[Rumori] devo, erm. version 2.

[M.Simons]

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006, Anthony Hall wrote:
>> or how about how a group *name* and *song catalog* gets used by an
>> entirely new group of folks doing a 'nostalgia' type tour.. even though NO
>> original (or logical/historical successor) members are in the group, this
>> is only possible because the groups name and their entire song catalogs
>> are entirely owned by various record companies/management groups.. often
>> times the audience doesn't even realize.
>
> That's exactly what I meant - We've had tribute acts, and "mini" acts -
> mini-Guns'n'Roses, Mini-Kiss - but this is the first "authorised" tribute
> act - sure it won't be the last - look out for New New Kids on the Block,
> New New Edition, Gary Nu-Numan (groan - sorry) etc...
>
> Or how about Neil Younger & Rocking Horse? "When I get big, I'm gonna get
> me an electric guitar..."

You're talking about COVER bands.  Cover bands are expressly NOT what I am 
referring to.  Cover bands use different names and are usually tribute 
oriented, or just bar-band types.  I'm talking about groups entirely 
representing themselves as if they are the actual and geniune original 
band.  cover bands are clear an explicit in the fact that they are NOT the 
geniune group.  a cover band that actually tries to impersonate the 
original members, say if you had a group with distinctive members such as 
guns n roses, and you had impersonators playing the parts, say, someone 
who specifically tried to look (and possibly even took on the 'name' of 
slash and axl) they would still be honest about it, and it would be fairly 
transluscent.  I'm talking largely about do-wop and other similar era 
groups where the knowledge of members are not so distinct or clear and 
where they specifically cast the presentation so as to deceive. often 
these groups touring as if they are the original band are NOT approved or 
appreciated by the original band and are only able to do so because the 
original band does not actually own any rights to their work or name.

>> as far as the whole dev2.0 debacle.. there's a pretty intense discussion
>> in some of the hardcore devo fan communities, as far as fans, there are
>> some dedicated fans spread worldwide, including in the UK, Italy, etc.
>> thing is, Devo hasn't really toured to europe in a while.  they did
>> however within the past few years do some large sold-out shows here in the
>> colonies.
>
> Although I'm a fan, I find it baffling that D1 are credited with so much
> integrity that the launch of D2 is considered selling out. Apart from the
> many dodgy soundtracks the Mothersbaughs have been responsible for, there's
> their dubious sponsorship of RealMedia (around the time of their reunion
> tour, I believe) - They've always struck me as people who will go for
> pretty much anything if there's a dollar in it, and consequently have
> managed a pretty good career for a band that was once considered so
> uncommercial.

They've been pretty screwed by the whole industry, as least in their devo 
incarnation.

originally they did have pretty clear and high standards in regards to 
endorsements, artistic freedoms, etc. when they did pitches, such as for 
pioneer laserdiscs and honda(?) motor scooters.

people tend not to complain of the more recent reuse of songs and such in 
things like swiffer commercials, etc. and actually see it as somewhat 
subversive and the boys getting what they deserve.

Dev2.0 is also largely seen as subversive and something of interest to be 
watched, however, it is being done and looked at (in some ways) poorly 
probably mostly because (most of) the kids are not really dedicated 
musicians.  a large contingent of the hardcore fan community was also 
spoiled last year when the school of rock kids did a really dedicated 
cover of the groups' material.  devo did have a large hand in the project 
however and supports the kids.  however, as with all things disney, this 
is really a whitewashed and watered down pablum..

I don't think too many people actually consider it "selling out" -- all 
the music was actually played by devo, only the vocals were done by the 
kids -- while some of the kids get some of the playing right in the videos 
-- the only known dedicated musician among the group is nathan norman 
although it's much more likely that he's (and much of the other kids, if 
they are real musicians and singers) are headed for 
backstreetsyncronization eventually.  cyclops is a brand new song (yay for 
new material) the things I think are against the artistic integrity are 
what I consider the barney-ization of some of the songs.. but when one 
looks at it in the context of their (disney's) target audience for this 
project, some of it starts to make more sense (i.e. their target audience 
is 5-8 yr olds) however that doesn't make some of the changes in lyrics 
any less lame, for example beautiful world totally changes the meaning of 
the song.

In addition, as stated, it's really a subversive parody and twisted 
infiltration of something as 'american' as The Mouse.

and some of the new backing video/animations are downright surreal.

That being said, people also realize that the more recent popularization 
and rebirth of devo (and the use of mothersbaugh and mutato's 
soundtracks and connections in the industry) is largely due to the aging 
of their fanbase into positions of power.

as far as whether the soundtracks are 'dodgy' or any good, well that is a 
matter of opinion.  I won't go into that now, for desire to not dilute 
this discussion anymore.

--
MS