music.wikisort.org - Composition

Search / Calendar

New Traditionalists is the fourth studio album by the American new wave band Devo, released on August 26, 1981, by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded over a period of four months between December 1980 and April 1981, at the Power Station, in Manhattan, New York City. It features the minor hits "Through Being Cool" and "Beautiful World".

New Traditionalists
Studio album by
Devo
ReleasedAugust 26, 1981 (1981-08-26)
RecordedDecember 1980–April 1981
StudioThe Power Station, Manhattan
Genre
  • New wave
  • synth-pop
  • post-punk
Length33:28
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerDevo
Devo chronology
Freedom of Choice
(1980)		 New Traditionalists
(1981)		 Oh, No! It's Devo
(1982)
Alternative cover
International cover

Background


Devo devised the album's title while touring their Freedom of Choice album in Japan. The group had met two businessmen in a sushi bar who were wearing pins that read "New Traditionalists". Mark Mothersbaugh recalled that the band were inspired by the phrase, as they wanted to create new traditions themselves.[1] The phrase belonged to a right-wing political group in Japan, who were using it as their name, and Devo found the pins in stores and purchased them as a joke. When the album was being written, the group recalled the name and decided that it would work for their songs. In the words of Gerald Casale, "We became the New Traditionalists but turned it on its ear. We appropriated the idea of that, meaning we were going to provide you with new traditions to forget about the old ones".[2]


Composition


Following the band's success with "Whip It" and its parent album, Freedom of Choice, Devo opted to craft a darker and less accessible album that explored their concept of "de-evolution" even further.[3] New Traditionalists contains songs in a minimalist synth-pop style, with an emphasis on synthesizer riffs and dance rhythms, as well as an increased focus on electronic percussion.[4][5] Lyrically, the album contains more straightforward sentiments than the band's previous albums, often eschewing sarcasm and irony for overt anger.[5] Rolling Stone Australia notes that the song "Beautiful World" "waits a while to reveal its hidden darkness and cynicism", echoed in its music video, which starts out "happy" and "optimistic".[6] In "Enough Said", Devo make one of their first overtly political statements, advocating throwing leaders into a ring and letting them "fight like hell to see who's king".[7] The lyrics were written by Mark and Bob's father Robert Mothersbaugh, Sr., who also played their character General Boy.[8]

According to music historian Andy Zax, New Traditionalists found Devo "more than slightly ambivalent about their newfound popularity", exemplified in opening track "Through Being Cool", with its criticism of trendy "ninnies" and "twits".[9] Zax also observed that songs such as "Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth" and "Love Without Anger" "dissect dysfunctional relationships from the inside, rather than from afar".[9]

In a 2020 interview, Gerald Casale stated that he felt New Traditionalists "was the last [Devo] record where there was some semblance of balance between primal energy and just electronics for their own sake."[10]


Production


New Traditionalists was the band's first fully self-produced album.[9] It was recorded on a then-new brand of 2-inch tape from 3M. Unfortunately, when Devo began recording the vocals for the album, the edges of the tape had begun to disintegrate. After asking Warner Bros. if they could start over and re-record the album from scratch and being denied, Devo transferred all the work they had done to digital reel-to-reel tape and finished the album via digital recording at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, California.[2]

"The Super Thing" was later sampled in Devo's 2007 single "Watch Us Work It",[11] which was remixed by Teddybears.[12]


Artwork


The front and back cover were photographed by Moshe Brakha and feature artwork by Richard Seireeni, based on a concept by the band.[13] The band's clothing, also worn during live performances, was influenced by Japanese fashion,[13] while the rubber pompadours, created by Brent Scrivner, were based on the hairstyle of John F. Kennedy but were frequently mistaken for that of Ronald Reagan.[14] Casale's longheld interest in the space program led to the band using a cartoon image of an astronaut's head from a paper Halloween mask in the artwork, which was later reused for the limited edition "Beautiful World" picture disc.[15]

The band wore blue V-neck T-shirts with the New Traditionalists astronaut on the black sleeves. This shirt can be seen on the US, Australian and New Zealand versions of the album cover. On the European cover, Devo is seen wearing "Sleeveless Maxi-Turtleneck Sweaters". The T-shirts, turtlenecks and plastic versions of the pompadours were all available through Devo's fan club catalog.[citation needed]

The first pressings of the LP included a 33 inch by 22 inch poster,[16] designed by the Church of the SubGenius.[17] It contains a drawing of the band on stage, with some iconic American archetypes (a Native American, a Pilgrim, a cowboy, a hippie, a punk rocker and a modern housewife) in the audience.[citation needed]


Promotion



Music videos


Devo made three music videos for the album. "Through Being Cool" had Devo taking a limited role, focusing on a team of kids clad in Devo "Action Vests" attacking arrogant and ignorant people with "spudguns".

In "Love Without Anger", Devo acts as a Greek chorus to a bizarre love story between two humanoid chickens. It also features a stop motion video by Rev. Ivan Stang (Church of the SubGenius) of Barbie and Ken fighting each other and removing each other's body parts. A portrait of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs is on the wall above the couch.

The music video for the song "Beautiful World" features the character Booji Boy prominently, as he initially watches scenes of beautiful women, futuristic cars and other happy elements, which by the end of the song have been replaced by images of race riots, the Ku Klux Klan, World War I, famine in Africa, car crashes and nuclear explosions, which puts a much darker slant on the song's lyrics. The video was slightly censored for broadcasts on the ABC-TV music show Countdown. A small segment of archive footage depicting a woman on fire was considered unsuitable for the show's early evening time slot—despite the fact that the flames were animated, not real—and this censored version is still screened occasionally on the ABC's music video series rage, including a mid-1990s episode hosted by Devo.


"Working in the Coal Mine"


New Traditionalists was originally packaged with a bonus 7-inch single of the band's cover of Lee Dorsey's "Working in the Coal Mine".[3]

According to a 2008 interview with lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh, Devo had originally intended to include the song on the album but were thwarted by Warner Bros. The band was then approached by the makers of the animated film Heavy Metal and asked if they had a song to donate for a sequence in the film involving a house band in outer space. Devo offered them the unused "Working in the Coal Mine", and as a fluke the song ended up being the only charting song on the soundtrack album. Since the song was now a "hit", Warner Bros. pressed up thousands of two-sided 7-inch singles and included them with initial copies of the LP.[18]

Most CD and cassette pressings of New Traditionalists include "Working in the Coal Mine" as a bonus track.


Reception


Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[19]
Robert ChristgauB[20]
Rolling Stone[4]

Critical


David Fricke of Rolling Stone stated, "New Traditionalists has a few obvious Top Forty finger poppers – 'Through Being Cool' (the latest Devo fight song), 'Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth' and 'Enough Said' (this year's 'Whip It') – and the slick production makes it all go down easy. But the group's increasing overuse of simplistic, droning synthesizer riffs and treadmill dance rhythms is neither trendy nor traditional. It's predictable."[4] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called the album "Filler plus three major songs" ("Through Being Cool", "Love Without Anger" and "Beautiful World") "each of which gets an explanatory video in concert, which with these art-school ciphers is a comfort", although he concluded that these "would not satisfy the ninnies and twits who think war toys and visual aids are evil by definition."[20] Scott Isler of Trouser Press stated that while New Traditionalists had "a couple of attention-getting songs ('Love Without Anger,' 'Going Under,' the extraordinarily attractive 'Beautiful World')" as well as the bonus "Working in the Coal Mine" single, the majority of the album was "clinical-sounding laissez-faire techno-dance stuff, less-than-compelling lyrics set to a metronomic 4/4 beat."[21][22]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Steve Huey opined that New Traditionalists found Devo "aghast at being pegged as a novelty act by some of their own satirical targets", and that the band "largely abandons its sense of absurdity" on the album, theorizing that they'd decided that "America's comprehension of irony was sorely lacking". While he felt the album contained "some of Devo's angriest, most embittered songs", he felt many were "unmemorable" and sported "melodic deficiencies", although he ultimately concluded that "at least half of the album is worthwhile."[5]


Commercial


New Traditionalists was slightly less successful than the Freedom of Choice album, peaking at No. 23 on the Billboard charts, whereas Freedom of Choice had peaked at No. 22. The non-album single "Working in the Coal Mine" peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100.[23]

The album and its singles continued Devo's success in Australia, with "Beautiful World" peaking at No. 14 and "Working in the Coal Mine" at No. 20.[citation needed]


Track listing


All tracks are written by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Through Being Cool"
3:14
2."Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth" 3:05
3."Pity You"M. Mothersbaugh2:47
4."Soft Things" 3:27
5."Going Under" 3:26
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Race of Doom" 3:44
7."Love Without Anger" 2:37
8."The Super Thing" 4:21
9."Beautiful World" 3:35
10."Enough Said"
  • M. Mothersbaugh
  • G. Casale
  • General Boy
3:26
Total length:33:28
Additional tracks

Personnel


Devo

Technical


Tour


The tour set was designed by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, and was manufactured by John Zabrucky.[25] Modified treadmills were housed inside a temple stage set, allowing for uniform choreography by the band members, and still photos were projected behind the band.[26] The set was plexiglass, allowing it to be illuminated by different colored lights, and the front, made of white plastic, was removable, revealing a framework.[25]

On stage, Devo wore what were called "Utopian Boy Scout Uniforms", consisting of a gray button down shirt, gray slacks and black patent leather shoes. Professional footage was shot during the tour, but after the film crew's lighting generator clashed with the stage crew's and blew both sets of lights, an insurance claim stipulated that the footage had to be destroyed.[2] However, Devo appeared on the TV show Fridays in 1981 and performed five songs with a full stage set, and a few short, semi-pro-shot clips from the tour have surfaced over the Internet.[27][28][29] Several audio bootlegs of the tour are also available, varying in quality.

In 2012, Devo commemorated the New Traditionalists tour by releasing Live 1981 Seattle as a double LP for Record Store Day. The album was culled from a cassette recording from November 1981. According to Gerald Casale, "DEVO archivist Michael Pilmer (aka Devo-Obsesso), found the tape in a shoebox full of cassettes in [keyboardist and guitarist] Bob 2's home fifteen years ago, which he immediately transferred to DAT".[30] In 2013, it was issued on CD with two bonus tracks[31] from a performance at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts on November 5, 1981.[32]

Tour Dates[33][34]
Dates Venue Notes
First Leg (1981)
October 9, 1981 ABC-TV Studios, Los Angeles, CA Fridays TV appearance, broadcast live.
October 13, 1981 Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington, MN
October 14, 1981 Memorial Hall, Kansas City, KS
October 16, 1981 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL
October 17, 1981 Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI
October 18, 1981 Ohio Center, Columbus, OH
October 19, 1981 Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
October 21, 1981 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
October 23, 1981 Palace Theatre, Albany, NY Devo appeared on The Tomorrow Show to promote this concert
October 24, 1981 New Westchester Theatre, Tarrytown, NY
October 25, 1981 Shea's Buffalo Theatre, Buffalo, NY "Beautiful World" added to setlist
October 26, 1981 Massey Hall, Toronto, ON, Canada
October 28, 1981 Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
October 31, 1981 Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY The band's stage set rose from the orchestra pit. "Mongoloid" was not performed.
November 1, 1981 College Avenue Gymnasium, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
November 2, 1981 Ritchie Coliseum, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
November 5, 1981 Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA Broadcast on FM Radio. This was a 35-minute performance with a significantly shorter setlist. Excerpts were later released on Live 1981 Seattle.[32]
November 6, 1981 Ocean State Performance Arts Center, Providence, RI
November 7, 1981 Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA
November 8, 1981 Calderone Concert Hall, Hempstead, NY
November 10, 1981 Hampton Beach, VA
November 12, 1981 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA
November 13, 1981 O'Donnell Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
November 14, 1981 Sunrise Musical Theater, Sunrise, FL
November 15, 1981 Jai-Alai Fronton, Tampa, FL
November 18, 1981 Saenger Theater, New Orleans, LA
November 19, 1981 Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, TX
November 20, 1981 Winter Garden Ballroom, Dallas, TX
November 21, 1981 Austin City Auditorium, Austin, TX
November 23, 1981 Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, OK
November 24, 1981 Macky Auditorium, Boulder, CO
November 27, 1981 Paramount Theatre, Portland, OR
November 28, 1981 Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, WA This show was recorded and released as Live 1981 Seattle in 2012[30]
November 29, 1981 Sam Carver Gymnasium, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
November 30, 1981 Pacific Coliseum Concert Bowl, Vancouver, BC, Canada
December 3, 1981 Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA
December 4, 1981 San Francisco Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
December 5, 1981 University of Nevada Gym, Reno, NV
December 6, 1981 Main Pavilion, Sonoma Beach Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, CA
December 8, 1981 Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA This show was going to be filmed for a potential concert film home media release but was scrapped following an insurance claim due to two generators exploding.[2]
December 10, 1981 The Forum, Inglewood, CA
December 12, 1981 Orange Pavilion, San Bernardino, CA
December 14, 1981 Selland Arena, Fresno Convention Center, Fresno, CA
December 16, 1981 Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Arizona State Fairgrounds, Phoenix, AZ
December 17, 1981 Tucson Community Center, Tucson, AZ
December 19, 1981 California Theatre, San Diego, CA Devo performed twice on this date
December 20, 1981 Bakersfield Civic Auditorium, Bakersfield, CA
December ?, 1981 Hollywood, CA The Merv Griffin Show TV appearance, broadcast January 8, 1982.
Second Leg (1982)
January 25, 1982 Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
January 27, 1982 Town Hall, Wellington, New Zealand
January 30, 1982 Town Hall, Christchurch, New Zealand
February 2, 1982 Festival Hall, Brisbane, Australia Devo performed twice on this date
February 4, 1982 Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia
February 5, 1982
February 6, 1982 Devo performed twice on this date
February 8, 1982 Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
February 9, 1982
February 12, 1982 Elsternwick Studios, Melbourne, Australia[35] Countdown TV appearance, broadcast February 14, 1982.
February 13, 1982 Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
February 15, 1982 Memorial Drive, Adelaide, Australia
February 17, 1982 Entertainment Centre, Perth, Australia
February 22, 1982 Neal S. Blaisdell Center Arena, Honolulu, HI

Setlist


  1. "Nutra Theme"
  2. "Going Under"
  3. "Through Being Cool"
  4. "Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth"
  5. "Soft Things"
  6. "Pity You"
  7. "Freedom of Choice Theme" (Only performed during the second leg)
  8. "Whip It"
  9. "Girl U Want"
  10. "Planet Earth"
  11. "Race of Doom"
  12. "Super Thing"
  13. "Uncontrollable Urge"
  14. "Mongoloid"
  15. "Jocko Homo"
  16. "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA"
  17. "Gut Feeling"
  18. "Gates of Steel"
  19. "Beautiful World"
  20. "Working in the Coal Mine"
  21. "Devo Corporate Anthem"

Charts



Weekly charts


Chart Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[36] 3
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[37] 32
New Zealand Albums Chart[38] 6
UK Albums Chart[39][40] 50
US Billboard 200[23] 23
US Record World 24

Year-end charts


Chart (1982) Position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[41] 47

Certifications


Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia — 75,000+[42]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[43] Gold 7,500^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.


Bibliography


Devo (2018a). DEVO: The Brand. London: Rocket 88 Books Publishing. ISBN 9781910978016.

Devo (2018b). DEVO: Unmasked. London: Rocket 88 Books Publishing. ISBN 9781910978016.


References


  1. "Devo on Bowie, Leaving Miles Davis Unimpressed, and Working with Soundgarden, Foo Fighters". American Songwriter. October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  2. Lake, Dave (April 17, 2012). "Tell Me About That Album: Devo's Live in Seattle 1981". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  3. "August 1981: Devo Release NEW TRADITIONALISTS". Rhino. August 26, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  4. Fricke, David (November 26, 1981). "Rolling Stone: Devo: New Traditionalists". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 27, 2006. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  5. Huey, Steve. "Devo - New Traditionalists". AllMusic. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  6. "The 100 Greatest Music Videos - Devo, "Beautiful World"". Rolling Stone Australia. August 3, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  7. Adams, Gregory (August 14, 2012). "Devo to Deliver Mitt Romney-Critiquing Single". Exclaim!. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  8. Devo 2018b, p. 152.
  9. Zax, Andy (2000). Pioneers Who Got Scalped: The Anthology (CD liner notes). Los Angeles: Rhino Records. R2 75967.
  10. Jerry Casale (October 8, 2020). No. 198:Jerry Casale/Devo- Part 2 (YouTube video). Dean Delray. Event occurs at 37m 20s. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  11. Freedman, Pete (March 12, 2009). "Devo". Dallas Observer. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  12. Breihan, Tom (February 8, 2010). "Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh Talks Olympics, New Look, New Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  13. Devo 2018a, p. 97.
  14. Devo 2018a, p. 104.
  15. Devo 2018a, p. 113.
  16. Devo 2018a, p. 111.
  17. "DEVO - New Traditionalists (LP Insert)". Chisholm Larsson Gallery. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  18. Valania, Jonathan (June 27, 2008). "DEVOLUTION FOR DUMMIES: Q&A With Mark Mothersbaugh". Phawker. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  19. Allmusic review
  20. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: devo". Robert Christgau. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  21. Isler, Scott (1983). Ira A. Robbins (ed.). The Trouser Press Guide to New Wave Records. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 79. ISBN 978-0684179445.
  22. Isler, Scott; Robbins, Ira; Neugebauer, Delvin. "Devo - Trouser Press". Trouser Press. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  23. "Devo". Billboard. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  24. "Warner Bros. Records and DEVO Announce the Release of Re-Mastered Versions of "DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTURE" and "NEW TRADITIONALISTS"". marketwire.com. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  25. Devo 2018b, p. 118.
  26. Devo 2018b, p. 121.
  27. Devo- Live In Boulder, Colorado 1981 (Footage!), archived from the original on December 13, 2021, retrieved May 26, 2021
  28. Devo - Opening Theme/Going Under (live, 1981, Boulder, CO/Seattle, WA), archived from the original on December 13, 2021, retrieved May 26, 2021
  29. DEVO: New Traditionalists tour footage (unknown location, 1981-1982), archived from the original on December 13, 2021, retrieved May 26, 2021
  30. "DEVO "Live 1981 Seattle" 2-LP Set: Record Store Day". Club Devo. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  31. "Devo to release 'New Traditionalists: Live 1981 Seattle' on CD with 2 bonus tracks". Slicing Up Eyeballs. April 1, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  32. Devo (2013). Live 1981 Seattle (CD liner notes). Booji Boy Records. CD-BOOJI-001.
  33. "DEVO Live Guide - 1981". huboon.com. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  34. "DEVO Live Guide - 1982". huboon.com. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  35. Mawby, Nathan (May 3, 2021). "ABC lists former Elsternwick studio where Countdown was filmed". Real Commercial. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  36. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 88. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  37. "Search – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  38. "charts.nz – Discography Devo". © 2006–2010 Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  39. Warwick, 2004. p.320
  40. "Official Charts > Devo". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  41. "Top Selling Albums of 1982 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  42. "Major fight economics with quirky rock originals". Billboard. June 12, 1982. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  43. "New Zealand album certifications – Devo – New traditionalists". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved June 6, 2019.



На других языках

- [en] New Traditionalists

[es] New Traditionalists

New Traditionalists es el cuarto álbum de estudio de la banda de música New Wave Devo, lanzado en 1981. Contiene los hits "Through Being Cool" y "Beautiful World". El estilo del sonido es similar al de su álbum anterior Freedom of Choice, con sintetizadores como sonidos principales y el uso de guitarras. Varias de las canciones incluyen baterías electrónicas por primera vez en un álbum de Devo.


Текст в блоке "Читать" взят с сайта "Википедия" и доступен по лицензии Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike; в отдельных случаях могут действовать дополнительные условия.

Другой контент может иметь иную лицензию. Перед использованием материалов сайта WikiSort.org внимательно изучите правила лицензирования конкретных элементов наполнения сайта.

2019-2025
WikiSort.org - проект по пересортировке и дополнению контента Википедии