"Devo" as an insult

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The worst fight I ever had in high school involved Devo. People would shout at me, "Hey, Devo! Fuck you!," and then try to beat me up.

Anyone else have this experience? It seems to have been commonplace. Did this insult extend to other regions? Were British schoolkids called Devo as well? How about Canadian?

― mike a (mike a), Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Man, mike, all the kids on my block in Kentucky liked Devo!

― hstencil, Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:17 (twenty-three years ago)

I knew someone from Fresno, CA who reported that people used to shout Devo at him (from passing cars, of course) during the time when he had a mohawk, or some such.

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:18 (twenty-three years ago)

Also, why was Devo singled out instead of, say, the Stray Cats or Joe Jackson, who were every bit as popular? My guess: the energy domes.

― mike a (mike a), Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Naw, prolly 'cause Devo's easier to yell!

― hstencil, Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah. "Hey DEEEE-VOOOOH!" Works well as an insult.

― mike a (mike a), Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:24 (twenty-three years ago)

was it a reference to the band?

― robin (robin), Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:26 (twenty-three years ago)

This seems to have been a pretty common anti-punker insult in the late '70s/early '80s U.S. I think Ian Mackaye talks about having that yelled at him in Dance of Days.

I have a friend in his 30s who told me about growing up in a small North Jersey town. The jukebox in his high school cafeteria had a way of cancelling songs in mid-play, and the jocks w

― die9o (dhadis), Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Once a homeless guy screamed at me from the sidewalk,"Yo,Bachman-Turner-Overdrive,ya got a quarter?" But I don't know if he meant it as an insult. I took it as a compliment and not a comment on my weight or anything.(I have long hair and dress in my standard Connecticut hick/lumberjack uniform.)

― Scott Seward, Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:32 (twenty-three years ago)

damn it finish that post

― Jon Williams (ex machina), Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:33 (twenty-three years ago)

there's a really entertaining bit in 'we got the neutron bomb' about this, with people giving testimonials about the time some dude in a pickup screamed at them. the band members seem rather confused as to why they became a universal insult, at least in california.
see also a panel in an old 'eightball' comic about a young man's move to the city that has a crank neighbor screaming "yo, devo!" at him. for whatever reason it seems like a fairly well-established put down, and i must admit that it totally cracks me up.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:48 (twenty-three years ago)

I saw that We Got The Neutron Bomb reference. Didn't Devo themselves comment on it in the book? I think so.

― mike a (mike a), Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:49 (twenty-three years ago)

I plan to add this to my vocabulary!

― Jon Williams (ex machina), Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:49 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd take it as a compliment, personally.

I keep thinking of that scene in "Pulp Fiction" where Samuel L. Jackson calls his future gunshot-victim, "Hey Flock of Seagulls, keep chillin'"

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 6 March 2003 18:59 (twenty-three years ago)

"Hey Flock of Seagulls, keep chillin'"

I didn't remember that from that movie, but I've started using "FoS" as a catch-all phrase to describe anyone with a goofy sideways 80s haircut I've seen in NYC (which has been a lot!).

― hstencil, Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:00 (twenty-three years ago)

mothersbaugh and casale are both quoted about the phenomenon, and so is john doe. apparently "devo!" was almost always employed in tandem with "fag!".

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:02 (twenty-three years ago)

It's pretty much in the beginning when Travolta and Jackson show up and re-possess the briefcase from a Big Kahuna Burger-munching Frank Whaley & chums.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh Alex thanks altho I don't like that movie much so I prolly won't check it out again soon.

Flock of Seagulls should be used more often than Devo as an insult - it's so much more descriptive!

― hstencil, Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Anyone else have this experience?
Apparently Henry Rollins did. His co-workers also sneered "Little Buzzcock" at him.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:04 (twenty-three years ago)

oh, right. Like I was saying...

I have a friend in his 30s who told me about growing up in a small North Jersey town. The jukebox in his high school cafeteria had a way of cancelling songs in mid-play, and the jocks would cancel his selection every time he chose Devo. Once he tried to get them back by cancelling their BTO selection (or whatever) and they jumped him before he even made it to the jukebox. I don't think they called him Devo, though.

― die9o (dhadis), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Wasn't Henry Rollins the manager at the Ice Cream place where he worked (with the Elder McKaye)?

― Jon Williams (ex machina), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:06 (twenty-three years ago)

yep--Haagen-Dazs.

― die9o (dhadis), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Well, the coworkers in question were at the NIH

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:09 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't think the NIH had any ice cream.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:10 (twenty-three years ago)

I do remember getting a striking amount of negative commentary from total strangers for wearing a Devo New Traditionalists t-shirt back in those days.

"Hey, kid, Devo SUCKS!" etc.

Idiots.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:10 (twenty-three years ago)

But he DID work at a pet shop with Ian McKaye. And they were both in bands at the time. They shoulda joined forces and formed a band called the Pet Shop Boys.
Oh, wait...

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh yeah, Hank was raising mice or something?

― Jon Williams (ex machina), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Nope. Exterminating Them.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Well, I thought he did both - feeding, etc.

― Jon Williams (ex machina), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:21 (twenty-three years ago)

yep. Fed 'em food...then fed him lethal does of C02. Nice work if you can get it.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 6 March 2003 19:23 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...

hey devo!

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 7 March 2004 21:36 (twenty-two years ago)

"Devo" as an insult is so "Square Pegs"

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 March 2004 21:54 (twenty-two years ago)

http://dogwood.phpwebhosting.com/~tvshrine/pegs/pegsmarshjohn.jpg

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 March 2004 21:55 (twenty-two years ago)

http://dogwood.phpwebhosting.com/~tvshrine/pegs/pegsdevomarsh.jpg

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 March 2004 21:55 (twenty-two years ago)

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 7 March 2004 21:56 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/5159/sp_cast.jpg

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 March 2004 21:57 (twenty-two years ago)

(geocities can go to hell)

http://epguides.com/SquarePegs/cast.jpg

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 March 2004 22:00 (twenty-two years ago)

(geocities can go to hell)

i'd like it if they liked us, but i don't think they like us.

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 7 March 2004 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.skaterock.com/features/briefs/briefs-flier.jpg

ts: geocities vs. moribund punk bands parasitic of "Square Pegs" culture

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 7 March 2004 22:09 (twenty-two years ago)

haha

http://www.skaterock.com/features/briefs/briefs-git-drum.jpg

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 7 March 2004 22:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Good god. Kill them.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 7 March 2004 22:13 (twenty-two years ago)

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