''DEV-O Live'' is a live EP (and, later, live album) by American new wave band

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau ...

. It was recorded during the

Freedom of Choice Freedom of choice describes an individual's opportunity and autonomy to perform an action selected from at least two available options, unconstrained by external parties. In politics In the abortion debate, for example, the term "freedom of c ...

tour on August 16, 1980 at the Fox Warfield Theatre in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Background

''DEV-O Live'' stems from a 16-track promotional album called ''Devo Live: Warner Bros. Music Show'', recorded for broadcast on the

King Biscuit Flower Hour The ''King Biscuit Flower Hour'' was an American syndicated radio show presented by the D.I.R. Radio Network that featured concert performances by various rock music recording artists. History The program was broadcast on Sunday nights from 197 ...

. The broadcast was so popular that four songs ("Freedom of Choice Theme Song", "Whip It", "

Be Stiff "Be Stiff" is the third single by American new wave band Devo, released in 1978 by Stiff Records. The song was taken from the sessions for '' Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!'' (1978), produced by Brian Eno. Guitarist Bob Lewis wrote the music ...

" and "Gates of Steel") were released as a promotional EP in November 1980, titled ''DEV-O Live'', followed by the more widely available EP of the same name that added two more tracks ("Girl U Want" and "Planet Earth"). In 1999, Rhino Handmade re-released ''DEV-O Live'' on CD and included both the wide release EP version and the original promotional album in its entirety. Additionally, side breaks and the announcer's voice from the show were edited out. The Rhino edition was released in a plastic sleeve with a cover insert. It was later reissued in the 2008 Japanese CD

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

'' This Is the Devo Box''. On November 29, 2019, Rhino issued an LP of the 16-track version as a Black Friday limited edition for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

, under the title ''Devo Live!''. Four additional songs—"Pink Pussycat" (played after " Secret Agent Man"), " Satisfaction" (played after "Blockhead"), "

" and " Jocko Homo" (both played after "Gates of Steel")—appear on audience recordings of the show.

Reception

Devo were given consistent radio support by Sydney-based noncommercial rock station

2JJ Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broadc ...

, one of the first rock stations outside America to play their recordings. This paid off, as in August 1981, they found commercial success in Australia when the EP spent three weeks at the top of the Australian singles charts. Later in the year, they travelled to Australia and appeared on the TV show ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

''.

Track listing

All songs by

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...

and

Gerald V. Casale Gerald Vincent "Jerry" Casale ( ) ( ''né'' Pizzute; born July 28, 1948) is an American musician. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, co-lead vocalist, and bass player of the new wave band Devo, which released a top 20 hit in ...

, unless otherwise indicated.

1981 EP

;Side one #"Freedom of Choice Theme Song" – 2:44 #" Whip It" – 2:42 #" Girl U Want" – 2:45 ;Side two #"Gates of Steel" (Casale, Mothersbaugh, Deborah Smith, Susan Schmidt) – 3:16 #"

" (Casale, Bob Lewis) – 2:49 #"Planet Earth" (Casale) – 2:31

1999 CD reissue

;Original EP #"Freedom of Choice Theme Song" – 2:46 #"Whip It" – 2:41 #"Girl U Want" – 2:56 #"Gates of Steel" (Casale, Mothersbaugh, Schmidt, Smith) – 3:17 #"Be Stiff" (Casale, Lewis) – 2:50 #"Planet Earth" (Casale) – 2:32 ;Promo LP #

"Freedom of Choice Theme Song" – 2:46 #"Whip It" – 2:41 #"Snowball" – 2:42 #"It's Not Right" (Mothersbaugh) – 2:20 #"Girl U Want" – 2:56 #"Planet Earth" (Casale) – 2:32 #"S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)" (Mothersbaugh) – 4:06 #" Secret Agent Man" (

Steve Barri Steve Barri (born Steven Barry Lipkin in Brooklyn, New York on February 23, 1942) is an American songwriter and record producer. Career Early in his career, Barri was a staff writer with Dunhill Records. He produced such huge hits as "Dizzy" b ...

P. F. Sloan Philip Gary "Flip" Sloan (born Philip Gary Schlein; September 18, 1945 – November 15, 2015), known professionally as P. F. Sloan, was an American singer and songwriter. During the mid-1960s, he wrote, performed, and produced many ''Billboar ...

) – 3:17 #"Blockhead" (Mothersbaugh,

Bob Mothersbaugh Robert Leroy Mothersbaugh, Jr. (; born August 11, 1952), or by his stage name "Bob 1", is an American songwriter, composer, musician and singer. Mothersbaugh's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as lead ...

) – 3:25 #"Uncontrollable Urge" (Mothersbaugh) – 3:08 #"

Mongoloid Mongoloid () is an obsolete racial grouping of various peoples indigenous to large parts of Asia, the Americas, and some regions in Europe and Oceania. The term is derived from a now-disproven theory of biological race. In the past, other terms ...

" (Casale) – 2:50 #"Be Stiff" (Casale, Lewis) – 2:50 #"Gates of Steel" (Casale, Mothersbaugh, Schmidt, Smith) – 3:17 #"Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA" (Casale/Casale, Mothersbaugh) – 4:08 #"Gut Feeling/(Slap Your Mammy)" (Mothersbaugh, Mothersbaugh/Casale) – 4:12 #"Come Back Jonee" – 3:19

Personnel

;Devo *

– guitar, keyboards, vocals *

– bass guitar, keyboards, vocals *

Bob Casale Robert Edward Casale Jr. (born Robert Edward Pizzute Jr.; July 14, 1952 – February 17, 2014), or "Bob 2", was an American musician, composer and record producer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as the keyboardist and rhythm guitari ...

– guitar, keyboards, vocals *

– guitar, vocals * Alan Myers – drums ;Technical *Devo – producer, mixing *Biff Dawes – live engineer *Robert Kaminsky – live producer *Ken Perry – mastering *Lisa Barillier – front cover photography *David Peters – back cover photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales

References

External links

Devo Live Guide
– Comprehensive guide to Devo's live performances. {{Authority control Devo live albums 1981 live albums 1981 EPs 1999 live albums Live EPs Warner Records live albums Warner Records EPs