DEV-O Live
EP by
Devo
ReleasedMarch 25, 1981
RecordedAugust 16, 1980
VenueFox Warfield (San Francisco)
Genre
Length17:41 (EP version)
73:52 (CD version)
Label
ProducerDevo
Devo chronology
Freedom of Choice
(1980)		 DEV-O Live
(1981)		 New Traditionalists
(1981)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

DEV-O Live is a live EP (and, later, live album) by American new wave band Devo. It was recorded during the Freedom of Choice tour on August 16, 1980, at the Fox Warfield Theatre in San Francisco.[2]

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.[2] The broadcast was so popular that four songs ("Freedom of Choice Theme Song", "Whip It", "Be Stiff" 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").[2] 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.[2] Additionally, side breaks and the announcer's voice from the show were edited out.[2] The Rhino edition was released in a plastic sleeve with a cover insert. It was later reissued in the 2008 Japanese CD box set 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, under the title Devo Live!.[3]

Four additional songs—"Pink Pussycat" (played after "Secret Agent Man"), "Satisfaction" (played after "Blockhead"), "Freedom of Choice" and "Jocko Homo" (both played after "Gates of Steel")—appear on audience recordings of the show.[4]

Reception

Devo were given consistent radio support by Sydney-based noncommercial rock station 2JJ, 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.[5] Later in the year, they travelled to Australia and appeared on the TV show Countdown.

Track listing

All songs by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald V. Casale, unless otherwise indicated.

1981 EP

Side one
  1. "Freedom of Choice Theme Song" – 2:44
  2. "Whip It" – 2:42
  3. "Girl U Want" – 2:45
Side two
  1. "Gates of Steel" (Casale, Mothersbaugh, Deborah Smith, Susan Schmidt) – 3:16
  2. "Be Stiff" (Casale, Bob Lewis) – 2:49
  3. "Planet Earth" (Casale) – 2:31

1999 CD reissue

Original EP
  1. "Freedom of Choice Theme Song" – 2:46
  2. "Whip It" – 2:41
  3. "Girl U Want" – 2:56
  4. "Gates of Steel" (Casale, Mothersbaugh, Schmidt, Smith) – 3:17
  5. "Be Stiff" (Casale, Lewis) – 2:50
  6. "Planet Earth" (Casale) – 2:32
Promo LP
  1. "Freedom of Choice Theme Song" – 2:46
  2. "Whip It" – 2:41
  3. "Snowball" – 2:42
  4. "It's Not Right" (Mothersbaugh) – 2:20
  5. "Girl U Want" – 2:56
  6. "Planet Earth" (Casale) – 2:32
  7. "S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)" (Mothersbaugh) – 4:06
  8. "Secret Agent Man" (Steve Barri, P. F. Sloan) – 3:17
  9. "Blockhead" (Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh) – 3:25
  10. "Uncontrollable Urge" (Mothersbaugh) – 3:08
  11. "Mongoloid" (Casale) – 2:50
  12. "Be Stiff" (Casale, Lewis) – 2:50
  13. "Gates of Steel" (Casale, Mothersbaugh, Schmidt, Smith) – 3:17
  14. "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA" (Casale/Casale, Mothersbaugh) – 4:08
  15. "Gut Feeling/(Slap Your Mammy)" (Mothersbaugh, Mothersbaugh/Casale) – 4:12
  16. "Come Back Jonee" – 3:19

Personnel

Devo
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

Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6][7] 5

Sales

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia — 115,000[8]

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Devo (1999). DEV-O Live (CD liner notes). Los Angeles: Rhino Handmade. RHM2 7708.
  3. ↑ "Devo - Devo Live!". Record Store Day. 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  4. ↑ Ziegler, Mike. "DEVO Live Guide - 1980". Devo Live Guide. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  5. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 88. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 433. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ↑ "National Top 100 Singles for 1981". Kent Music Report. 4 January 1982. p. 7. Retrieved January 11, 2022 – via Imgur.
  8. ↑ "Major fight economics with quirky rock originals". Billboard. 12 June 1982. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
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