"The biggest general misconception about Devo," said Nagy in a recent email conversation, "is that they are a one-hit wonder, 'those guys with the funny hats who sang (Freedom of Choice's breakout hit) 'Whip It.'" It was in part to correct that misperception that Nagy, currently working for Fast Company but with past editing stints at Billboard and Rolling Stone, wrote the book, but as she notes, that song and album was her own gateway drug:
"I'm a child of the '80s and Devo have been part of my cultural DNA as long as I can remember. I think my first consciousness was the song 'Jocko Homo,' from their 1978 debut Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, probably because they say and spell their band name throughout the song, and because it was so odd and interesting and unlike anything else. But I think my real fandom, like so many people's, which is why I wrote this book, came with the breakout of 'Whip It' and Freedom of Choice."
Some 33 ⅓ texts are reflections on albums and contextual studies, but Nagy took the route of fellow series writers like Drew Daniel and Mike McGonigal by going in deep with new interviews with the band, including main figures Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh, a working relationship established following a series of interviews she'd done with them in 2010 when their Something for Everybody album was released. This in depth research not only resulted in the first book on the band they've given their own endorsement to, it also produced, as Nagy noted, more than a few surprises for her in turn.
"A big reason Freedom of Choice did so well commercially," noted Nagy as an example, "was that it actually came from a very pure shared vision among the band members and producer Robert Margouleff — everyone agreed it was the high point of Devo, that the album was incredible fun to make, that they all liked all the music, and that translated to widespread accessibility. Often when you think of a band's most popular songs or albums, especially a band that came from the fringe art underground, there's a sense that someone sold out, that commercially minded label forces had too much influence, etc. But that was not the case here."
And if the misperception is that Devo are just guys with funny hats, what's the deeper meaning at work? Nagy, who names the album's "Planet Earth" as a hidden favorite ("a very poignant song about figuring out one's place on this doomed dirtball, set to deceptively upbeat music"), sums it up in this fashion:
"Their music, philosophy, videos, and performance style have influenced two generations of musicians and even comedians (Fred Armisen wrote the foreword to the book, and my second book event is a comedy show in NYC). An incredible army of hardcore "Devotees" have followed them for decades, and include countless artists like Henry Rollins, Eddie Vedder, and many current artists who continue to cover their songs and cite them as a huge inspiration. Their artistic and political motivations are actually very serious and important, and for people who understand those, they are enormously significant beyond their radio hit."
415-387-2272
Comments are closed.
