Posted on 06/10/2010 10:55:04 AM PDT by a fool in paradise
The alternative music act Devo, best known for its 1980 hit "Whip It," is pioneering a new method to help win fan approval. It is asking them what they want to hear.
Singer and co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh told Reuters Television that the U.S. band's first album for 20 years -- "Something for Everybody" -- was shaped through an online campaign which asked fans for their opinions.
"We thought people understood us enough to make observations which could be really important," he said.
The resulting disc bears a promotional sticker that reads "88 percent focus group approved."
Fans helped whittle a selection of 16 songs down to 12 which appear on the album, selected the new color for the band's trademark flower pot hats (blue rather than red) and even issued decisive advice on the cover art.
...The campaign was devised by U.S. advertising agency Mother.
"People nowadays really don't like surprises," Mother creative director Bill Moulton told Reuters. "They look at surprise as something negative, as something scary."
Forrester Research media analyst Mark Mulligan said the band's approach made sense in an era where fewer fans were buying music...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
ping
Can’t say I enjoy their music very much, but I get a kick out of them as artists.
ping!
Excellent!
whip it is kind of catchy.
Cool, will be on the lookout for that.
Freedom of Choice is just a great song from a political / human condition commentary standpoint.
Freedom of Choice
is what you got
Freedom from Choice
is what you want
Heck, lots of their music is.
I have often thought of DEVO as a conservative art band, perhaps the only ones. Thier biggest hit, Jocko Homo, claims that evolution is “just wind in sails” and you have already pointed out that Freedom of Choice has heavy pro-freedon lyrics. Whip-it is not about S&M, but about getting out there and getting it done...Larry the Cable Guy style. Space Junk just rocks, but seems to be a knock on the old USSR. I love DEVO and I can’t wait for the focus-group-tested album.
I can’t call them “conservative”, they certainly should have been smarter than to endorse Obama.
Mark Mothersbaugh is a “lifelong” member of the Church of Subgenius.
I will add though that the members of DEVO met at Kent State and there were members on both sides of the “issue” at the protests of the Vietnam war.
Cool beans
Are we not men?
I think a good idea for DEVO would be to bring together some of the wackier music influences since the 1970s, and introduce them all to a new audience as well as courting old fans.
Groups like Negativland, Reverend Horton Heat, Mindless Self Indulgence, Rasputina, and the Butthole Surfers. I’m sure there are any number of other groups that would fit right in to a “Weirdopalooza”.
DEVO started as a movie production group. They wanted to enter some short films into the Ann Arbor film festival. They needed a soundtrack and decided to record it themselves.
They made promotional clips (now called videos although they used film) and often had some other action leading into the footage as a setup.
Then as home video came along, they also worked up some other longer form video links between the clips.
Maybe they should (re)introduce themselves with a new DVD “package” or series of youtube clips.
And I’ve seen Negativeland live once. They can go on and on for 3 hours or more. Some of the material more interesting than other.
I’d rather see them return to social commentary on “de-evolution” (or subgenius logic) than just a bunch of dance tunes or non-stop praise of our current president.
What will they do to be “relevant”? I’m there for the music, but want more than just nostalgia out of a band like this.
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