Thirty One Seconds Over Los Angeles
Yet another website that mentions both Bob Lewis and Alan Myers.
[T]he story actually goes back to the early '70s and Kent State University. Art students Gerald Vincent Casale (bass, vocals) and Mark Mothersbaugh (synths, vocals) (or Jerry and Bob Lewis, depending on who you believe) met and eventually came up with the concept of de-evolution (i.e. things falling apart). It was a non-judgmental, kischy concept designed to present humanity with an honest (and not pretty) snapshot of what was going on in the world.
While [Shout] would not be the band's final studio album, it *was* their last for Warner Brothers (who had been falling out with the band for years) and, regrettably, the last with drummer Alan Myers. A dejected Myers quit after sensing his role diminishing within the band (and given that most of these tracks use drum machines, one can't blame him).
Pope Penguin also reviews Total Devo, and his impression of the album is extremely different than mine:
It has been said that most great artists end up sounding like a parody of themselves sooner or later. Nowhere is that more true in the Devo catalog than on "Total Devo."...
After a four year absence, Devo returned without original drummer Alan Myers (replaced by David Kendrick, who had drummed with both Sparks and The Gleaming Spires in the '80s) and with a new record label, Enigma. What is shocking about "Total Devo" is how unabashedly MOR the whole affair is. In essence, the punning title ("total de-evolution") really does ring true, as this is about as low as it got in the spud boys' career....The lyrics are almost relentlessly dopey or even...normal. In fact, the social comment that made the band famous is largely absent, except for a few half-hearted attempts, such as in the song "Some Things Never Change" (which, bizarrely, openly cops the opening line of The Beatles' "A Day In The Life"). Instead of aiming their spudguns at society at large, the band takes some potshots at a couple of easy targets in "The Shadow" (Jim and Tammy Bakker)....The two singles, "Baby Doll" and "Disco Dancer," are both rather pointless dancefloor anthems with lyrics that sound as if they were written as an afterthought. (I can only hope the band made a conscious decision to release a big, dumb dance album as a joke...but I doubt it.) The band submitted an industrial cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" here, but unlike their previous cover versions, it is entirely humorless....
OK, I do agree that "Don't Be Cruel" was a waste of vinyl; since I originally owned the cassette version of this album, I didn't have to listen to it at first. Anyway, here's my track by track thumbs up/down on the proceedings:
01. Baby Doll
Thumbs up to this Japanese hard synth.
02. Disco Dancer
Musically excellent, and for those who want a bit of perversity in their Devo lyrics, who else was singing about disco music in 1987?
03. Some Things Never Change
I prefer the cassette version, which includes a spoken interlude. This is one of my favorite songs on the album.
04. Plain Truth
Thumbs down.
05. Happy Guy
This song could easily have fit on one of the later Warners albums, but it's more fun than some of the stuff on those albums.
06. Don't Be Cruel
This ain't no Satisfaction, this ain't no Secret Agent Man.
07. The Shadow
This song shows how "Total Devo" contrasts with, say, "Freedom of Choice," which mostly had a light touch to the instrumental parts. "The Shadow," and several of the other songs on the "Total Devo" album, are very heavy dance numbers. Kewl, I say.
08. I'd Cry If You Died
Thumbs down.
09. Agitated
10. Man Turned Inside Out
11. Sexi Luv
A three song masterpiece, in which the first two explore the usual Devo themes, and the third is their version of a Love Generation song ("Remember love...it's all around you"). Groovy.
12. Blow Up
A spoken word version of "Going Under." If Butt-Head ever abandons his "Hey baby" line, he can quote from this song instead.
Comments