Devo 2.0 // Wtf?

[3-LockBox]

I've seen this commercial a few times now...and I'm thinking, how on earth do you let little girls single songs like Big Mess and Whip It? Hopefully, Mothersbaugh (or who ever else is responsible for this crap) has changed the lyrical content of their songs to make them more 'kid friendly'.

Gawd I hate those stupid Kidz Bop CDs and their associated commercials. My 12 year old boy was watching one these Kidz Bop commercials and turns to me and says, "Man those are so stupid. Am I supposed to want this just cuz there's kids singing...I can't even stand school plays". All I could say was "Me either, son...me either". Now I guess we can expect more of our classic (and not-so-classic) pop/rock acts to follow suit. I can't wait for pre-pubecsent dirls to sing all those old Madonna songs.

I know, its not like DEVO is this legendary band or anything, but I think Mothersbaugh has let his stint with "The Rugrats" cartoon blurr his judgment. I guess its hard for some old new wave acts to make a living these days. I wouldn't mind it if Mothersbaugh had just written new kiddy tunes under the 2.0 moniker, but to repackage old songs of social malcontent, cultural disenchantment and sexual double-entendre' for a kids' sing-along...

Like I said, hopefully they've rewritten some these songs, but even if they have...whatta huge sellout.

[Stone]

I've seen this commercial a few times now...and I'm thinking, how on earth do you let little girls single songs like Big Mess and Whip It? Hopefully, Mothersbaugh (or who ever else is responsible for this crap) has changed the lyrical content of their songs to make them more 'kid friendly'.

Gawd I hate those stupid Kidz Bop CDs and their associated commercials. My 12 year old boy was watching one these Kidz Bop commercials and turns to me and says, "Man those are so stupid. Am I supposed to want this just cuz there's kids singing...I can't even stand school plays". All I could say was "Me either, son...me either". Now I guess we can expect more of our classic (and not-so-classic) pop/rock acts to follow suit. I can't wait for pre-pubecsent dirls to sing all those old Madonna songs.

I know, its not like DEVO is this legendary band or anything, but I think Mothersbaugh has let his stint with "The Rugrats" cartoon blurr his judgment. I guess its hard for some old new wave acts to make a living these days. I wouldn't mind it if Mothersbaugh had just written new kiddy tunes under the 2.0 moniker, but to repackage old songs of social malcontent, cultural disenchantment and sexual double-entendre' for a kids' sing-along...

Like I said, hopefully they've rewritten some these songs, but even if they have...whatta huge sellout.

Interesting. I was going to start a thread on this, but I wanted to wait until I viewed the DVD full of videos first.

My question to everyone was going to be: is this the ultimate sellout (having kids re-sing the songs and release them under the Disney imprint) or a good way to get kids to know good music? I'm really not sure.

First, yes they did change many of the lyrics to make them more kid friendly.

Second, the singing really isn't too bad, and Devo did the instrumentation on the album. However, I guess the kids are going to tour and play their own instruments.

I hear what you are saying. Mothersbaugh has written a Christmas album and other music for movies and shows, why couldn't he have just come up with some new songs for this? But I bet it was Disney (although I have no proof of this) who wanted the original songs. Plus I heard that a similar Go-Go's album is in the works.

I wanted to watch the DVD with my 6 year old son and see what he thinks about it. He does like some of that quirky music, so he may enjoy it. It might be a good way to introduce him to Devo, although I know I've played a few Devo songs for him before.

I'm just rambling. I'm really on the fence about this one because I do see it as a sellout, but it is getting some great music to kids. Oh and it's DEV2.O.

[Troy]

Mothersbaugh is a twisted sum*****. Ever seen his drawings? Wow, seriously black and deviant.

Mothersbaugh did the clever and odd soundtrack for "The Life Aquatic" as well.

People are multifaceted and certainly COULD do kids stuff and dark and cynical other work. Why not?

And personally, I think Devo IS legendary. And this 2.0 thing doesn't bother me in the least. It's not a sellout like using "Tom Sawyer" in a Nissan commercial. The Devo songs are still devo songs. They are not being used in a different context to sell something that has nothing to do with devo.

[Dusty Chalk]

Here, think about this: "The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise", could be about one of two things -- one is almost unmentionable, but involves post oral sharing, basically; the other is poopy. In this latter interpretation, the baby would be approximately 28 years old. I think it would be nicely ironic if papa would make 28-year-old offspring sing about herself, wouldn't you?

That said, I haven't heard this yet -- as a huge Devo fan, do I need to? Devo is this legendary band.

[BradH]

I know, its not like DEVO is this legendary band or anything

I never saw anybody live that was better. I saw them in '81 and '82 and both times they blew away a lot of bands that are now considered "legendary". (R.E.M. immediately comes to mind.) Their lighting and stagecraft alone was easily equal or better than anything that came out of the earlier progressive rock era. And boy could they rock.

Selling out was the whole point of DEVO. They made an ironic mockery of it by incorporating in the late '70's. When they released a cassette of muzak versions of their tunes no one batted an eye, it made perfect sense. As for the Disney stuff, I haven't heard it but you have to aks yourself, "Are they still subversive?" Probably so if you consider that little kids will be going around singing "Whip It" without realizing it's a parody of the American self help movement. By becoming the corporate world they mocked they always had it both ways.

[3-LockBox]

It's not a sellout like using "Tom Sawyer" in a Nissan commercial.....They are not being used in a different context to sell something that has nothing to do with devo

Except the part where they turn their music into lobotimized kids tunes. And doing it for Disney no less. 'Whip It' is used in a Swiffer commecrial...and there was another song used in a car commercial a couple of years ago. How is this any different than using Tom Sawyer for a commercial?

Devo certainly isn't any more guilty of selling out than anyone else...I guess I just wished it was someone else, and not Devo.

[3-LockBox]

I never saw anybody live that was better....Their lighting and stagecraft alone was easily equal or better than anything that came out of the earlier progressive rock era. And boy could they rock.
I've heard that from several people. Over the course of the '80s, they were featured in several hard rock magazines that I saw, who also touted their ability to rock with the best of them.


Selling out was the whole point of DEVO. They made an ironic mockery of it by incorporating in the late '70's. When they released a cassette of muzak versions of their tunes no one batted an eye, it made perfect sense. As for the Disney stuff, I haven't heard it but you have to aks yourself, "Are they still subversive?" Probably so if you consider that little kids will be going around singing "Whip It" without realizing it's a parody of the American self help movement. By becoming the corporate world they mocked they always had it both ways. Actually, I looked it up over at allmusic.com and there is already a write-up stating that the songs have been rewritten to be kid friendly and that any subversiveness is all but gone. The entire band is involved as far as the recording goes but it looks like the touring outfit will be all kids.

Who knows, maybe Mothersbaugh sees this as a way to get people interested in their back catalog. I'm not in the least bit curious to hear any of this though. Hopefully, it will fall on deaf ears, lest we be served up with future albums of kids singing songs like 'Satisfaction' and 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and 'Whole Lotta Love'.