With the backing of David Bowie and Iggy Pop, which garnered them their original recording deal with Warner Bros. to the massive single, Whip It, Devo exploded on the 80's new wave scene, ushering in the era of synth pop. Among them were the likes of The Human League, Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, and to an extent, even Italian producer Giorgio Moroder.
The title, Oh, No! It's Devo, would come from word of mouth getting to the band that whenever they released something new, that was the response people often gave. As for the music itself on the album, this was conceived from the public's general consensus that the band were either fascists or clowns. As a result, when they set to the task of writing, they set out to answer the question, "what would a record sound like by fascist clowns?"
A unique aspect to the original vinyl pressings was the die-cut stand on the back of the jacket. Popping this out allowed the record to be displayed like a photograph in a frame. Schticks aside, the album didn't perform as well as its predecessors and would seemingly be the beginning of a steady decline for them.
The album would further come under scrutiny for the song, I Desire, for its lyrics taken directly from the letter John Hinkley Jr. sent to Jody Foster prior to his attempted assassination of Ronald Regan. Though the band obtained the approval from Foster to use the words, the FBI warned against doing so.
The opening track, Time Out For Fun, and the final, Deep Sleep, definitely feel like the groundwork for what Weird Al Yankovic's Dare To Be Stupid was based on. It kind of make me just want to listen to that.
It took the album about four tracks before things started to stand out for me, starting with Peek-A-Boo, and continuing through That's Good, Patterns, Big Mess, and Speed Racer. If you think the latter is about the cartoon, that wouldn't be the right assessment, but nonetheless, it's a very quirky tune.
Overall, it delivers the expected listening experience from a Devo album. New wave synth pop with lyrics that don't necessarily make much sense.
The band would tour extensively between 1982 and 1983 and even contributed two new songs to the soundtrack for the film, Doctor Detroit, the appropriately titled, Theme From Doctor Detroit, and Luv-Luv. This was followed by a music video for the theme song.
From there, they returned to the studio to record what would become 1984's Shout, their final record for Warner Bros. until 2010. It would also be their last with drummer Alan Myers. We'll pick up there tomorrow.
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