DEVO: Origins | Music 2009 | SXSW

Where did DEVO come from? How did they become 'lightning rods for hostility?' When did Bowie and Eno enter the picture? These questions and more are addressed in this video clip from the SXSW Interview with Nic Harcourt. Tales of their early years in Ohio and California provide a primer in the theory and practice of devolution.

[@64mung]

Glad to see these guys are still around!! DEVO fan since 1978. 64m >:-)

[@SuperDave0913]

Rock In Peace Bob Casale guitar legend I don't care what anyone thinks !

[@TBarneck]

I first saw you guys New Years Eve 1979 in Long Beach, CA .Wow! What a show! Thanks for turning music a different direction! When school started a few days later, the 5 or 6 of us from my school wore our DEVO t-shirts and the jocks beat the crap out of us. It just made us wear them more, made me see the world in a better way! ART,MUSIC, LIFE! THANKS!

[@carmensandiego7749]

That same New Year's Eve night I was at Perkins Palace in Pasadena watching Danny Elfman's Oingo Boingo. 😂. Also a great show.

[@ALong-fo5so]

I never took them seriously until recently. Only now Ive realised what they have contributed to music history. And I’ve been watching their live acts. Incredibly tight. Just stunning. I am a huge fan now.

[@FaxanaduJohn]

I have so much love for this band- they're in my top couple of bands ever. Great to see them all together. Duty Now For The Future.

[@bigfakenetwork]

So great to hear about the origins. They're so articulate and concise. I saw Devo perform several years back in New York City... They walked out on stage and the audience kind of held its collective breath, because they were looking a bit old and frumpy (not that I don't, mind you), and they then proceeded to put on one of the best concerts I've *ever* seen, bar none. Their drummer at the time was so devoted that he seriously injured his hand during the show. (Toward the end he was soaking his hand in a glass of ice water between songs; hope he bounced back completely). It was just a knockout. I was listening to their great first album this morning, got curious, and thus was very glad to stumble upon this post. Thanks a million.

[@dickbillhillRWH]

I absolutely love you guys you made my life where it is I got into punk rock hung out a Gilman Street for a long time but you guys my heroes

[@scottbrady7499]

the back of "Q: are we not men?, says- priduced by Brian Eno. but the Robert Fripp, and David Bowie connection had never occurred me. now it seems so obvious. an early female companion: a girl named Nina, whipped an LP of devo out on me after a date where she took me to see devo at a club on Broadway S.F. Mabuhay Gardens. i was underage. but, i knew that i was more of a devo aficianado than her. not so. a few black beauties and gimlets later, i realized there was more! de-evolution was a thing. an unavoidable state of mind!

[@urrrccckostan]

"here's one by Foghat!"

[@theneonllama416]

This is such an interesting origin of a band. I love it.

[@retromaster2000s]

Jerry made a mistake that was Charles Laughton & Bela Lugosi not Lon Chaney Jr in Island Of Lost Souls released in 1933.

[@eksortso]

@americandevo I love these guys, they really got me into music. They do have massive egos, too. You live and die by those things, but nothing in the USA can kill you or keep you alive for long... yet. Those egos-- Jerry's, to keep the project rolling, and Mark's, to keep it from rolling over-- help make things happen. Everybody needs that. I want to take a lead on something, charge ahead, and risk being called an asshole. I don't wanna be a team player only to discover I can't play at all.

[@SXSW]

'ShameONYOU' has been blocked. We apologize for not doing it sooner and allowing this lower life form to display his idiocracy. We hope he has not made anyone lose their hope and faith in humanity. viva SXSW!

[@TheGreatAlan75]

Devo forever

[@IcouldBNE1]

Interesting, but aren't the two Bobs allowed to say anything?

[@williamhopkins4724]

“Notice that they’re dressed like MATT THE DEATH STAR RADAR TECHNICIAN (way before the Adam Driver skit) ?”

[@pillettadoinswartsh4974]

And Paul Thomas Anderson was Ghoulardi's son.

[@heavydutydudes]

REAL TALK SO SO WHAT WANA FIGHT ABOUT IT

[@badmonkey2222]

That not my girl moment was fucking epic!!!🤓🤓

[@plasticsoul9051]

who is this "Gulardi" that they mention? I've been trying to google search but have come up with nothing. am I spelling it incorrectly? I'm uber curious now!

[@toxicgraphix]

i know your post is 6 years old. Guoulardi was a late night hosts of D movie horror films, a Predecessor to shows like Elvira. "Ernie" Anderson later went on to be the voice of CBS and was on David Letterman a few times. his show started at midnight, and was full of non-PC comments, so most parents forbid you to watch it, well forbid a kid to watch something and they will find a way....

[@Devo13]

Ghoulardi was Ernie Anderson here in nearby Cleveland,OH area. There's actually a convention based around him called GhoulardiFest. All Ohioans seem to have many great/fond memories of horror hosts from the days of being Monsterkids. Fritz The Nite Owl. Superhost. Ghoulardi. Big Chuck and Lil' John. The Ghoul. Moana. So many horror hosts I grew up on from the 70s-80s. It was such a great time. Nothing like being curled up on the couch with blankets on a cold winter night with the lights out and some pizza and popcorn watching monster movies all night. It'll never be that great and innocent a time again.

[@fredannett]

@Plasticsoul Its Ghoulardi. Google him. Lots of info

[@mobius273]

Ah yes, shepard fairly, famous for his "obley" posters

[@illeagleproducionz8116]

⚒️⚒️⚒️🦾🦾🦾⚔️⚔️⚔️

[@pillettadoinswartsh4974]

DEVO has two Mothersbaughs, two Bob's, two Casales.....................but only one Josh.

[@jeffdawson2786]

Old TV nerd alert: Jerry means Bela Lugosi, not Lon Chaney (1932).

[@BOnEhEAdD]

Casale is kinda like Zappa = can speak very well and thinks that justifies interlopping and not letting other ppl speak

[@Module79L]

Who? Me?

[@ehcmier]

Or maybe you can't detect tongue-in-cheek role-playing. ;)

[@Module79L]

This 'ShameONYOU' Shane Lee person must have really evolved from little snails. I'd say it's all just wind and sails. And please, stop calling him mongoloid. Don't offend the persons who were born with Down's Syndrome.

[@americandevo]

Oh thank you, that was even better than expected. rotfl

[@americandevo]

Absolutely. Didn't your mother ever tell you that some people are "off limits" and should not be hassled? It's ok to ridicule idiots who think their Coach purse or jacked up 4x4 truck make them somebody, but the elderly, infirm, or mentally deficient can't help the way they are and do not choose their disfunction.