Fifty one years since their formation in Akron, Ohio, everyone's favorite spuds Devo took over NPR's Tiny Desk for a rousing four-song set. Watch below.
Billboard's Gil Kaufman provides context:
With founding singer/keyboardist Mark Mothersbaugh leading the charge alongside brother and longtime guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh and original bassist Gerald Casale, the group bounded out of the gate with the bluesy, bouncing rarity "It Takes a Worried Man." The song — inspired by the folk/roots classic "Worried Man Blues" — was originally recorded for the little-seen 1982 nuclear panic comedy Human Highway, which was directed by Neil Young, who also co-starred alongside Dean Stockwell, co-writer Dennis Hopper and Devo, who played radioactive waste garbage men in orange outfits and hard hats accented by plastic tubes that snaked down into the band member's noses.
From there, the band continued with the deep cuts: "Blockhead" (1979), "Praying Hands" (1978), and "Come Back Jonee" (1978).
"Wasn't that uplifting?" bassist Gerald Casale asked. "See? De-evolution isn't depressing."
Previously:
• Neil Young and Devo's deeply weird early version of 'Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)'
• Listen to DEVO cover Nine Inch Nails' 'Head Like a Hole'
• Devo 'Whip It' action figure ships with a tiny whip and a bowl of plastic whipped cream
• DEVO's Mark Mothersbaugh talks to Boing Boing about his other career: visual artist.
