signatures. This first-ever book about DEVO provides an extensively researched account focusing largely on the band's formative years, and is available at DEVObook.com. Are We Not Men? We Are Devo! by Jade Dellinger & David Giffels (SAF Publishing Ltd./UK).

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2005). Music for Edward Gorey, a private release of 300 handmade CD-R discs. Mystery Men. The Rugrats Movie.

The Royal Tenenbaums. Rushmore (1999). Joyeux Mutato (1999), Christmas music (released in two different versions). Musik for Insomniaks, Volumes 1 and 2 (1988).

P'Twaaang!!! (2001). Martini Ranch: Holy Cow (1988) (Bob Casale produced How Can the Labouring Man Find Time for Self-Culture? while Mark Mothersbaugh contributed backup vocals.). David Byrne: Feelings (1997) (backup on Wicked Little Doll). Toni Basil: Word of Mouth (1983) (backup on covers of Devo's own Space Girls, Be Stiff and Pity You).

Jermaine Jackson: Let Me Tickle Your Fancy (1982) (backup on title song). Recombo DNA (2000), a compilation of music demos and rarities (only available through Rhino Handmade). Pioneers Who Got Scalped (2000). Hardcore Devo, Volumes 1 & 2.

Devo's Greatest Misses. Devo's Greatest Hits. Smooth Noodle Maps (1990). Now It Can Be Told (1989).

Total Devo (1988). E-Z Listening Disc (1987). Shout (1984). Oh, No! It's Devo (1983).

New Traditionalists (1981). Freedom of Choice, featuring the single "Whip It", probably the band's best known song (1980). Duty Now for the Future (1979). This debut album featured a mechanized interpretation of The Rolling Stones hit "Satisfaction", as well as "Jocko Homo", Devo's theme song and anthem.

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978).