Duty Now for the Future
1979 studio album by Devo
| Duty Now for the Future | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Devo | ||||
| Released | June 1, 1979 (1979-06-01)[1] | |||
| Recorded | September 1978 – early 1979 | |||
| Studio | Chateau Recorders, Hollywood | |||
| Genre |
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| Length | 38:56 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Ken Scott | |||
| Devo chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Duty Now For the Future | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
 International cover | ||||
Duty Now for the Future is the second studio album by American new wave band Devo, released on June 1, 1979, by Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Ken Scott, the album was recorded between September 1978 and early 1979 at Chateau Recorders in Hollywood. The majority of the songs on the album had been performed in Devo's live set as early as 1976.[2]
Background
A majority of the album's tracks had already been written and performed live before the release of the band's first album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!. The earliest song, "Smart Patrol", was debuted live in April 1975.[3] At the time, Devo were a quartet consisting of bassist Gerald Casale, keyboardist Mark Mothersbaugh, guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh, and percussionist Jim Mothersbaugh.[4] The quartet line-up is featured in the group's short film The Truth About De-Evolution, in which they perform an early version of "Secret Agent Man."[5]
In December 1976, the group formed the quintet line-up found on this album, with drummer Alan Myers replacing Jim Mothersbaugh and multi-instrumentalist Bob Casale joining. By this point, the group were performing "Clockout", "Timing X" and "Blockhead" live. "Clockout" and "Timing X" had been written by Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh respectively, while Bob and Mark co-wrote "Blockhead".[4] "Clockout" took advantage of this expanded line-up and featured Bob Casale playing bass instead of Gerald.[6]
From this period until March 1977, the group performed regularly at a local venue in Akron, Ohio, named the Crypt[3][7] and filmed part of a short documentary on the band there, which featured "Devo Corporate Anthem" and an excerpt from "Mr. DNA".[8]
By December 1977, the group had relocated from Akron to Los Angeles, where they had already begun recording their first album.[9] That month, they performed at Max's Kansas City in New York and debuted the Mothersbaugh brothers' "Wiggly World" and "Pink Pussycat".[7]
The song "Red Eye" was first played live as the encore to the Q: Are We Not Men tour in October 1978.[10] It features Devo mascot Booji Boy (portrayed by Mark Mothersbaugh) on lead vocals.[11] The newer songs on the album, such as "Red Eye", "S.I.B." and "The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize", relied more heavily on synthesizers than their earlier guitar-based material.[11][12]
Composition
Both Duty Now for the Future and its predecessor, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, contained material from a backlog of songs the band had written between 1974 and 1977.[13] While the song selection for both albums was devised ahead of time, Mark Mothersbaugh brought three new compositions ("The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize", "S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)" and "Triumph of the Will") in for the second album's sessions and elected to abandon some of the previously chosen songs.[13][14] Bob Mothersbaugh later stated that "We had been touring extensively after the first album; maybe we rushed to get another album out."[14] In a 2015 interview, Gerald Casale said that the new material "was kind of still incubating and probably wasn't ready" at the time of recording.[13]
"Devo Corporate Anthem" and its accompanying video were a nod to the 1975 film Rollerball, in which the titular sport is preceded by players and the audience standing solemnly while listening to a regional "corporate hymn".[15] "Triumph of the Will" takes its title from Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi propaganda film of the same name.[1] Music historian Andy Zax stated that, "On the surface, 'The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize' seems like one of Devo's happiest, bounciest pop confections, but a closer look reveals peculiar things lurking beneath."[1] The band's cover of Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" features a rare lead vocal from Bob Mothersbaugh.[1]
Production and recording
Duty Now for the Future was produced by Ken Scott. Like Brian Eno, who had produced Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, Scott had also worked with David Bowie, most notably on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) and Aladdin Sane (1973). According to Scott, Devo were "quite professional in the studio" and he "loved every minute" of the sessions.[16]
Recording for the album began in September 1978, a month after the release of their first album.[17] Scott discussed his role in the recordings and how Devo came to choose him for the album: "I know they chose me because of the Bowie records I did, but I don't know if it was a direct recommendation from Mr. Jones. Devo always wanted to learn. That's why they worked with each producer only once."[18]
Duty Now for the Future found the band bringing synthesizers more into the forefront than before.[19] Additionally, guitar sounds were often manipulated; in a 1979 interview with BAM magazine, Gerald Casale stated, "A guitar can only do what a guitar does. It's like only one tiny piece of a synthesizer. On this album, we did much more with the guitars, too. Sometimes you don't know that they're guitars."[20] According to Scott, to record the solo for "Secret Agent Man", they "overloaded mic amps and fed the signal through headphones which were taped to the mic."[16]
Several band members voiced dissatisfaction with the sound of the album in retrospect. Gerald Casale has stated that "Scott wanted something processed. We wanted something aggressive."[14] Bob Mothersbaugh felt that Scott did not understand the band's "ideas and vision."[14] Mark Mothersbaugh recalled that, at the time, he thought Scott had erred in recording the album one instrument at a time to a click track rather than recording the band live.[21] Mothersbaugh ultimately felt that the results were not as satisfying as playing the material on the following tour.[21]
The band were excluded from the final mixing process, with Gerald Casale later stating that they "barely knew how bland it sounded", and that, for the most part, Scott did not take their suggestions.[14]
Artwork and packaging
The album cover was designed by Janet Perr, based on a concept by Devo.[22] Universal Product Codes were a then-new, phenomenon and the band devised a satirical fake code for the front cover.[23] The cover also featured a punch-out postcard, which according to Mark Mothersbaugh was "a piece of art that you could take away, a repurposed album cover."[23] Although Warner Bros. originally rejected the idea, saying it was too costly, Devo instructed the label to use the band's own money to pay for it.[23] The "Science Boy" logo originated from a science pamphlet the band had found in the late 1970s in Akron.[24] After first using it on a promotional item for Virgin Records, the band were contacted by the original organization that had used the image as their logo, which resulted in them acquiring the rights to the image.[24]
The photograph of the band was taken by photographer Allan Tannenbaum for the SoHo Weekly News in New York City. It was used in the album artwork by simply taking it from the front page of the newspaper in the exact same dimensions, unbeknownst to the photographer. When he discovered this, he contacted the record company and was paid for its use.[citation needed]
The inner sleeve included the lyrics of all the songs printed in a single block of closely printed text. The sleeve also featured a West Hollywood address from which one could request information and news about the band. In addition, an address was included to allow purchasers to order a copy of the Devo-vision videocassette from Time Life. This tape was never actually made available from Time Life and was a few years later issued under the title The Men Who Make the Music via Warner Home Video.[citation needed]
Promotion
Devo produced one music video for this album. "The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize" combined animation with blue screen effects of the band performing. In this video, Devo chiefly wore white shirts and pants and silver 3D glasses. Also of note is the appearance of Alex Mothersbaugh, the daughter of Bob Mothersbaugh.[25] Alex would later be featured on the back cover of Devo's 1984 album Shout.
A short clip of the band standing at attention and then saluting was filmed to accompany "Devo Corporate Anthem", which was used in concert performance.[26]
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [27] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B−[28] |
| The Daily Vault | A[29] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [30] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [31] |
| Pitchfork | 6.6/10[32] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [33] |
| Smash Hits | 6/10[34] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10[35] |
Commercial
Duty Now for the Future was on the Billboard charts for 10 weeks, peaking at No. 73.[36] In Canada, the album reached number 87.[37]
Critical
Dave Marsh, writing in Rolling Stone, condemned the album, feeling that "inspired amateurism works only when the players aspire to something better."[38] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice panned side one as "dire" and "arena-rock", but felt that "The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize" and "Secret Agent Man" were "as bright as anything on the debut, and the arrangements offer their share of surprizes."[28] Red Starr of Smash Hits described it as "unimpressive", but noted that the "change of style definitely grows on you". They went on to say that, although the album was more accessible, it was "lacking the zany magic of old".[34]
Scott Isler of Trouser Press stated that the album "doesn't score as many bull's-eyes as the first but includes two anthems of malaise, 'Blockhead' and 'S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)'", and noted the band's "disturbing signs of portentousness".[39][40] The Boston Globe dismissed Duty Now for the Future as "largely a failure."[41] Among positive reviews, The New York Times deemed the album "undeniably catchy and fun."[42]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, reviewer Mark Deming opined that the album "captures the group in the midst of a significant stylistic shift", while contending that "Triumph of the Will" "embraces fascism as a satirical target without bothering to make it sound as if they disapprove."[19]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Devo Corporate Anthem" | Mark Mothersbaugh | 1:16 |
| 2. | "Clockout" | Gerald Casale | 2:48 |
| 3. | "Timing X" | M. Mothersbaugh | 1:13 |
| 4. | "Wiggly World" | Bob Mothersbaugh, G. Casale | 2:45 |
| 5. | "Blockhead" | B. Mothersbaugh, M. Mothersbaugh | 3:00 |
| 6. | "Strange Pursuit" | G. Casale, M. Mothersbaugh | 2:45 |
| 7. | "S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)" | M. Mothersbaugh | 4:27 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Triumph of the Will" | M. Mothersbaugh, G. Casale | 2:19 |
| 2. | "The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize" | M. Mothersbaugh | 2:42 |
| 3. | "Pink Pussycat" | M. Mothersbaugh, B. Mothersbaugh | 3:12 |
| 4. | "Secret Agent Man" | P. F. Sloan, Steve Barri; arr. M. Mothersbaugh | 3:37 |
| 5. | "Smart Patrol"/"Mr. DNA" | G. Casale / G. Casale, M. Mothersbaugh | 6:06 |
| 6. | "Red Eye" | M. Mothersbaugh, G. Casale | 2:50 |
| Total length: | 38:56 | ||
1993 Virgin Duty Now for the Future/New Traditionalists CD bonus track:
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Working in the Coal Mine" | Allen Toussaint | 2:53 |
1995 Infinite Zero Archive/American Recordings CD bonus tracks:
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Soo Bawlz" | M. Mothersbaugh | 2:24 |
| 15. | "Penetration in the Centrefold" | M. Mothersbaugh, G. Casale | 2:28 |
2010 Warner Bros. CD bonus tracks:[43]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "General Boy Visits Apocalypse Now" | M. Mothersbaugh, G. Casale | 1:47 |
| 15. | "Soo Bawlz" | M. Mothersbaugh | 2:22 |
| 16. | "Be Stiff (Stiff Version)" | G. Casale, Bob Lewis | 2:43 |
| 17. | "Penetration in the Centrefold" | M. Mothersbaugh, G. Casale | 2:28 |
| 18. | "Secret Agent Man (Live)" | Sloan, Barri | 3:21 |
Personnel
Credits adapted from Pioneers Who Got Scalped: The Anthology CD liner notes:[1]
Devo
- Mark Mothersbaugh – vocals, keyboards, guitar
- Gerald Casale – vocals, bass guitar, keyboards
- Bob Mothersbaugh – lead guitar, vocals; lead vocals on "Secret Agent Man"
- Bob Casale – rhythm guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Alan Myers – drums
Credits adapted from the original album's liner notes:[44]
Technical
- Ken Scott – producer, engineer
- Brian Leshon – assistant engineer
- Phil Jost – assistant engineer
- Bernie Grundman – mastering
- Janet Perr – cover art
- Devo Inc. – graphic concept, package design
- Yale Greenfield – dust sleeve production stills
