Did Devo make any money; where's the story of Devo

[r***@excite.com]

Did Devo take a long time to see any money from their records? Bands
get shafted by their labels a lot. This happened to Joe Jackson ("Is
She Really Going Out With Him").

Is there an accurate bio of Devo? The one at www.devobook.com is said
to be inaccurate.

[Gary Childs]

Post by r***@excite.com
Did Devo take a long time to see any money from their records? Bands
get shafted by their labels a lot.

Devo were treated in the typical way that bands are treated by the record
industry. The music industry has creative accountants. Devo were labor owned
by a corporation, and were the last to get paid.

Post by r***@excite.com
Is there an accurate bio of Devo? The one at www.devobook.com is said
to be inaccurate.

Most bios of Devo are pretty accurate. Jerry disagreed with some of the
details in the book.
If you ask 10 different people - you get 10 different stories.
Even Mark & Jerry have differing opinions on certain details.

[Boom]

Post by Gary Childs

Post by r***@excite.com
Did Devo take a long time to see any money from their records? Bands
get shafted by their labels a lot.

Devo were treated in the typical way that bands are treated by the record
industry. The music industry has creative accountants. Devo were labor owned
by a corporation, and were the last to get paid.

Of course, it didn't help that Devo were putting on grand spectacles
of shows that cost way more than they were taking in and putting out
overwrought albums of state of the art synth pop that cost half a
million dollars each, along with videos that looked better than most
movies of their day. You gotta love them for wanting to please their
fans so much that they plowed just about every cent they made into
their albums and shows, but much more than record company
mismanagement, that was their downfall. Personally, I liked them
better when they were struggling to make music on two guitars, a
couple of cheap synths and a clavinet.

Post by Gary Childs

Post by r***@excite.com
Is there an accurate bio of Devo? The one at www.devobook.com is said
to be inaccurate.

Most bios of Devo are pretty accurate. Jerry disagreed with some of the
details in the book.
If you ask 10 different people - you get 10 different stories.
Even Mark & Jerry have differing opinions on certain details.

True enough. And although I think there were certain aspects that the
authors probably exaggerated, I don't have a hard time believing most
of it. Especially the parts about Jerry being a pretty ruthless guy
who was hard to get along with. On the other hand, Jerry was also the
guy in the band who got things done. If not for him, I seriously
doubt that anyone outside of Ohio would have any idea who Devo was.

[r***@excite.com]

Are there any articles online about this stuff?

How was Jerry ruthless??

[r***@excite.com]

Regarding Devo making moola, I once read (I think on this group) that
they did a huge world tour that made millions of dollars and the
bandmembers each got $16,000 and that was it. Is that true?

[Gary Childs]

Post by r***@excite.com
I once read (I think on this group) that
they did a huge world tour that made millions of dollars and the
bandmembers each got $16,000 and that was it. Is that true?

Yeah that's right. The tour grossed 2 million, and they got 16K each.
Creative accounting.

[jt]

Post by Gary Childs

Post by r***@excite.com
I once read (I think on this group) that
they did a huge world tour that made millions of dollars and the
bandmembers each got $16,000 and that was it. Is that true?

Yeah that's right. The tour grossed 2 million, and they got 16K each.
Creative accounting.

Here's what you guys don't uderstand:

The tour GROSSED $2M, that means the total cost of tickets sold was $2M.

But ths is how it works:

The booking agent, who works for the band, calls a series of promoters
in each city that band is intersted in playing in, and asks the
promoters if they're interested in doing a show.

The promoter makes an offer to the band of how much they are willing to
pay for the show. After word gets out that a good band is touring,
sometimes the promoters will call the booking agents.
either way, the booking agent sells the tour to the prooter for a set
fee. Sometimes there is a bonus or a percentage on top of the fee if
the show sells out.

A band like Devo, at their peak, was getting maybe $50K for their fee,
with possibly a bonus for sell-outs.
By the Total Devo tour, it was probably more like $5K - $8K.

The promoter then rents the venue, hires the security staff, the
bartenders, the stage crew, and pays for all of the advertising. He
then sets the ticket price, based on what the thinks the market will
bear, and collects all money from the ticket sales.

If the show sells out, he does well and keeps all the money, minus his
(considerable) expenses (SOME of which are listed above), which
includes paying the band their pre-determied amount.

If the show tanks, the band still gets their guaranteed amount, and the
promoter loses.

Now, out of the band's guarantee, they have to pay for their personal
crew (stage techs, sound and lighting people), tour busses, bus
drivers, tour managers, gas for the bus, hotel rooms between gigs, food
and per diems for all band and crew memebers, insurance, gear
maintenance, and more. On days off with no gig, they're paying for all
of this stuff with no income.

MOST tours are lucky to break even.

The reason they do it, is to promote record sales, and to sell
merchandise, which is where the majority of the profit comes in on big
tours.
The promoter will usually reap 10-25% of merch sales, and of course
the band has to factor in the cost of having the t-shirts and other
stuff made, but they can usually make more off of the merch than off of
their guaranteed fee for playing - after the expenses are factored.

If Devo, circa 1980, only made $16k per member for a tour, that doesn't
actually surprise me.
It seems a little low, but not outrageously so.
Especially since those expensive sets, the trucks to haul them in, and
the techs to build them every night had to be paid for out of their
performance fees.
How long was the tour?
Eight to ten weeks is standard for a north American tour - This is
$2000 per guy, per week - that doesn't seem like a bad income, in 1980
dollars.

And they made cash on the back end from their merch sales.

If they'd been smarter about signing their admittedly bad record deal,
they also would have seen more royalties from record sales during the
touring months.
This is documented for almost all bands - record sales spike when
you're on tour.


- James
(who spent most of the 1990s on tour with Ministry, Pigface, Royal
Crown Revue, and others)

[Gary Childs]

Post by jt
If Devo, circa 1980, only made $16k per member for a tour, that doesn't
actually surprise me.

It makes me wonder what they paid the roadies.

Post by jt
How long was the tour?
Eight to ten weeks is standard for a north American tour - This is
$2000 per guy, per week - that doesn't seem like a bad income, in 1980
dollars.

It was a world tour.

[m***@yahoo.com]

It's not at all uncommon for the "hired" crew (roadies, lights,
soundman, etc.) to come off a tour with more $ than the musicians,
since they're getting a salary, while the musicians have to settle for
a percentage of the net remains. A friend of mine went from making a
decent salary to making essentially nothing when he switched from
soundman to rhythm guitar for a (then-) signed band.

[jt]

Post by m***@yahoo.com
It's not at all uncommon for the "hired" crew (roadies, lights,
soundman, etc.) to come off a tour with more $ than the musicians,
since they're getting a salary, while the musicians have to settle for
a percentage of the net remains. A friend of mine went from making a
decent salary to making essentially nothing when he switched from
soundman to rhythm guitar for a (then-) signed band.

Yes, when I was playing keyboards for Pigface, I got $440 per WEEK (for
six to seven shows), and NO per diem.

When I was programming samplers for Ministry (less than two years
later), I got twice that, plus $30/day per diem.... and we only did
three shows a week.

Granted, Ministry in in the middle-1990s was a much bigger band than
Pigface, but the basic point that the above poster and myself are
making is solid...

[Stiiv]

Post by r***@excite.com
Regarding Devo making moola, I once read (I think on this group) that
they did a huge world tour that made millions of dollars and the
bandmembers each got $16,000 and that was it. Is that true?

Lots of dough went up people's noses, too. Ask Bob1.

Stiiv
http://www.stiiv.com

[P. F.]

Post by r***@excite.com
Regarding Devo making moola, I once read (I think on this group) that
they did a huge world tour that made millions of dollars and the
bandmembers each got $16,000 and that was it. Is that true?

It was the world tour for the Nutra album, at the end of the tour each band
member received a check for @ $15,000.....It was in an article in a magazine
that I havent been able to find in years

[Gary Childs]

Post by P. F.
It was the world tour for the Nutra album, at the end of the tour each
magazine that I havent been able to find in years

Here's an online source:
http://cluefree.org/devo/Jerry.shtml

The Devo Faq:
"A prime example of this was a world tour of theirs that grossed over $2
million. Each member of Devo got a check for $16K"

Jerry told me it was the Nutra tour.

[Gary Childs]

Post by r***@excite.com
How was Jerry ruthless??

Read the book.
Believe it or not.
Jerry says not.

[Gary Childs]

Post by Boom
Of course, it didn't help that Devo were putting on grand spectacles
of shows that cost way more than they were taking in

The only shows that could be considered elaborate are the FOC and Nutra
tours. At the time they were taking in quite a bit of money, so spending on
a decent stage set-up wasn't unjustified. The Oh No tour was basically just
a cost effective rear projection screen, and any tours after that were bare
bones affairs. If the FOC & Nutra tours ruined them financially, then they
never would have been able to do Shout, Total Devo, or Smooth Noodle Maps.

Post by Boom
and putting out
overwrought albums of state of the art synth pop that cost half a
million dollars each, along with videos that looked better than most
movies of their day.

After the afterglow of "Whip It" faded, Devo adjusted and worked on a
smaller budget. Jerry said during an interview that on the Oh No tour they
had less funds to work with. They were aware of the reduced profits and
acted accordingly. Portraying them as mindlessly free-spending nincompoops
isn't accurate or fair. The videos for Oh No were pretty cheaply done. I
doubt that much money was spent on the last couple of records. There was
little money at Enigma.

Post by Boom
they plowed just about every cent they made into
their albums and shows

To make money, you have to spend money. If you put on a good show the fans
will come back for more. You make it sound like they filed Chaper 11, but
they continued to release albums on a much smaller budget, and tour. The
public only cares about what they play on the radio, and the radio had no-no
Devo.

Post by Boom
but much more than record company
mismanagement, that was their downfall.

Their shrinking marketability is the result of their inability to have a
follow-up hit song after "Whip It". Without a hit song, people don't buy the
album, or go to see the tour. Their record sales were in a downward spiral
with each release. The public is fickle and has a short memory. Devo also
listened to their management, who told them to leave Warner Brothers and
sign with a record comapny that was basically a sinking ship. They took some
bad advice from people who were supposed to be on their side, and act in
their best interests.

[Boom]

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom
Of course, it didn't help that Devo were putting on grand spectacles
of shows that cost way more than they were taking in

The only shows that could be considered elaborate are the FOC and Nutra
tours. At the time they were taking in quite a bit of money, so spending on
a decent stage set-up wasn't unjustified. The Oh No tour was basically just
a cost effective rear projection screen, and any tours after that were bare
bones affairs. If the FOC & Nutra tours ruined them financially, then they
never would have been able to do Shout, Total Devo, or Smooth Noodle Maps.

Shout was made because they had two hit albums before and there was
hope that Devo could pull it together for another one. Their orignla
contract ended with "Oh No" and Shout was a last ditch effort. The
Enigma albums were done at greatly reduced budgets. The record
companies made small profits off Devo's 4th and 5th albums, but Shout
did not, and WEA pulled tour support.

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom
and putting out
overwrought albums of state of the art synth pop that cost half a
million dollars each, along with videos that looked better than most
movies of their day.

After the afterglow of "Whip It" faded, Devo adjusted and worked on a
smaller budget. Jerry said during an interview that on the Oh No tour they
had less funds to work with. They were aware of the reduced profits and
acted accordingly. Portraying them as mindlessly free-spending nincompoops
isn't accurate or fair. The videos for Oh No were pretty cheaply done. I
doubt that much money was spent on the last couple of records. There was
little money at Enigma.

See, you say that they weren't free-spending but they did things like
perforating an album cover to turn it into a display standee for your
house that cost them 50c out of every dollar they earned. And they
put on massive shows in 2000 seat auditoriums that weren't even sold
out.

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom
they plowed just about every cent they made into
their albums and shows

To make money, you have to spend money. If you put on a good show the fans
will come back for more. You make it sound like they filed Chaper 11, but
they continued to release albums on a much smaller budget, and tour. The
public only cares about what they play on the radio, and the radio had no-no
Devo.

Agreed, but when you spend so much money that you only get $16,000
apiece from a world tour, is that the fault of the record company or
the band?

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom
but much more than record company
mismanagement, that was their downfall.

Their shrinking marketability is the result of their inability to have a
follow-up hit song after "Whip It". Without a hit song, people don't buy the
album, or go to see the tour. Their record sales were in a downward spiral
with each release. The public is fickle and has a short memory.

They seem to remember tons of bands that had been around for years and
years, though. This business about the public being fickle is sort of
true, but the public does not have a short memory. Devo just didn't
do compelling material for the most part.

Post by Gary Childs
Devo also
listened to their management, who told them to leave Warner Brothers and
sign with a record comapny that was basically a sinking ship. They took some
bad advice from people who were supposed to be on their side, and act in
their best interests.

Devo got dropped from WB, they didn't walk away. I love Devo, but
it's the truth.

[Fr@nk P@nucc|]

Post by Boom
Of course, it didn't help

So the story has gone in a few places, before DEVO even got started,
Warner Brothers had to pay a large settlement to Bob Lewis because of
Casale's denial of Lewis' hand in DEVO's origin. So, on top of the
usualy skullduggery with record company accounting, there was a huge,
undeniable expense that had to be paid off to Warners' by DEVO, an
albatross of an expense that had nothing to do with making music.

In addition, I seem to remember, from articles and the DEVO book, that
DEVO suffered from ELP syndrome. In 1977 ELP toured with a big
orchestra. There were big tractor trailer convoys full of equipment and
squirming classical musicians I read and listened to all the interviews
from that era. Emerson or Lake actually said, more than once in public,
"We expect to lose money on this tour. There's simply no way it can be
profitable. It's all about the music, man" with SPINALTAP diction and
attitude. So, they had to ditch the orchestra eventually and lost money
anyway. To add insult to insult, the orchestra didn't respect the
material and didn't play worth a damn.

Sometimes it's hard to understand DEVO's profound lack of popularity, if
you like them as much as I do. They were responsible for much of the
sound of pop music of the eighties and the erbin hip-hoppery that
followed. They were an art band and a rock band and an
electronic-tekno-geeko band and they created pop culture iconography
that persists today, frequently without attribution. Yet, they can't
sell 5000 copies of one of their best albums, RECOMBO DNA. Meanwhile,
Titney and Madonka and a gaggle of semi-teen bitches and bastids move
tons of product into the pallid, graspy tendrils of bleating young who,
before they realize what is happening, will wake up in a military
hospital minus several limbs and an eye or two.


____________________
www.frankpanucci.com
http://reperkussionz.blogspot.com/

[Gary Childs]

before DEVO even got started, Warner Brothers had to pay a large
settlement to Bob Lewis because of Casale's denial of Lewis' hand in
DEVO's origin. So, on top of the usualy skullduggery with record company
accounting, there was a huge, undeniable expense that had to be paid off
to Warners' by DEVO, an albatross of an expense that had nothing to do
with making music.

That's right. WB had a grudge against Devo right off the bat.

Meanwhile, Titney and Madonka and a gaggle of semi-teen bitches and
bastids move tons of product into the pallid, graspy tendrils of bleating
young who, before they realize what is happening, will wake up in a
military hospital minus several limbs and an eye or two.

Devo was right. The public is wrong.

[Gary Childs]

Post by Boom
See, you say that they weren't free-spending but they did things like
perforating an album cover to turn it into a display standee for your
house that cost them 50c out of every dollar they earned.

Even if Devo were extreme penny pinchers in every respect, it still would
not have extended their existence as a band that continued to release albums
and tour. The Enigma records didn't sell and had poor distribution, and not
perforating an album cover at WB wasn't going to help the situation. Even if
they saved all their money from the early 80's, it wouldn't make any albums
that they might have released after "Smooth Noodle Maps" sell. Maybe they
would have had more money in the bank, but that money would not have funded
more albums that didn't sell, and venues that they couldn't fill. To survive
as a band they needed support from a record company with some pull, which in
Enigma, they didn't have. Devo wouldn't have funded their careers with their
personal savings. A business venture bases it's spending on it's income, and
it closes down when the market isn't there. Devo just wasn't considered a
profitable investment for major record company. The 80's New Wave movement
was dead.

Post by Boom
And they
put on massive shows in 2000 seat auditoriums that weren't even sold
out.

Well, I saw the Nutra tour and the place was packed. But really, that's the
booking agent's job.

Post by Boom
Agreed, but when you spend so much money that you only get $16,000
apiece from a world tour, is that the fault of the record company or
the band?

You assume that they spent the balance of that on the tour?
You really believe that the tour cost $1,920,000 to put on?
I think somebody cooked the books.

Post by Boom

Post by Gary Childs
The public is fickle and has a short memory.

They seem to remember tons of bands that had been around for years and
years, though.

They seem to buy a lot of Kelly Clarkson albums too.
No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American
people.

Post by Boom
Devo just didn't
do compelling material for the most part.

Most group's later albums are never quite as good as their earlier work.
The Rolling Sones haven't put out a good album since the 1960's, and yet
they make millions on elaborate tours and spend insane amounts of money on
elaborate stage sets. The point is that groups can put out bad albums, and
are still able to tour and make money. Devo's later albums weren't any worse
than the quality of most groups later work, in fact, I feel that even the
later stuff is pretty good, as far as later albums go.

Post by Boom
Devo got dropped from WB, they didn't walk away. I love Devo, but
it's the truth.

"We forced them to drop us. We had bad management advice. We were with a
very big agent. A very big name manager, and he gave us wrong advice." -
Mark Mothersbaugh - The Hard Report 8/31/90

You say you love Devo and yet you say "Devo just didn't do compelling
material for the most part."
I'd prefer listening to Devo's Enigma catalog as opposed to the crap that
was in the top twenty at the time.
There were a million pop hair metal bands clogging the airwaves.
Thank you Kurt Cobain for wiping then from the earth.

[Boom]

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom
See, you say that they weren't free-spending but they did things like
perforating an album cover to turn it into a display standee for your
house that cost them 50c out of every dollar they earned.

Even if Devo were extreme penny pinchers in every respect, it still would
not have extended their existence as a band that continued to release albums
and tour. The Enigma records didn't sell and had poor distribution, and not
perforating an album cover at WB wasn't going to help the situation.

It would have helped them make more money.

Post by Gary Childs
Even if
they saved all their money from the early 80's, it wouldn't make any albums
that they might have released after "Smooth Noodle Maps" sell. Maybe they
would have had more money in the bank, but that money would not have funded
more albums that didn't sell, and venues that they couldn't fill. To survive
as a band they needed support from a record company with some pull, which in
Enigma, they didn't have. Devo wouldn't have funded their careers with their
personal savings. A business venture bases it's spending on it's income, and
it closes down when the market isn't there. Devo just wasn't considered a
profitable investment for major record company. The 80's New Wave movement
was dead.

Here's the strange thing about that...Poison was on Enigma and had
absolutely no problem breaking out bigtime. They broke so big that
EMI had to be called in to carry the ball because Enigma on their own
couldn't handle how big they got. Yet Devo called Enigma incompetent.
While it's true that they eventually did go broke and out of business,
they did score big with Poison.

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom
And they
put on massive shows in 2000 seat auditoriums that weren't even sold
out.

Well, I saw the Nutra tour and the place was packed. But really, that's the
booking agent's job.

Everything comes back to the product eventually.

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom
Agreed, but when you spend so much money that you only get $16,000
apiece from a world tour, is that the fault of the record company or
the band?

You assume that they spent the balance of that on the tour?
You really believe that the tour cost $1,920,000 to put on?
I think somebody cooked the books.

Maybe. But they had a massive show with like two semis worth of stuff
and two buses. That plus however many guys were on the crew adds up
quick. Was it $1.9 million worth of show? I don't know. But it
definitely wasn't cheap.

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom

Post by Gary Childs
The public is fickle and has a short memory.

They seem to remember tons of bands that had been around for years and
years, though.

They seem to buy a lot of Kelly Clarkson albums too.
No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American
people.

That's not true. I underestimate the intelligence of the American
public all the time and I'm not exactly rolling in dough ;)

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom
Devo just didn't
do compelling material for the most part.

Most group's later albums are never quite as good as their earlier work.
The Rolling Sones haven't put out a good album since the 1960's, and yet
they make millions on elaborate tours and spend insane amounts of money on
elaborate stage sets.

The Rolling Stones also sold massive amounts of the albums that you
don't consider good, and even though their album sales are now in the
shitter, their concerts still sell out arenas at $300 a ticket.

Post by Gary Childs
The point is that groups can put out bad albums, and
are still able to tour and make money. Devo's later albums weren't any worse
than the quality of most groups later work, in fact, I feel that even the
later stuff is pretty good, as far as later albums go.

Every album had at least a couple songs that were good. But nothing
like the first 3 albums.

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom
Devo got dropped from WB, they didn't walk away. I love Devo, but
it's the truth.

"We forced them to drop us. We had bad management advice. We were with a
very big agent. A very big name manager, and he gave us wrong advice." -
Mark Mothersbaugh - The Hard Report 8/31/90

No doubt there were tons of bad decisions made and bad advice given.
But in the end, it's the band signing off on everything.

Post by Gary Childs
You say you love Devo and yet you say "Devo just didn't do compelling
material for the most part."
I'd prefer listening to Devo's Enigma catalog as opposed to the crap that
was in the top twenty at the time.

Agreed, but we were in the minority.

Post by Gary Childs
There were a million pop hair metal bands clogging the airwaves.
Thank you Kurt Cobain for wiping then from the earth.

LOL...and now Courtney Love is determined to make him a joke by
selling her interest in Nirvana to a guy who wants to make Kutr Cobain
dolls.

[Pink Pussycat]

Post by Boom
LOL...and now Courtney Love is determined to make him a joke by
selling her interest in Nirvana to a guy who wants to make Kutr Cobain
dolls.

Looks like she's taking a hint from Yoko Ono. . . though Yoko wouldn't
give up the rights to exploit John Lennon for anything. Well, maybe in
exchange for being more famous than John.

~Pink

[Gary Childs]

Post by Boom
It would have helped them make more money.

Yeah, they could of skipped the gimmicks, the videos, the stage sets, but
that wasn't what Devo was about. They were a visual band before they were a
real band.

Post by Boom
Here's the strange thing about that...Poison was on Enigma and had
absolutely no problem breaking out bigtime.

Yeah, but look at what Poison was selling. The same cliched, cookie-cutter,
bad boy, rock star act that has been sold over and over again. It's tougher
to sell a concept like Devo.

Post by Boom
Everything comes back to the product eventually.

Devo sold 6 million albums, mostly based on the strength of a single whose
content was misunderstood. Looking at where they came from, and their
influences and interests; it was amazing they did as well as they did. You
can attribute most of their success to a total fluke.

Post by Boom
Was it $1.9 million worth of show? I don't know. But it
definitely wasn't cheap.

Somebody made a lot of money on those tours.

Post by Boom
That's not true. I underestimate the intelligence of the American
public all the time and I'm not exactly rolling in dough ;)

You just need a way to market it.
Start your own religion or something.
Invent the next pet rock.

Post by Boom
The Rolling Stones also sold massive amounts of the albums that you
don't consider good

That's right. They had lots of hits that pushed those albums. To get hits -
you need airplay.
To get airplay to need to bribe the right people.

Post by Boom
Every album had at least a couple songs that were good. But nothing
like the first 3 albums.

I'd say that their of consistent quality dropped after Oh No.
Shout seemed a little empty on some tracks.

Post by Boom
No doubt there were tons of bad decisions made and bad advice given.
But in the end, it's the band signing off on everything.

They were told "why are you staying with Warners - you get no respect there.
I can get you a better deal all over town"

Post by Boom
Agreed, but we were in the minority.

That's right. I guess I look at Devo as an obscure band that had little
potential of ever escaping the underground, and yet became massively
successful, and not as a major act that flopped and faded into the
background.

Post by Boom
LOL...and now Courtney Love is determined to make him a joke by
selling her interest in Nirvana to a guy who wants to make Kutr Cobain
dolls.

Hey, it costs money to be that high all the time.

[m***@yahoo.com]

Post by Gary Childs
That's right. I guess I look at Devo as an obscure band that had little
potential of ever escaping the underground, and yet became massively
successful, and not as a major act that flopped and faded into the
background.

While I don't disagree with that statement, I think that Devo *did*
desire and try to work towards commercial success, in a way that their
contemporaries who stayed in the underground (Pere Ubu, for instance)
never did. (The comments in the Devo bio from Ubu's David Thomas
contrasting the two bands are quite astute IMHO.)

And remember, VERY few bands, even major label bands with actual hits,
ever get rich from their music. The "break even" point for
heavily-promoted major label releases is extremely high. If all six
Warners albums had sold as many copies as 'Freedom of Choice', then
they might have had a chance. I'm sure there are many members of bands
who were more successful than Devo in the 79-82 period who are worse
off than the Mothersbaugh & Casale brothers these days.

(Incidentally, their manager was Elliot Roberts, who, as Neil Young's
manager, allowed him to embark on a tour [1982 Europe Trans] that lost
millions, and also stupidly (at least in hindsight) advised him to
leave Reprise records ... exactly the same "mistakes" Devo made, but
Neil Young sells a lot more records, so those weren't as much of a
problem for him. But I don't think you can really blame either of
those for Devo not being rich.)

Interesting comments on this from all, thanks!

Doug

[Gary Childs]

Post by Boom
perforating an album cover to turn it into a display standee for your
house that cost them 50c out of every dollar they earned.

You had it a little mixed up. I was just re-reading the infamous Devo book,
and read that perforating the album cost them 10 cents on the 50 cents they
were making per album.

[r***@excite.com]

I read that Devo was mad at Enigma for doing a poor job of distributing
that live album that had the rock face on the cover.

[Boom]

Post by Gary Childs

Post by Boom
perforating an album cover to turn it into a display standee for your
house that cost them 50c out of every dollar they earned.

You had it a little mixed up. I was just re-reading the infamous Devo book,
and read that perforating the album cost them 10 cents on the 50 cents they
were making per album.

It adds up.