by bill bissDevo hasn’t lost a bit of their zip on the new CD called Something for Everybody. It’s very clean Devo and as the band is known for, the songs combine a double dose of clarity and cleverness.
The group is headlining the San Diego Pride Festival this year. So, for those across Southern California who have “devolutionized” with Devo since their very first album in 1978, come on down to the festival on Sunday night, July 18 at 7:15 p.m. to be thoroughly entertained with their live performance.
Mark Mothersbaugh took a few minutes out of his schedule to talk with The Rage Monthly about the new work and share a few memories along the way.
The Rage Monthly: Let’s talk about the new song, “No Place Like Home.” A piano intro in a Devo song? (both of us start laughing) I love the tribal feel in it too and the lyrics “You can’t have a rainbow without the rain.” Who wrote this one and did Judy Garland have just something to do with it?
Mark Mothersbaugh: I tell ya, TCM is my favorite TV channel. She’s embedded in my brain, that’s for sure. I see her movies all the time. I’ll tell you the history of the song. I actually wrote the music to be the main theme for a movie I was scoring at the time called Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
It was the first piece of music I played for the two young directors. It was their first film. They reacted to it really positively. Then I wrote something else for the picture and that first piece didn’t get used. I loved the theme so much and thought it was a great song.
So, I took an instrumental copy of it and gave it to Jerry [Casale, Devo bandmate]. He came back the next day with a whole set of lyrics. So, we have to ask him about Judy Garland (laughter).
