Ohio

Ohio is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.7 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated.

## Background

Founding members of DEVO, (Gerald V. Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh & Bob Lewis), as well as other members of the band, were born and raised in Ohio.

The earliest members of DEVO, Gerald Casale, Bow Lewis & Mark Mothersbaugh, met at Kent State University circa 1971, just following the Kent State Shootings a year earlier. The trio were angry at the injustice they had witnessed during the shootings, and decided that they were not witnessing evolution of man, but de-evolution of man. As a result, they formed Art DEVO in 1972, a play of Art Deco. Originally intended as an art movement more than a band, the group would produce strange paintings and drawings, off the wall poetry, and of course, music, all about the devolution of man. They made their debut performance at the 1973 Kent State University Creative Arts Festival, supporting an expanded line-up, of mostly other students, as well as Bob Casale on guitar. By this point, the group's name had changed from Art Devo, to Sextet DEVO, to represent the six members in its lineup. This performance, whilst alienating to some, went off successfully within an artistic context, and so, they were invited to perform again the next year.

At the 1974 Creative Arts Festvial, the band's name was simply reduced to *DEVO,* and featured the line-up reduced to a five-piece band, featuring *Jim Mothersbaugh* on electronic drums, and *Bob Mothersbaugh* on guitar. This second performance would also go somewhat successfully, with them being invited back to perform at the venue outside of the Arts festival. But as the band began to venture outside of the university, they found their music was not so well received, with often confrontational performances and shows being cut short. By 1975, Bob Lewis had retired from the performing side of DEVO, and instead started to act as the band's manager. The confrontational performances culminated in the band adopting more aggressive tones to their music, culminating in a Halloween performance in Cleveland being made up of the band's most intentionally provoking songs, as well as a 30 minute rendition of *Jocko Homo*. This show resulted in Jim Mothersbaugh refusing to perform with the band live, but continuing to be their drummer for rehearsals or demo recordings.

To say the least, DEVO's music was not well respected in their home town, with most concerts at this point, resulting in fights and confrontations with the band. But this would change in the Winter of 1976, when a newly formed venue known as The Crypt, in Akron, offered DEVO a brief residency there. By this time the group had returend to a sextet lineup, with Bob Casale returning for Rhythm guitar, and *Alan Myers* replacing Jim on drums.

The Crypt existed to support the fledgling punk scene, which had been the world by storm in 1976. DEVO, whilst not traditionally punk, were some of the closest Akron had. Whilst The Crypt was not a 100% supportive environment for the band, they at least felt welcomed there, unlike how other venues had made them feel. From December 10th, 1976 to March 23rd, 1977, DEVO played The Crypt at least 19 times, often opening for, or being supported by other local 'punk' bands, Pere Ubu, The Dead Boys, King Cobra, The Bizarros & The Rubber City Rebels. By late January word of mouth about the band had spread, and they would begin to get gigs outside of just The Crypt, now playing regularly at *Pirate's Cove* & *Eagle Street Saloon* in Cleveland, as well as other small venues across the state.

The band recorded their first single at *The Cleveland Recording Company*, and released it locally in March of 1977. In order to promote this single, the band started to perform outside of Ohio, booking a brief tour of Minneapolis, New York City, and eventually, California, where the band would relocate to in July. In winter of 1977, most of the band (bar Bob Mothersbaugh) returned to Ohio to spend Christmas right before their flight to record their debut album in Germany.

DEVO returned to Ohio for most of their major tours, *Are We Not Men (1978-1979)*, *New Traditionalist (1981)*, *Oh No It's DEVO* (1982), *Total DEVO (1988), Lollapalooza (1997), Devoltion Is Real (2005, 2008) & Something For Everybody (2010-2011)*

Since 2000, Ohio has been home to the yearly DEVO convention, *Devotional*.

### References In DEVO Lyrics

Devo, being from Akron, have included numerous references to the state in their music, most notably the songs "Stop Look And Listen" and "Jocko Homo," although the references to the state in the latter are only included in the 1977 single and in most live versions. In the Mark Mothersbaugh solo song 'My Home Town' the state is the subject of the song, specifically Akron, Ohio.