Oh, No! It's Devo

Oh, No! It's Devo is the fifth studio album by the American new wave band Devo. It was originally released in October 1982, on the labels Warner Bros. and Virgin. The album was recorded over a period of four months, between May and September 1982, at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles. By the time of its release, Devo were a full-fledged synth-pop act, with guitar-based new wave sounds pushed more towards the background. Most of the music on Oh, No! It's Devo was created by electronic means, giving it a much different sound than the band's earlier albums, such as their 1978 debut Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, which relied more on guitars than synthesizers. This alienated some fans, despite the band stating since at least 1978 that their goal was to "de-emphasize" guitars. The album was produced by prominent producer Roy Thomas Baker, who had notably worked with, among others, Queen and The Cars.

Oh, No! It's Devo
Studio album by
Devo
ReleasedOctober 21, 1982 (1982-10-21)
RecordedMay–September 1982 at Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles
Genre
Length32:14
Label
ProducerRoy Thomas Baker
Devo chronology
New Traditionalists
(1981)		 Oh, No! It's Devo
(1982)		 Shout
(1984)
Singles from Oh No, It's Devo
  1. "Peek-a-Boo!"
    Released: 1982
  2. "That's Good"
    Released: 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link
Robert ChristgauB+[1]
Rolling Stone link

Background

According to a 1982 interview with lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh, the album was titled Oh, No! It's Devo because "there are many people out there who, when they hear we're around again or have one more album coming out, that is their reaction."[2]

In later interviews, Devo's co-founder and bass guitarist Gerald Casale stated that the album was born out of critical reviews in which the band were alternately described as both "fascists" and "clowns."[3] In response, the band decided to make an album that would answer the question, "what would an album by fascist clowns sound like?"[4]

The song "I Desire" brought the band controversy, as the lyrics were taken directly from a poem written by John Hinckley, Jr., who had attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in an effort to impress actress Jodie Foster.[5] "Big Mess" was inspired by letters sent to a game show host by someone using the name "Cowboy Kim".[6]

Devo took on another new look for this album, wearing black T-shirts and slacks with white "Spud Ring" collars. In concert, these were augmented with Freedom of Choice era energy domes and New Traditionalists era shirts and ascots for part of the performance. The LP jacket had a cutout stand on the back so it could be stood up like a picture frame.

Promotional music videos

Devo produced three music videos for the album: "Time Out for Fun," "Peek-a-Boo!" and "That's Good." All three videos eschewed Devo's previous narrative style for a basic performance against a bluescreen background displaying related visuals to the song. These were intended to replicate the band's intentions for the forthcoming tour for those who would be unable to attend. The video for "That's Good" ran into censorship troubles on MTV, as the juxtaposition of a cartoon french fry penetrating the hole of a doughnut and quickly cutting to a writhing, smiling nude woman, shot from the neck up, was considered too risqué for airplay. Band member and video director Gerald Casale later elaborated in an interview for the 33⅓ series book Devo's Freedom of Choice in 2015:

"We got this call from [MTV co-founder] Les Garland, He was like, 'Look, we know what you're trying to do here.' I go, What do you mean? He goes, 'Ya know, when that cartoon French fry glides through that cartoon donut and then it's with the girl looking happy. You can have the French fry, or you can have the donut, but you can't have the French fry and the donut, Otherwise, you can't cut to the girl.' And I go, 'But what about when the French fry hits the donut and breaks in half and she's sad?' And he goes 'Alright you little smart ass.' It was horrible. Then I go, 'What about that Billy Idol video you have and the girls are in skin-tight pants and their asses are full on in the screen and his head is between her legs and then somebody slaps her ass? What about that?' He goes, 'we're talking about you, we're not talking about them."

Casale eventually relented and made significant cuts to the video, which he came to regret, as "the song was going down in the charts, not up."

Tour

Devo's tour for the album replicated the look they sported in the music videos for at least the first half of the concert. Each concert began with Devo playing seven songs from the album that were performed against a 12-foot, rear-projected background which presented synchronized video. For several songs, members of the band interacted with the visuals, such as being kicked down by a giant pirate at the end of "Peek-a-Boo!", or shooting icons of unsynchronized dancing girls in "Out of Sync." After the screen was removed, it revealed Devo being lit by computerized moving lighting effects with Panaspots provided by Morpheus Lights. The Oh, No! It's Devo tour was the second concert tour known to utilize computerized moving lights, about one year after Genesis used 50 Vari-Lites (VL1's) on their Abacab tour. While Genesis had opted for a big and colorful look with its use of lighting, Devo opted for a more subtle approach.

The first show of the tour took place on October 30, 1982 at the Warner Beverly Hills Theater in Beverly Hills, California, and was filmed and transmitted live in 3-D to college campuses around the country. It was billed as "3-DEVO," and featured Wall of Voodoo as the opening act. However, this performance was marred by technical mishaps: the film went out of sync with the backing track during "Speed Racer," forcing the band to abandon the performance of "Big Mess"; Mark Mothersbaugh's microphone cut out during "Out of Sync" and he was forced to perform the rest of the first set with guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh's microphone; and during the performance of "Peek-a-Boo!," a female fan jumped onto the stage and started dancing with the band, blocking the visuals. In the second half of the show, the 3-D effects were ineffective and the band attacked the company providing the video twice: once during "Jocko Homo," with a series of cheap 3-D tricks (mostly snake nut cans) by Mothersbaugh; and once in a rant during "Beautiful World," delivered by the character Booji Boy. This concert featured the only known live performance of "Explosions".

The "3-DEVO" concert was later rebroadcast in a severely edited form on pay-per-view television, omitting the snide remarks and the technical gaffes. Both versions are available as bootlegs, and several audio recordings of the tour exist in varying quality.

[7]
Date Venue Notes
October 30 Warner Beverly Hills Theatre, Beverly Hills, CA Concert was filmed and broadcast live in 3-D, being the first live 3-D broadcast in history.
November 3 Northrup Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
November 5 Holiday Star Theatre, Merrillville, IN "Explosions" is removed from the setlist, "Come Back Jonee" and "Devo Corporate Anthem" are added.
November 6 Fox Theatre, Detroit, MI
November 7 Michigan State University Auditorium, East Lansing, MI
November 9 Cleveland Music Hall, Cleveland, OH
November 10 Massey Hall, Toronto, ON, Canada "Devo Corporate Anthem" is removed from Setlist
November 11 Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA "Mongoloid" and "Come Back Jonee" are removed from Setlist
November 12 West Hartford Music Hall, West Hartford, CT
November 13 Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA Devo played twice on this date
November 14 Elting Gymnasium, SUNY, New Paltz, NY
November 16 Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA "Deep Sleep" is not performed at this show, "Mongoloid" and "Come Back Jonee" are added back.
November 17 Warner Theatre, Washington, DC "Deep Sleep", "Come Back Jonee" and "Devo Corporate Anthem" are added back to the setlist.
November 18 Late Night with David Letterman, New York, NY TV Appearance, performing "That's Good"
November 19 The Palladium, New York, NY
November 20 "Patterns" and "Peek-A-Boo" are removed from the setlist
November 23 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA
November 26 Jai-Alai Fronton, Tampa, FL
November 27 Maurice Gusman Cultural Center, Miami, FL Devo performed twice on this date
November 29 Saenger Theater, New Orleans, LA
November 30 Cullen Auditorium, University Of Houston, Houston, TX
December 1 Dallas Convention Center Arena, Dallas, TX
December 2 Lester E. Palmer Auditorium, Austin, TX
December 3 Civic Center Music Hall, Oklahoma City, OK
December 5 The Old Lady On Brady, Tulsa, OK
December 7 Macky Auditorium, Boulder, CO
December 10 Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, CA According to attendees, this show guest starred Jermaine Jackson.

For this "Let Me Tickle Your Fancy" was allegedly added to the set

December 11 Devo perform a vastly shortened version of their set,

omitting the "Oh No" segment of the show, as well as "Come Back Jonee" and "Devo Corporate Anthem".

December 13 Gammage Center for the Performing Arts, ASU, Tempe, AZ The opening "Oh No" segment is returned. "Satisfaction" added as second encore. "Whip It" is removed from the setlist
December 15 Fox Theater, San Diego, CA
December 17 Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA
December 20 Redding Civic Auditorium, Redding, CA
December 21 Paramount Theatre, Portland, OR Devo performed twice on this date
December 22 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
December 27 Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Reno, NV
December 28 Bakersfield Civic Auditorium, Bakersfield, CA
December 29 Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, CA "Whip It" "Come Back Jonee" and "Devo Corporate Anthem" added to setlist
December 31 Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA Devo performed twice on this date, "Devo Corporate Anthem" not performed.

This would be Devo's last live performance for the next 6 years.

Setlist
  1. "Time Out For Fun"
  2. "Patterns"
  3. "Speed Racer"
  4. "Big Mess"
  5. "Peek-A-Boo"
  6. "Out Of Sync"
  7. "That's Good"
  8. "Freedom Of Choice Theme"
  9. "Whip It"
  10. "Girl U Want"
  11. "Planet Earth"
  12. "Explosions" (Removed after first two shows)
  13. "Deep Sleep"
  14. "Jocko Homo"
  15. "Mongoloid"
  16. "Uncontrollable Urge"
  17. "Gates Of Steel"
  18. "Smart Patrol"
  19. "Mr. DNA"
  20. "Gut Feeling"
  21. "Beautiful World"
  22. "Satisfaction" (Only performed after December 12)
  23. "Come Back Jonee"
  24. "Devo Corporate Anthem"

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Time Out for Fun"2:48
2."Peek-a-Boo!"3:01
3."Out of Sync"3:34
4."Explosions"3:01
5."That's Good"3:23
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Patterns" 2:57
7."Big Mess" 2:42
8."Speed Racer"Mark Mothersbaugh2:38
9."What I Must Do" 2:34
10."I Desire"
3:13
11."Deep Sleep" 3:24
Total length:32:14
Additional tracks

Personnel
Devo
Guest vocalist
  • Annerose Bucklers – backing vocals on "Deep Sleep"
Production team

Charts
Chart Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[8] 57
New Zealand Albums Chart[9] 10
US Billboard 200[10] 47
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References
  1. Christgau, Robert. "Devo". Robert Christgau.
  2. Mark of Devo, Interview 1982
  3. Express Milwaukee: "Devo is like the House Band on the Titanic", Alan Scully, 30 June 2010
  4. Jerry Casale interview at South by Southwest Conference, 2009
  5. Rolling Stone Magazine: I Desire
  6. Devo-Obsesso: The Cowboy Kim Letters
  7. "DEVO Live Guide - 1982". huboon.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 88. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. "charts.nz - Discography Devo". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  10. "Oh, No! It's Devo - Devo | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
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