Friday Song: “Whip It”
For a supposed “joke band,” Devo has serious roots and musical abilities
Starting as an art project at Kent State University and named in honor of the idea that humans were de-evolving, Devo famously used the 10 days in lockdown after the 1970 Kent State Massacre to officially coalesce from an existing band while adding keyboard player Mark Mothersbaugh, who would go on to score music for the Rugrats TV show as well as movies for Wes Anderson and Marvel.
“Whip It” is the band’s most famous song. It cemented them as a joke band, but the song was far more serious in its sources and composition. Inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s parodies in Gravity’s Rainbow, the band integrated pieces from four songs members were working on independently, smoothed them out, and rehearsed them until they had a song they liked.
Being an art project, Devo made a video for the song in 1980. With MTV launching in 1981, and with very few videos to choose from, “Whip It” went into heavy rotation, and with radio stations also featuring the song, a major hit was created.
The video is based on a magazine article the band came across about an actor who wasn’t getting parts anymore, so he moved to Arizona with his wife, opened a dude ranch, and charged people money to hang out. For entertainment, every day at noon in the corral he’d whip his wife’s clothes off with a 12-foot bullwhip. She sewed the costumes and put them together with Velcro. The band thought the story was hilarious, so made that the centerpiece of their video.
The song has been used in ads for Swiffer, Pringles, and Twix.
In addition to Mothersbaugh’s TV and film scores, the band started a company to score music for commercials, films, and TV shows, while band member Gerald Casale became a successful video director with videos for Rush, the Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, and many others to his credit.
If you enjoy parodies of manipulative, overenthusiastic politicians and motivational speakers, you must whip it!
Enjoy!