The Devo Doc

Netflix trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgV8X2x6xvE

This is utterly fantastic. On some level stupendous. This is not your average rock doc...you know, a linear retelling of the band's career, pure fact with a bit of rearview interpretation by those still alive. RATHER, this is all about the inspiration, this is all about the ARTISTRY!

And we haven't had that spirit here for a very long time.

If you're a baby boomer, you will remember. The inspiration of old films, from W.C. Fields to the Marx Brothers to "Inherit the Wind," which had a profound effect on Mark Mothersbaugh.

Who is inspired by a pamphlet given to him by a teacher which lays out so much of the Devo philosophy long before there even is a band.

You see Gerry Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh were art students.

You're laughed at if you study art today. Which is one reason our music is so vapid. It's paint by numbers, there's no THINKING involved. And Devo was all about thinking. The thinking came first, audience acceptance second. They were projecting their ethos into the atmosphere, and how people reacted was important. Then again, they believed eventually people would get it, instead we've truly devolved. When you see the images from the "Beautiful World" video you know we've truly lost the plot. Things are ugly, but if you say so you're the enemy. We're all supposed to be mindless winners, in love with society. But what if you look at the dirty underside?

People don't like it. Those in control. You've got to blame the game.

The essence of the music business is revealed when Mark asks the exec why if cassettes are cheaper to make and more profitable to the label that the band gets a lower royalty rate. The response is THAT'S THE WAY IT IS!

Do you accept that?

This film will demonstrate that while youngsters can sing and maybe even play, there's no artistry involved. As a matter of fact, Devo and this doc are the antithesis of today's music business. Where having a good voice is considered artistry.

Then again, maybe I'm just a smug baby boomer lifting the curtain on the warts of society.

Don't confuse me, or Devo, with the boomers in D.C. who won't let go. As a matter of fact, there's lot of anti-Reagan stuff in the flick. Devo are outsiders, like all great artists. They're reacting to what they see. They're not a part of it, they wouldn't deign to be a part of it!

How to explain...

You really can't.

It's a sensibility.

It's the opposite of going to Harvard and going to work in finance. It's about having an idea and living in squalor believing in the mission, not even knowing if the mission will pay off, only that you need to stay on the path.

These are weirdos. From back when being a weirdo was a badge of honor. When you knew you weren't cool and didn't pretend to be. When you laughed at the cheerleaders and football players, meatheads who'd drunk the kool-aid.

Art is about questioning precepts. Why is it that way? Should it be that way? How do I make people aware of the conundrum?

Of course you've got some music business lore in this film. Record labels, MTV...but they are subsidiary to the story. I'd like to say they were tools of Devo, but that's not an accurate description. They unknowingly exposed Devo and its message, unaware of the group's underlying beliefs, and when they'd had their fill, they abandoned the group.

Timing is everything. If it weren't for the Ramones and CBGB's and the new wave, Devo probably never would have broken through. For all I know, they were not the only band on this path. But they stuck with it, and making it is about hard work and luck, and then taking advantage of the opportunity.

Devo never completely sells out. They can see the cognitive dissonance of going on "Merv Griffin" and "American Bandstand," they stay true to their diffident personalities. Who's using who?

This is what it used to be like, this is what we're missing.

Of course Devo can't be replicated exactly today, for numerous reasons. Then again, the tools of creation and exhibition are cheap and available to all, so if you do have a message you can get the word out. Will it resonate and spread?

There was less competition back then, because fewer acts could get the record label push. Today you do it all yourself, but as referenced above, you can do this, with no interference.

But really this is not about the system, the music business, but the band and its vision.

Where does your inspiration come from? If you just want to be rich and famous, so be it, you're not going to change the world. You change the world by having a message and getting it out. And when it's not the mainstream message, you must be subversive.

How do you learn how to do this?

By paying attention to the words of Max Ernst. Seeing films that have more depth than superheroes on parade.

Just watch it. We'd be in a better place, music would be in a better place, if everybody in the food chain watched this film.

Can you question your preconceptions?

Can you speak truth to authority?

These were the values of the baby boomers, before they sold out when Reagan legitimized greed. But some stayed on course, true to their beliefs, like Devo.

I've never seen a rock doc like this before. This is a perennial, to be viewed by up and comers of all ages for all time.

I'm stunned that they laid it all out there and got it right.

Then again, to do this you must be in control and do it your way, not compromising for commerciality. Only then do you have a chance of truly resonating and changing the world.

Music did change the world.

Not anymore.

But once upon a time there was an energy, and Devo weren't the only ones, but they made it and never compromised and are still aware of what they did while having a sense of humor all the while.

WOW!


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