Devo are sometimes cited as One Hit Wonders, given the fact that "Whip It," which peaked at number 14 on the Singles Charts in 1980, was their one and only song to crack the Top 40 and unwittingly became their musical signature. (Their cover of
Lee Dorsey's "Working in a Coal Mine," issued in 1981, just missed the mark, topping out at number 43.) Add the group's sci-fi costuming, robotic stage moves, and their trademark "Energy Dome" headgear and you get a group that seemed like a prank or a novelty to those not paying close attention. That was probably fitting for a band whose concept was built on the notion of cultural entropy, that as a civilization mankind was slowly but surely moving backward rather than forward without most people noticing, thanks to technology and ignorance. If the masses didn't get it, enough people did that
Devo refused to go away, becoming a gateway into alternative music for plenty of listeners and inspiring dozens of left-of-center musicians in a career full of creative troublemaking. As
Devo celebrate their golden anniversary, they've chosen to mark the occasion with
50 Years of De-Evolution 1973-2023, a double-disc anthology that serves as a convenient guide to their history in 50 songs. The first half serves as a "Greatest Sorta Hits" collection, featuring 24 of their best known tunes, including, of course, "Whip It." (Significantly, only one track on Disc One was released after 1990). Part Two is devoted to rarities and fan favorites, including a 1974 demo of "I'm a Potato" that suggests they were still working some blues influences out of their system; their early independently released singles; alternate versions of songs that only appeared on singles, and the cover of
the Kingston Trio's "It Takes a Worried Man" they recorded for
Neil Young's film
Human Highway. The first half reveals how
Devo were able to shape their sometimes morbid ideas into expressive and unexpectedly accessible forms (especially after electronics and dance beats became a bigger part of their formula), and the the harder-edged material in the second half shows they learned a lot from the electronic artists they most certainly influenced. And "No Place Like Home," from 2010's
Something for Everybody, is that rarity in their repertoire: a sincere plea for sanity in a world bent on self-destruction that, in the context of their deeply cynical philosophy, is actually moving. No one interested in the bleeding edge of New Wave should be without 1978's
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and 1980's
Freedom of Choice, but if you're looking for a concise yet thorough summation of one of the smartest and most inventive bands of their time,
50 Years of De-Evolution 1973-2023 will fill the void nicely. ~ Mark Deming
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