With flowerpots on their heads, a line in distinctive post-Kraftwerk imagery, and some staggeringly catchy electro-pop riffs, Devo carved a niche in the eighties that set them apart from the mish-mash of punk, new wave and rock that surrounded them.

Led by the Mothersbaugh brothers, in cohorts with Jerry Casale, the overarching philosophical principle that drove them - Devolution - engendered a theory that mankind, rather than progressing, was actually going backwards. Their first album, produced by Brian Eno, was light years ahead of its time, with a fabulous de-constructed version of the Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".

By the time of their third album Freedom of Choice, they had honed their pared-down pop to produce the razor-sharp "Girl You Want" and the million-selling single "Whip It" which inspired one of Neil Young's greatest albums, Rust Never Sleeps. Devo songs have been covered by many, including Nirvana, Soundgarden and Superchunk, to name but a few.

Jade Dellinger has interviewed band members and their associates, ransacked their archives to provide more than 100 illustrations, memorabilia and rare photographs documenting Devo's entire career, and re-evaluated their complete works to provide the most exhaustive survey of the Devo phenomenon.

The thirst for knowledge about these defunct pop masters of the eighties is huge, there are dozens of websites devoted to the band, their music and their imagery, but until now, the printed word has eluded Devo.

HARDBACK

ISBN: 0 946719 49 7

Publication date: June 2003

224 pages - illustrated.
Price UK £20 US $30

ARE WE NOT MEN?
WE ARE DEVO!

Jade Dellinger & David Giffels

About the authors

Jade Dellinger is an Independent Curator organizing exhibitions for the Contemporary Art Museum at the University of South Florida and elsewhere. In 1999, he invited Mark Mothersbaugh to participate in his Art In The News project for the Tampa Tribune. As a result, artwork by the Devo frontman was acquired for the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, NYC.

David Giffels is a columnist with the Akron Beacon Journal and co-author of Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron. He is also a commentator for National Public Radio station WKSU-FM in Kent, Ohio, and a former writer for MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head. He lives in Akron, Ohio.

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