Devo

When Devo first stepped on stage in their boiler suits and strange plastic, flowerpot hats, playing a primitive, eccentric, futuristic form of new wave, synthesized punk with pop art style and oddball robotics, it looked like aliens had landed in the sleepy, cultural wasteland of 1970s Ohio. Formed by art students Gerrard Casale (vocals, bass) and Mark Mothersbaugh (synths, vocals, guitar) after the shootings at Kent State University, the band drew derision from the music press - they were even called fascists by Rolling Stone magazine - but were championed by David Bowie and Frank Zappa, and Brian Eno produced their debut album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978). Named after the idea that the human race is in a state of de-evolution, the quartet became cult heroes with albums Freedom Of Choice (1980) and New Traditionalists (1981) and even reached Number 14 in the US charts with single Whip It. Their jerky, mechanical pop and outsider strangeness made them influential heroes to the likes of Nirvana, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire and, after reforming in 1996, released the album Something For Everybody (2010).

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