Ken Scott - Devo - Duty Now For The Future

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Buzzcat, Jun 26, 2007.

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  1. Buzzcat

    Buzzcat Bankrupt Radio Lifer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madtown, WI
    Gotta admit, I've never heard Total Devo. After Shout, well, setting aside that I only liked the Hendrix cover on it, my musical tastes changed. Um, it was then that I got turned onto Zappa and went on a berzerker.
     
  2. Buzzcat

    Buzzcat Bankrupt Radio Lifer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madtown, WI
    Do you have a turntable? I can't speak for any of the CD versions being I've never heard any nor own any, but I can say that the original WB vinyl rocks my aural world.
     
  3. I liked this album so much when it came out I tried the UK pressing and I could hear a difference for the better even though I had no clue about audiophile stuff back then. Stupid me, I traded that album for store credit a few years after getting it:realmad:
     
  4. Beatledave

    Beatledave New Member

    Location:
    Bakersfield,Ca.
    Duty was always one of my favorite Devo albums. I remember when I bought it none of my friends liked it.(Most liked the 1st one).
    Love all songs except except "S.I.B."
    Great production. Great Drumming. Very innovative at the time. Well..Devo WAS ORIGINAL!
    Underrated overall.
    I do like "Shout!":D
     
  5. surfingelectrode

    surfingelectrode Active Member

    Location:
    Lutz, FL
    I don't believe that DEVO ever made a truly bad album.

    Shout had some decent tracks... Shout, The 4th Dimension, Here To Go, and R U Experienced? are all good. Wasn't this supposed to be the soundtrack to a TV movie that DEVO wanted to make or something?

    Total DEVO is definitely their worst, but Baby Doll, Disco Dancer and Some Things Never Change are all pretty good.

    Q/A, Freedom of Choice, New Traditionalists and Oh, No! It's DEVO are all consistently good throughout.
     
  6. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I saw them play at a club in Philly in the early 90s near UPenn. It was a lot of fun. They were very, very good.
     
  7. jsayers

    jsayers Just Drifting....

    Location:
    Horse Shoe, NC
     
  8. The Keymaster

    The Keymaster Forum Resident

    Location:
    So Cal, USA
    Have you heard the Infinite Zero discs?
     
  9. The Keymaster

    The Keymaster Forum Resident

    Location:
    So Cal, USA
    Well...the only one I'd consider poor is "Total Devo."

    Those are the three tracks I'd peg as well. :righton:
     
  10. KeninDC

    KeninDC Hazy Cosmic Jive

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    I did just that. I had not played the LP since college in the 80s and it sounded quite good. I think I will give it a bath this weekend and search for the rest of the cover...
     
  11. Buzzcat

    Buzzcat Bankrupt Radio Lifer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madtown, WI

    Hahahahahaaaaaa!
     
  12. dougotte

    dougotte Petty, Annoying Dilettante

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    During college, when Duty Now was new, a housemate and I participated in a college performance of a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. There was a big party backstage afterward. I went home and returned with a cassette of Duty Now. During SIB, people (these were drama folks & music majors) were doing all kinds of spontaneous, spastic dancing. Imagine about 30 people squirming on the floor, hopping around, etc. It got more intense as the song grew in intensity. I'm sure most of them were unfamiliar w/ Devo. It was a delicious experience that I remember every time I listen to SIB.

    Doug
     
  13. For all of you who have seen Devo only in the 90's and later. How ever good you think they were, what you saw was a shadow of what they were like in the late 70's- early 80's. IMO there peak was the Duty Now and Fredom Of Choice tours. Truly mind blowing!
     
  14. Surfin Jesus

    Surfin Jesus New Member

    Location:
    NYC USA
    would you recommend the live 1980 dvd?
     
  15. Buzzcat

    Buzzcat Bankrupt Radio Lifer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madtown, WI
    I haven't seen the Live 1980 dvd but will still recommend it. They were awesome back then.

    I had to do a search to be sure I didn't tell this story before. Couldn't find it so here goes...

    As I said earlier I saw Devo on the Oh No! tour. They came out in the black and white collar spud suits first. Played pretty much the entire Oh No! album in front of the stage curtain. Then, left. A number of minutes went by, the curtains opened and there they were in the Freedom Of Choice attire. Energy Domes on and all. They played their nuts off. Seeing Alan play those songs on the drums live blew my gourd.
    Well, there they were ripping the S**T out of Smart Bomb/Mr. DNA and when they got into the vamp part when Mr. DNA starts, Mark Mothersbaugh disappears. For a long time. Well, I was standing in front of my seat which luckily was located just to the right of the sound console in the middle of the theater. The edge of the balcony was right over my head. As we're wondering where Mark went, BAM!, a fat rope drops right next to me and here comes Mark, down the rope. He hit the ground, turned to me, looked me right in the eyes, cocked his head to the right a bit and said, "Howya doin'?" Then he ran up to the front of the stage which was packed with people, dove into the air above them and let them carry him over their heads back onto the stage.

    I was in heaven for weeks after that show. One of the best concerts I've ever seen.
     
  16. RickA

    RickA Love you forever Luke, we will be together again

    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Yes, the 1980 DVD is a fantastic performance. High energy throughout. :righton:

    Rick A.
     
  17. Buzzcat

    Buzzcat Bankrupt Radio Lifer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madtown, WI
    I'll have to look into getting that. I know I'd really dig it.
     
  18. The Keymaster

    The Keymaster Forum Resident

    Location:
    So Cal, USA
    "Live 1980" is quite good, although you will have to get used to the somewhat poor video (and even audio) quality. It basically looks like a public access special, which is essentially what it is.

    It bugged me the first time I started watching it, but I got used to it after a few songs.

    One caveat: it's on DualDisc.

    Rhino Handmade has a great limited edition CD from that same tour: "Dev-o Live." It's an expanded version of the EP released in 1980 that includes the full concert (except for one missing track, "Pink Pussycat"). The sound quality is excellent.
     
  19. The Keymaster

    The Keymaster Forum Resident

    Location:
    So Cal, USA
    I have a CD of a show from November of 1978 that sounds like it may be a soundboard recording. The quality is excellent and the show is great. It has the best version of "Uncontrollable Urge" I've ever heard.

    I've really enjoyed the five times I have seen them since 1999. The Canyon Club show last year almost felt like an old punk show...especially with the rowdy audience.
     
  20. Buzzcat

    Buzzcat Bankrupt Radio Lifer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madtown, WI
    Pardon my naivette, but is a DualDisc a dvd that has video on both sides or is it dvd on one side and cd on the other? I don't believe I've ever actually seen or used one of those. And, apparently since you preceded the word DualDisc with a caveat, they're not very desirable?
     
    mikmcmee likes this.
  21. joelee

    joelee Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Houston
    I saw them do the same thing in Houston at Cullen Auditorium. He shimmied down the rope to a frenzied crowd who carried him over their heads all the way to the stage. He was hitting them with his microphone all the way.
    The crowd got so wild that security had to stop the show and tell everyone to get into their seats before the show would start. Everyone got in their seats (took about 10 minutes), the lights went down and out come Devo. As soon as they got started again they encouraged everyone back on their feet and rush the stage. Immediately when the audience had gotten up the house lights came on and police escorted the band off the stage. Two of the members (I believe, Mark M and Gerry C) were arrested for inciting a riot.

    I saw them last fall and Gerry said they haven't played in Houston since 1982 when they were arrested. The show last fall was also fantastic!
     
  22. Buzzcat

    Buzzcat Bankrupt Radio Lifer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madtown, WI
    Wow. I never heard about that one. Neat.
     
  23. Ken Scott

    Ken Scott Recording Legend

    Why odd pray tell me ?

    I'm sorry to have to tell you, but Devo were quite professional in the studio. It was work, enjoyable work, but work. There was just once, when the studio owner was showing a future client around Mark turned into his stage persona, was running around like a frigging lunatic, until the client left and then it was back to work. Always the performer.

    If , note IF, I remember correctly we used 3 different kits on that album. We wanted to try and get different sounds for each track. Certainly most of the time it would have been my usual setup, U67's or 87's on toms, RE20 on bass drum, KM54 or KM56 on snare and the overheads I have no idea. They've changed consistently over the years. Oh yes there would also have been a couple of distant mics, probably C12a's, though not 100% sure.

    The one non-standard thing, for me anyway, was the solo on Secret Agent Man (?). We overloaded mic amps and fed the signal through headphones which were taped to the mic.

    You're more than welcome. I loved every minute of it, except mixing "Swelling Itching Brain". Much as I enjoy that track, my brain was swollen and hurting by the end.

    Cheers
     
  24. CincyDave

    CincyDave New Member

    Dear God: Duty Now was a blistering, brilliant record--perfectly sandwiched by the from-left-field mind***** of the debut and the pounding, brutally beautiful Freedom of Choice. Yes, Ken Scott's production was phenomenal. The whole album is a kick in the teeth, and I can't even pick a highlight. (I need to, at some point, snag--in addition to the Booji Boy singles--all that early Virgin stuff, BTW).

    Found a clean copy in Houston a while back for a scant $11. Cool. Now, regards the IZ business, I thought that was just a Hank project that never got off the ground. Had no idea he'd ever gotten any done, much less seen any...

    Yes, oh yes. Before the admittedly baroque delivery on Freedom, there is still that last arty snarl, that last true, undiluted, yelping masterwork that is DNFTF...
     
  25. Buzzcat

    Buzzcat Bankrupt Radio Lifer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Madtown, WI
    (Odd it is that many of the albums I think are some of the best made were engineered and produced by Ken Scott. Or Not.)

    Mr. Scott asks, "Why odd pray tell me?"


    Just a bit of sarcasm, Ken. I now can tell almost immediately when I put on an unfamiliar album that it's your work. I recently got a copy of Gamma 1 on vinyl and right away I said to myself, That must be Ken Scott. Sho' nuff. Same thing with Dada's 1st.

    Thanks much for replying to my questions. I'll have to really listen to the Secret Agent Man solo, now that I know how it was done.
     
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