DEVO recently stopped by NPR to play a Tiny Desk Concert featuring lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh at his whimsical best while they ran through deep cuts. Watch a replay of the performance below.
During the 17-minute set, Mothersbaugh cycled through several hats he pulled from NPR’s props closet and also broke out a megaphone to accentuate his vocals. DEVO began with their first performance of “It Takes a Worried Man” in 40 years. The track was recorded for the little-seen 1982 Neil Young-directed comedy Human Highway, which also starred DEVO as “Nuclear Garbagepersons.”
“It Takes a Worried Man” remains timely more than four decades later, with lyrics like, “I don’t know what’s going on in the world these days/ Seems like everybody’s just got everything turned around/ People don’t seem to care about their fellow Americans.”
The band followed up with “Blockhead” from their 1979 album Duty Now for the Future before Mothersbaugh brought the energy to another level by pulling out a megaphone for “Praying Hands” from their 1978 debut Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! DEVO closed the set with “Come Back Jonee,” another cut from their debut album.
In June, DEVO and David Byrne unearthed their collaboration “Empire” for the abortion access and reproductive rights benefit compilation Noise for Now Vol. 2. Last fall, DEVO put out a career-spanning box set titled 50 Years of De-Evolution (pick up your copy here).
Next month, DEVO will play Ohana Festival in Dana Point, California. Get tickets here.