The Styrous® Viewfinder: Devo

Showing posts with label Devo. Show all posts

August 28, 2025

20,000 vinyl LPs 390: Devo ~ Are We Not Men?

Devo - 1978

In 1977 five misfits from Ohio with a love of performance art, took the Mick Jagger classic (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction and mutated it beyond recognition.

Devo - 1977, NY City
photo by Ebet Roberts

On August 28, 1978, Devo released their first album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, a venture that fused the electronic music of the time with punk.

Devo ~ Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

vinyl LP front cover

cover design by John Cabalka & Erik Munsön

photo of album cover by Styrous®

I remember seeing the video for Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! on MTV in the early 80's. At that time the channel broadcast 24 hours a day and they were desperate for videos to play and they played ANYthing! I saw the most amazing things before they eventually played only music videos.

Recommendations from David Bowie and Iggy Pop enabled the group to secure a recording contract with Warner Bros. The album was produced by Brian Eno and featured re-recordings of their previous singles Mongoloid and (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.

Devo ~ Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

vinyl LP back cover

cover design by John Cabalka & Erik Munsön

photo of album cover by Styrous®

The album was produced by Brian Eno at the Conny Plank studio in Cologne, Germany and the Different Fur Studios located in the Mission District area of San Francisco, California, with Patrick Gleeson.

Devo ~ Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

vinyl LP back cover detail

cover design by John Cabalka & Erik Munsön

detail photo by Styrous®

Devo ~ Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

vinyl LP back cover detail

cover design by John Cabalka & Erik Munsön

detail photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Uncontrollable Urge - 3:08
A2 - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards* - 2:38
A3 - Praying Hands - 2:47
A4 - Space Junk - 2:13
A5 - Mongoloid - 3:42
A6 - Jocko Homo - 3:38

Side 2:

B1 - Too Much Paranoias - 1:56
B2 - Gut Feeling / (Slap Your Mammy) - 4:54
B3 - Come Back Jonee - 3:46
B4 - Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin') - 2:37
B5 - Shrivel-Up - 3:05

Companies, etc.

Copyright © – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Recorded At – Conny's Studio
Mixed At – Conny's Studio
Recorded At – Different Fur Studios
Published By – Devo Music
Published By – Virgin Music Ltd.
Published By – Immediate Music Inc.
Pressed By – KM Records Inc.

Credits:

Design [Graphic Supervision] – John Cabalka
Design [Package Production Design] – Erik Munsön
Engineer – Patrick Gleeson (tracks: B3, B5)
Engineer [Mix] – Conrad Planck*
Graphics [Concept And Execution] – Devo Inc.*
Performer – Alan*, Bob1*, Jerry*, Mark*, Bob2*
Photography By – Bobbi Watson*
Producer – Brian Eno
Written-By – Bob Mothersbaugh (tracks: B2 [Gut Feeling], B4, B5), Gary Jackett (tracks: B4), Gerald V. Casale (tracks: A3 to A5, B2 [Slap Your Mammy], B3 to B5), Mark Mothersbaugh (tracks: A1, A3, A4, A6 to B2 [Gut Feeling], B3 to B5)

Notes:

This version was pressed at KM Records Inc.. Grey WB labels, slight variation from other releases listed here (see photos).

Issued with printed inner sleeve containing lyrics, credits, info and photos.

Runouts are etched.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Matrix / Runout (Run-out Side A): BSK-1-3239 KM1 Q: ARE WE NOT MEN?
Matrix / Runout (Run-out Side B): BSK-2-3239 KM1 A: WE ARE DEVO!
Rights Society: BMI

Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
Label: Warner Bros. Records – BSK 3239
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, KM Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave

Viewfinder links:

David Bowie

Devo

Brian Eno

Patrick Gleeson

Mick Jagger

Mark Mothersbaugh

Conny Plank

Iggy Pop

Net links:

altrockchick.com ~ A: We Are Devo! – Classic Music Review

Club Devo ~ Are We Not Men? We Are Devo! (re-mixes)

NPR ~ Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo

Proxy Music ~ Not Men: The story behind the devolved cover of Devo’s debut album

YouTube links:

Devo ~

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Mongoloid

David Bowie introduces Devo, (Max's Kansas City, NY City, 14 November '77)

Styrous® ~ Thursday, August 28, 2025

20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
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July 23, 2024

Danceteria & Madonna ~ 1983

In 1983 I was in New York for my first time after a diving shoot with Pink Floyd in the Caribbean (link below). My friend Yuval took me around to some of the hot disco spots, the only one I remember is the Danceteria. It was jammed & noisy, of course, & incredibly exciting.

Danceteria was a nightclub that operated in New York City from 1979 until 1986. The club was located in various locations over the years, a total of three in New York City and four in the Hamptons. The most famous location, opened in February 1982, was the second location, a four-floor venue at 30 West 21st Street in Manhattan that served as the location for the disco scene in the film Desperately Seeking Susan.

In 1982, John Argento hired Jim Fouratt and Rudolf Piper to promote and book the talent which became the 21st Street Danceteria. The club operated out of the first three floors in an old industrial 12-story building. (Later the 4th floor was used as Congo Bill, and the abandoned 5th floor was once used as a performance space by Karen Finley.) The roof was also open in the warmer months with frequent barbecues.

Danceteria roof top - 1983
photo by Robert Carrithers

It was an incubator for era-defining figures such as Madonna, Devo, B-52's, the Beastie Boys, and pop artist Keith Haring. There was hedonism, of course — at one point, employees had to rig special sheets of lucite to keep cocaine out of the AV equipment. New York's Daily News called the atmosphere "hard-edged, smoky, and menacing — in a cartoon sort of way." The club was, according to that outlet, "a punk version of Disneyland."

Adam Horovitz described the second Danceteria as "the closest thing we had in Manhattan to an amusement park."

Danceteria Opening poster - 1982

Horovitz gave a detailed account of the club's layout: First there was the basement, where "weird stuff would go on" and the goth crowd tended to congregate, especially after Danceteria's management painted it black and started hosting "BatCave" goth nights there in 1983. The main floor hosted live bands, while now-legendary DJ Mark Kamins held court on the dance floor one flight up. The third level was devoted to a first-of-its-kind experimental video lounge where video artists Kit Fitzgerald and John Sanborn curated film and video pieces by David Lynch, Kenneth Anger, and groundbreaking video artist Nam June Paik. The vibe changed again on the fourth floor, which was devoted to a swanky, members-only club called Congo Bill, which mixed midcentury music with retrofuturistic décor. Finally, there was the rooftop, which, when the weather allowed, became an open-air party and dance space known as "Wuthering Heights."

The patrons often found themselves dancing to punk one minute and funk the next. While Danceteria was first and foremost a music club, music was far from the only artform that awaited club-goers on any given floor of the multilevel space. There was also a strong emphasis on visual arts, and on any given night you might've seen the work of some of the New York art scene's most vibrant creators. Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat were recruited to paint murals on the walls (though Basquiat was promptly fired by club co-founder Rudolph Piper, who claimed his work on the job was "f****** terrible.") The venue regularly hosted fashion shows and exhibitions showcasing a wide range of visual and performance art, including paintings, photography, "light sculptures" projected from the rooftop, and more. Filmmakers such as Jim Jarmusch screened their work there, and up in the third-level video lounge, you might have caught early creations by video art pioneer Nam June PAIK (백남준).

Nam June PAIK (백남준)
photo: Guggenheim Museum

According to Stacy Gueraseva's 2011 book "Def Jam, Inc.," Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons, who frequented the venue, would sometimes tip the bartenders with vials of cocaine. When those clubs wound down for the night, their patrons made their way to Danceteria, where the party was just getting started. "The five floors of this supermarket of style were where gays, straights, artists, junkies, goths, skinheads, lost uptowners, sexy Jersey chicks, pinheads, Studio 54 leftovers, B&Ts ['bridge-and-tunnels,' or people from New York City's outer boroughs or suburbs], weirdos from outer space, drag queens, S&M freaks, hookers, performers of all sorts, East Villagers galore, not to mention musicians of all kinds, got together," Danceteria co-founder Rudolph Piper told Time Out in 2014.

Rudolph Piper (left)

photo by Robert Carrithers

In 1982, Michigan-to-New York City transplant Madonna Ciccone was trying everything she could think of to break out of the New York club scene and into the mainstream spotlight. She had gigged around town in a couple of bands, drumming and singing for the Breakfast Club before fronting Emmy and the Emmys, but nothing stuck. She was reportedly so ambitious and competitive that some of her fellow club denizens held her at arm's length, but she found a willing partner — musically, professionally, and romantically — in music producer and Danceteria DJ Mark Kamins. After the two started dating, Madonna convinced Kamins to play a demo of her first solo single, "Everybody," at Danceteria. The crowd responded fairly well, and Kamins, who was also working for Island Records at the time, took it to label honcho Chris Blackwell. Blackwell was unimpressed, so Kamins' next stop in his Madonna promo tour was Seymour Stein of Sire Records. According to an interview with Kamins conducted by author and historian Tim Lawrence, Stein didn't like Madonna's music either, but he trusted Kamins and signed her anyway. She made her debut at Danceteria on December 16, 1982, for an audience of 300. I missed her debut by less than a month; I was there in January of 1983.

On July 23, 1993, A gunman fired into the Danceteria club. Eric Tallman (Erotic Exotic) was injured when the bullet grazed his skull. Fortunately, I missed that by ten years.

Viewfinder links:

B-52's

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Beastie Boys

Devo

Keith Haring

David Lynch ~ Eraserhead

Madonna

Music & Mayhem

Nam June Paik

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd ~ Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Net links:

Grunge ~ What New York's Danceteria Was Really Like

Insomniac ~ New York Nightlife Gone: Danceteria ’82-’86

Trey Speegle ~ Danceteria

YouTube links:

Robert Carrithers ~ Completed Circles

CBS News ~ Keith Haring was here

Danceteria television commercial 1984

Desperately Seeking Susan ~ disco scene

Madonna Everybody live at Danceteria, NYC, 1982

New York Dance Stand 1983 Danceteria episode (28 mins., 41 secs.)

Rare 1980s New York Footage of Danceteria Club

"I was there seven nights a week, week after week,”

“I never thought it would end.

It wasn’t just a club; it was a lifestyle.”

~ Rudolf Piper

Styrous® ~ Friday, May 28, 2021

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On This Day in Music

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December 17, 2023

Skatt Brothers articles/mentions

Skatt Brothers

date & photographer unknown

Disco Daze

Don't Be Cruel (Disco Daze 4)

mentions:

Otis Blackwell

Sean Delaney

Disco Daze articles

Devo

Giorgio Moroder

Santa Esmeralda

Village People

Viewfinder 'desert island' vinyl LP list

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Music People

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December 17, 2021

Britney Spears articles/mentions

mentions:

Devo ~ (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

The Residents ~ (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Britney Spears

date & photographer unknown

Music People

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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November 18, 2021

Bruce Conner ~ photographer & so much more

Bruce Conner
date & photographer unknown

Bruce Conner was an American artist who was born in McPherson, Kansas, on November 18, 1933; he worked with assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography. I could have put him in any of those categories but it is his photography that I love, so, here he is.

In 1959, Conner founded what he called the Rat Bastard Protective Association. Its members included Jay DeFeo, Michael McClure (with whom Conner attended school in Wichita), Manuel Neri, Joan Brown, Wally Hedrick, Wallace Berman, Jess Collins, Carlos Villa and George Herms. Conner coined the name as a play on 'Scavengers Protective Society'.

He and his wife were living in Massachusetts in 1963, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Conner filmed the television coverage of the event and edited and re-edited the footage with stock footage into another meditation on violence which he titled Report. The film was issued several times as it was re-edited.

He was an active force in the San Francisco counterculture of the mid-1960s as a collaborator in light shows at the legendary Family Dog at the Avalon Ballroom. He also made a number of short films in the mid-1960s in addition to Report and Vivian. These include Ten Second Film (1965), an advertisement for the New York Film Festival that was rejected as being "too fast;" Breakaway (1966), featuring music sung by and danced to by Toni Basil . . .

Bruce Conner ~ Breakaway - 1966
Toni Basil film still

. . . The White Rose (1967), documenting the removal of the magnum opus by fellow artist Jay DeFeo from her San Francisco apartment, with Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis as the soundtrack; and Looking for Mushrooms (1967), a three-minute color wild ride with Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles as the soundtrack. (In 1996 he created a longer version of the film, setting it to music by Terry Riley).

Conner was among the first to use pop music for film soundtracks. His films are now considered to be the precursors of the music video genre. They have inspired other filmmakers, such as Conner's friend Dennis Hopper, who said, “Bruce’s movies changed my entire concept of editing. In fact, much of the editing of Easy Rider came directly from watching Bruce’s films." In 1966, Hopper invited Conner to the location shoot for Cool Hand Luke which starred Paul Newman; the artist shot the proceedings in 8mm, revisiting this footage in 2004 to create his film Luke.

Conner photographed many of the punk bands in San Francisco. During the 1970s he focused on drawing and photography, including many photos of the late 1970s West Coast punk rock scene. His 1978 film used Mongoloid by Devo as a soundtrack.

The Bruce Conner papers are held by the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. Conner's 1976 film short, Crossroads, was preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in conjunction with the Pacific Film Archive, in 1995. The film features 37 minutes of extreme slow-motion replays of the July 25, 1946, Operation Crossroads Baker underwater nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. The event was captured for research purposes by five hundred cameras stationed on unmanned planes, high-altitude aircraft, boats near the blast, and from more distant points on land around the Atoll. The location was selected in part because the network of islands formed an almost complete ellipse around the detonation site, allowing for a comprehensive documentation of the event from numerous angles.

Bikini nuclear blast - July 25, 1946
photographer unknown

The documentary film featured music by electronic artist Patrick Gleeson and minimalist composer, Terry Riley.

Bruce Conner had twice announced his own death as a conceptual art event or prank; he died on Monday, July 7, 2008, of natural causes, the last survivor of the Bay Area Beat era art scene.

From 2016 to 2017, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art featured an exhibition of Conner's multimedia work entitled, It's All True, which was derived from a letter that the Conner wrote to his friend, collaborator and art collector, Paula Kirkeby, in 2000, listing the many ways he had been characterized in the media (link below).

Viewfinder links:

Toni Basil

all things Beatles

Bruce Conner

Miles Davis

Jay DeFeo

Devo

Patrick Gleeson

Dennis Hopper

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Michael McClure

Terry Riley