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Damon Runyon

Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American journalist and short-story writer.

He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from Brooklyn or Midtown Manhattan. The adjective Runyonesque refers to this type of character and the type of situations and dialog that Runyon depicts. He spun humorous and sentimental tales of gamblers, hustlers, actors, and gangsters, few of whom go by "square" names, preferring instead colorful monikers such as "Nathan Detroit", "Benny Southstreet", "Big Jule", "Harry the Horse", "Good Time Charley", "Dave the Dude", or "The Seldom Seen Kid".

His distinctive vernacular style is known as Runyonese: a mixture of formal speech and colorful slang, almost always in the present tense, and always devoid of contractions. He is credited with coining the phrase "Hooray Henry", a term now used in British English to describe the upper-class version of a loud-mouthed, arrogant twit.

Runyon's fictional world is also known to the general public through the musical Guys and Dolls based on two of his stories, "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure". The musical additionally borrows characters and story elements from a few other Runyon stories, most notably "Pick The Winner". The film Little Miss Marker (and its three remakes, Sorrowful Jones, 40 Pounds of Trouble and the 1980 Little Miss Marker) grew from his short story of the same name.

Runyon was also a newspaper reporter, covering sports and general news for decades for various publications and syndicates owned by William Randolph Hearst. Already known for his fiction, he wrote a well-remembered "present tense" article on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Presidential inauguration in 1933 for the Universal Service, a Hearst syndicate, which was merged with the co-owned International News Service in 1937.

Early life
Damon Runyon was born Alfred Damon Runyan to Alfred Lee and Elizabeth (Damon) Runyan. His relatives in his birthplace of Manhattan, Kansas, included several newspapermen. His grandfather was a newspaper printer from New Jersey who had relocated to Manhattan, Kansas, in 1855, and his father was the editor of his newspaper in the town. In 1882 Runyon's father was forced to sell his newspaper, and the family moved westward. The family eventually settled in Pueblo, Colorado, in 1887, where Runyon spent the rest of his youth. By most accounts, he attended school only through the fourth grade. He began to work in the newspaper trade under his father in Pueblo. In present-day Pueblo, Runyon Field, the Damon Runyon Repertory Theater Company, and Runyon Lake are named in his honor.

Enlistment in the military
In 1898, when still in his teens, Runyon enlisted in the US Army to fight in the Spanish–American War. While in the service, he was assigned to write for the Manila Freedom and Soldier's Letter.

Newspaper reporter
After military service, he worked for Colorado newspapers, beginning in Pueblo. His first job as a reporter was in September 1900, when he was hired by the Pueblo Star; he then worked in the Rocky Mountain area during the first decade of the 1900s: at the Denver Daily News, he served as "sporting editor" (today a "sports editor") and then as a staff writer. His expertise was in covering the semi-professional teams in Colorado. He briefly managed a semi-pro team in Trinidad, Colorado. At one of the newspapers where he worked, the spelling of his last name was changed from "Runyan" to "Runyon", a change he let stand.

After failing in an attempt to organize a Colorado minor baseball league, which lasted less than a week, Runyon moved to New York City in 1910. In his first New York byline, the American editor dropped the "Alfred" and the name "Damon Runyon" appeared for the first time. For the next ten years, he covered the New York Giants and professional boxing for the New York American.

He was the Hearst newspapers' baseball columnist for many years, beginning in 1911, and his knack for spotting the eccentric and the unusual, on the field or in the stands, is credited with revolutionizing the way baseball was covered. Perhaps as confirmation, Runyon was voted 1967 J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), for which he was honored at ceremonies at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 1968. He is also a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame and is known for dubbing heavyweight champion James J. Braddock the "Cinderella Man". Runyon frequently contributed sports poems to the American on boxing and baseball themes and wrote numerous short stories and essays.

Gambling
Gambling, particularly on craps or horse races, was a common theme of Runyon's works, and he was a notorious gambler. One of his paraphrases from a line in Ecclesiastes ran: "The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's how the smart money bets."

A heavy drinker as a young man, he seems to have quit drinking soon after arriving in New York, after his drinking nearly cost him the courtship of the woman who became his first wife, Ellen Egan. He remained a heavy smoker.

His best friend was mobster accountant Otto Berman, and he incorporated Berman into several of his stories under the alias "Regret, the horse player". When Berman was killed in a hit on Berman's boss, Dutch Schultz, Runyon quickly assumed the role of damage control for his deceased friend, mostly by correcting erroneous press releases, including one that stated Berman was one of Schultz's gunmen, to which Runyon replied, "Otto would have been as effective a bodyguard as a two-year-old."

Personal life
While in New York City, Runyon courted and eventually married Ellen Egan. Their marriage produced two children, Mary and Damon Jr. A modern writer remarks that "by contemporary standards, Runyon was a marginal husband and father." In 1928, Egan separated from Runyon permanently and moved to Bronxville with their children after hearing persistent rumors about her husband's infidelities. As it became subsequently known, Runyon, in 1916, was covering the border raids of Mexican bandit Pancho Villa as a reporter for the American newspaper owned by William Randolph Hearst. He had first met Villa in Texas while covering spring training of the state's teams. While in Mexico, Runyon visited one afternoon the Ciudad Juárez racetrack where Villa was present and placed a bet through a young messenger girl in Villa's entourage. The 14-year-old girl, whose name was Patrice Amati del Grande, erroneously placed Runyon's bet on a different horse that nonetheless won the race. She confided to the lucky bettor that she wanted to be a dancer when she grew up and Runyon told her that if, instead, she would attend school, for which he would pay, she could come after her graduation to see him New York and he would get her a dancing job in the city; Runyon did indeed pay for her enrollment in the local convent school.

In 1925, 19-year-old Grande came to New York City looking for Runyon and found him through the American's receptionist. The two became lovers and he found her work at local speakeasies. In 1928, after the separation between Runyon and Ellen Egan turned into a divorce, Runyon and Grande were married by his friend, city mayor Jimmy Walker. His former wife became an alcoholic and died in 1931 from a heart attack. In 1946, some time after Grande began an affair with a younger man, the couple got divorced.

Death
In late 1946, the same year he and his second wife were divorced, Runyon died, at age 66, in New York City from the throat cancer that had been diagnosed two years earlier, in 1944, when he underwent an unsuccessful operation that left him practically unable to speak.

His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered from a DC-3 airplane over Broadway in Manhattan by Eddie Rickenbacker on December 18, 1946. This was an infringement of the law but widely approved. The family plot of Damon Runyon is located at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.

Runyon, in his will, left to his former second wife his house in Florida, his racing stables, and the money from his insurance. He split in half the royalties from his works to his children and Grande. His daughter Mary was eventually institutionalized for alcoholism while his son Damon Jr., after working as a journalist in Washington, D.C., died by suicide in 1968.

Legacy

 * After Runyon's death, his friend and fellow journalist Walter Winchell went on his radio program and appealed for contributions to help fight cancer, eventually establishing the Damon Runyon Cancer Memorial Fund to support scientific research into causes of, and prevention of, cancer.
 * The first-ever telethon was hosted by Milton Berle in 1949 to raise funds for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.
 * Each year the Denver Press Club assigns the Damon Runyon Award to a prominent journalist. Past winners include Jimmy Breslin, Mike Royko, George Will and Bob Costas.
 * Damon Runyon Elementary school in Littleton, Colorado is named after him.
 * The Damon Runyon Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race run every December at Aqueduct Race Track. Runyon loved horse racing and ran a small stable of his own.
 * In the mid-1930s, Runyon persuaded promoter Leo Seltzer to formally change his Roller Derby spectacle from a marathon roller-skating race into a full-contact team sport, an innovation that was eventually revived in a DIY spirit seven decades later.
 * One block of West 45th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues) in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen is named Runyon's Way.
 * The house in Manhattan, Kansas, where Runyon was born, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
 * In 2008, The Library of America selected "The Eternal Blonde", Runyon's account of a 1927 murder trial, for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American Crime Writing.
 * Until January 1944, the 515th B-24 bomber squadron "Satan's Kids", of the 376th Bomber Group named their bombers after Runyon "Gangster" characters,

Literary style – the "Broadway" stories

The English comedy writer Frank Muir comments that Runyon's plots were, in the manner of O. Henry, neatly constructed with professionally wrought endings, but their distinction lay in the manner of their telling, as the author invented a peculiar argot for his characters to speak. Runyon almost totally avoids the past tense (English humorist E. C. Bentley thought there was only one instance and was willing to "lay plenty of 6 to 5 that it is nothing but a misprint", but "was" appears in the short stories "The Lily of St Pierre" and "A Piece of Pie"; "had" appears in "The Lily of St Pierre", "Undertaker Song" and "Bloodhounds of Broadway" ), and makes little use of the future tense, using the present for both. He also avoided the conditional, using instead the future indicative in situations that would normally require conditional. An example: "Now most any doll on Broadway will be very glad indeed to have Handsome Jack Madigan give her a tumble" (Guys and Dolls, "Social error"). Bentley comments that "there is a sort of ungrammatical purity about it [Runyon's resolute avoidance of the past tense], an almost religious exactitude." There is an homage to Runyon that makes use of this peculiarity ("Chronic Offender" by Spider Robinson), which involves a time machine and a man going by the name "Harry the Horse".

He uses many slang terms (which go unexplained in his stories), such as:

 * pineapple = pineapple grenade
 * roscoe/john roscoe/the old equalizer/that thing = gun
 * shiv = knife
 * noggin = head
 * snoot = nose

There are many recurring composite phrases such as:

 * ever-loving wife (occasionally "ever-loving doll")
 * more than somewhat (or "no little, and quite some"); this phrase was so typical that it was used as the title of one of his short story collections
 * loathe and despise
 * one and all

Bentley notes that Runyon's "telling use of the recurrent phrase and fixed epithet" demonstrates a debt to Homer.

Runyon's stories also employ occasional rhyming slang, similar to the cockney variety but native to New York (e.g.: "Miss Missouri Martin makes the following crack one night to her: 'Well, I do not see any Simple Simon on your lean and linger.' This is Miss Missouri Martin's way of saying she sees no diamond on Miss Billy Perry's finger." (from "Romance in the Roaring Forties")).

The comic effect of his style results partly from the juxtaposition of broad slang with mock pomposity. Women, when not "dolls", "Judies", "pancakes", "tomatoes", or "broads", may be "characters of a female nature", for example. He typically avoided contractions such as "don't" in the example above, which also contributes significantly to the humorously pompous effect. In one sequence, a gangster tells another character to do as he is told, or else "find another world in which to live".

Runyon's short stories are told in the first person by a protagonist who is never named and whose role is unclear; he knows many gangsters and does not appear to have a job, but he does not admit to any criminal involvement, and seems to be largely a bystander. He describes himself as "being known to one and all as a guy who is just around". The radio program The Damon Runyon Theatre dramatized 52 of Runyon's works in 1949, and for these the protagonist was given the name "Broadway", although it was admitted that this was not his real name, much in the way "Harry the Horse" and "Sorrowful Jones" are aliases.

Poems

 * The Tents of Trouble (1911)
 * Rhymes of the Firing Line (1912)
 * Poems for Men (1947)

Story collections

 * Guys and Dolls (1932)
 * Blue Plate Special (1934)
 * Money From Home (1935)
 * More Than Somewhat (1937)
 * Furthermore (1938)
 * Take It Easy (1938)
 * My Wife Ethel (1939)
 * My Old Man (1939)
 * Runyon à la Carte (1944)
 * In Our Town (1946)
 * The Three Wise Guys and Other Stories (1946)
 * Damon Runyon Favorites (1946)
 * Trials and Other Tribulations (1947)

Collected newspaper columns

 * Short Takes (1946)
 * Trials and Other Tribulations (1947)

Compilations containing previously collected material

 * The Best of Runyon (1940)
 * Damon Runyon Favorites (1942)
 * The Damon Runyon Omnibus (1944)
 * Runyon First and Last (1949)
 * Runyon on Broadway (1950; introduction by E.C. Bentley)
 * More Guys and Dolls (1950)
 * The Turps (1951)
 * Damon Runyon from First to Last (1954)
 * A Treasury of Damon Runyon (1958)
 * The Bloodhounds of Broadway and Other Stories (1985)
 * Romance in the Roaring Forties and other stories (1986)
 * ''On Broadway (1990)
 * Guys, Dolls, and Curveballs: Damon Runyon on Baseball (2005; Jim Reisler, editor)
 * Guys and Dolls and Other Writings (2008; introduction by Pete Hamill)

Play

 * A Slight Case of Murder (with Howard Lindsay, 1940)

Biography

 * Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker (with W. Kiernan, 1942)

Stories
There are many collections of Runyon's stories, in particular Runyon on Broadway and Runyon from First to Last. A publisher's note in the latter claims that collection contains all of Runyon's short stories not included in Runyon on Broadway, but two Broadway stories originally published in Collier's Weekly are not in either collection: "Maybe a Queen" and "Leopard's Spots", both collected in More Guys And Dolls (1950). The radio show, in addition, has a story, "Joe Terrace", that appears in 'More Guys and Dolls' and the August 29, 1936, issue of Colliers. It is one of his "Our Town" stories that does not appear in the "In Our Town" book, and the only episode of the show which is not a Broadway' story, however, the action is changed in the show from Our Town to Broadway.

The "Our Town" stories are short vignettes of life in a small town, largely based on Runyon's experiences. They are written in a simple, descriptive style and contain twists and odd endings based on the personalities of the people involved. Each story's title is the name of the principal character. Twenty-seven of them were published in the 1946 book In Our Town.

Runyon on Broadway contains the following stories:

More Than Somewhat
 * Breach of Promise
 * Romance in the Roaring Forties
 * Dream Street Rose
 * The Old Doll's House
 * Blood Pressure
 * The Bloodhounds of Broadway
 * Tobias the Terrible
 * The Snatching of Bookie Bob
 * The Lily of St. Pierre
 * Hold 'em, Yale
 * Earthquake
 * 'Gentlemen, the King!'
 * A Nice Price
 * Broadway Financier
 * The Brain Goes Home

Furthermore
 * Madame La Gimp
 * Dancing Dan's Christmas
 * Sense of Humour
 * Lillian
 * Little Miss Marker
 * Pick the Winner
 * Undertaker Song
 * Butch Minds the Baby
 * The Hottest Guy in the World
 * The Lemon Drop Kid
 * What, No Butler?
 * The Three Wise Guys
 * A Very Honourable Guy
 * Princess O'Hara
 * Social Error

Take It Easy
 * Tight Shoes
 * Lonely Heart
 * The Brakeman's Daughter
 * Cemetery Bait
 * It Comes Up Mud
 * The Big Umbrella
 * For a Pal
 * Big Shoulders
 * That Ever-Loving Wife of Hymie's
 * Neat Strip
 * Bred for Battle
 * Too Much Pep
 * Baseball Hattie
 * Situation Wanted
 * A Piece of Pie
 * A Job for the Macarone
 * All Horse Players Die Broke

Runyon from First to Last includes the following stories and sketches:

The First Stories	(early non-Broadway stories): Stories à la Carte (Broadway stories written in Runyonese):
 * The Defence of Strikerville
 * Fat Fallon
 * Two Men Named Collins. First published in Reader Magazine, [Date Unknown]
 * As Between Friends
 * The Informal Execution of Soupbone Pew
 * My Father
 * Money from Home
 * A Story Goes With It
 * Broadway Complex
 * So You Won't Talk!

 * Dark Dolores
 * Delegates at Large
 * A Light in France
 * Old Em's Kentucky Home
 * Johnny One-Eye
 * Broadway Incident
 * The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown
 * The Melancholy Dane
 * Barbecue
 * Little Pinks
 * Palm Beach Santa Claus
 * Cleo
 * The Lacework Kid

The Last Stories (Broadway stories written in Runyonese): Written in Sickness (sketches):
 * Blonde Mink
 * Big Boy Blues
 * Why Me?
 * The Doctor Knows Best
 * No Life
 * Good Night
 * Bed-Warmers
 * Sweet Dreams
 * Passing the Word Along
 * Death Pays a Social Call

In Our Town contains the following stories:

 * Our Old Man (originally titled On Good Turns)
 * Samuel Graze
 * Pete Hankins
 * Jeremiah Zore
 * Mrs. Judson
 * The Happiness Joneses
 * Mrs. McGregor
 * Doc Brackett
 * Officer Lipscomber

 * Marigold and Maidie So
 * Sterling Curlew
 * Doc Mindler
 * Mrs. Pilplay
 * Sheriff Harding
 * Boswell Van Dusen
 * Dr. Davenport
 * Mrs. Bogane
 * Sam Crable

 * Ancil Toombs
 * Amy Vederman
 * Peter Chowles
 * Judge Juggins
 * Banker Beaverbrook
 * Judge Joes
 * Angel Kake
 * Bet Ragle
 * Hank Smith

The following "Our Town" stories were not included in In Our Town:

 * Joe Terrace
 * Burge McCall
 * Lou Louder

Uncollected stories

 * The Art of High Grading. Illustrated Sunday Magazine, January 2, 1910
 * The Sucker. San Francisco Examiner, July 10, 1910
 * Burge McCall. Collier's, July 11, 1936 (not in Runyonese)
 * Lou Louder. Collier's, August 8, 1936 (not in Runyonese)
 * Nothing Happens in Brooklyn. Collier's, April 30, 1938 (partly in Runyonese, but includes past tense)

Film
Twenty of his stories became motion pictures.
 * Lady for a Day (1933) – Adapted by Robert Riskin, who suggested the name change from Runyon's title "Madame La Gimp". The film garnered Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Frank Capra), Best Actress (May Robson), and Best Adaptation for the Screen (Riskin). It was remade as Pocketful of Miracles in 1961, with Bette Davis in the Apple Annie role (fused with the "raggedy doll" from Runyon's short story "The Brain Goes Home"); Frank Sinatra recorded the upbeat title song (his rendition is not used in the film). The film received Oscar nominations for composers Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen and for co-star Peter Falk (Best Supporting Actor). In 1989, Jackie Chan adapted the story yet again for the Hong Kong action film Miracles, adding several of his trademark stunt sequences.
 * Little Miss Marker (1934) – The film that made Shirley Temple a star, launched her career, and pushed her past Greta Garbo as the nation's biggest film draw of the year. Also starred Charles Bickford. Subsequent remakes include Sorrowful Jones (1949) with Bob Hope and Lucille Ball; 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) with Tony Curtis, and Little Miss Marker (1980) with Walter Matthau, Julie Andrews, Bob Newhart and Curtis.
 * The Lemon Drop Kid (1934) – Starring Lee Tracy, remade in 1951 with Bob Hope (and I Love Lucy co-star William Frawley appearing in both adaptations); the latter version introduced the Christmas song "Silver Bells".
 * Princess O'Hara (1935) – Starring Jean Parker, remade in 1943 as It Ain't Hay with Abbott and Costello and Patsy O'Connor
 * Professional Soldier (1935) – an adventure story starring Victor McLaglen and Freddie Bartholomew
 * A Slight Case of Murder (1938) with Edward G. Robinson – remade in 1953 as Stop, You're Killing Me with Broderick Crawford and Claire Trevor
 * Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President (1939) with Ann Sothern, Lewis Stone and Walter Brennan.
 * The Big Street (1942) – Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball (adapted from Runyon's story "Little Pinks")
 * Butch Minds the Baby (1942) – Broderick Crawford, Shemp Howard
 * Johnny One-Eye – (1950) Starring Pat O'Brien, Wayne Morris, Delores Moran, and Gayle Reed
 * Money from Home (1953) – Starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
 * Guys and Dolls (1955) – Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine, and Stubby Kaye. Blaine and Kaye reprised their roles from the 1950 Broadway production. Adapted from the story "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown". The big craps game is adapted from the story "Blood Pressure".
 * Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952) – Musical comedy starring Mitzi Gaynor and directed by Harmon Jones
 * Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) – Ensemble cast starring Matt Dillon, Jennifer Grey, Madonna, and Julie Hagerty, among others. The film combines elements from four stories into one large one: "A Very Honorable Guy", "The Brain Goes Home", "Social Error", and "The Bloodhounds of Broadway".

In 1938, his unproduced play Saratoga Chips became the basis of The Ritz Brothers film Straight, Place and Show.

Plays and musicals

 * A Slight Case of Murder (1935) co-written for Broadway with Howard Lindsay
 * Guys and Dolls (1950) starring Robert Alda (Sky Masterson), Vivian Blaine (Miss Adelaide), Sam Levene (Nathan Detroit), Isabel Bigley (Sarah Brown), Pat Rooney Sr., B.S. Pully, Stubby Kaye, Johnny Silver, Tom Pedi. Adapted from Runyon's stories "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure".

Radio
The Damon Runyon Theater radio series dramatized 52 of Runyon's short stories in weekly broadcasts running from October 1948 to September 1949 (with reruns until 1951). The series was produced by Alan Ladd's Mayfair Transcription Company for syndication to local radio stations. John Brown played the character "Broadway", who doubled as host and narrator. The cast also comprised Alan Reed, Luis Van Rooten, Joseph Du Val, Gerald Mohr, Frank Lovejoy, Herb Vigran, Sheldon Leonard, William Conrad, Jeff Chandler, Lionel Stander, Sidney Miller, Olive Deering and Joe De Santis. Pat O'Brien was initially engaged for the role of "Broadway". The original stories were adapted for the radio by Russell Hughes.

"Broadway's New York had a crisis each week, though the streets had a rose-tinged aura", wrote radio historian John Dunning. "The sad shows then were all the sadder; plays like For a Pal had a special poignance. The bulk of Runyon's work had been untapped by radio, and the well was deep."

Television
Damon Runyon Theatre aired on CBS-TV from 1955 to 1956.

Mike McShane told Runyon stories as monologues on British TV in 1994, and an accompanying book was released, both titled Broadway Stories.

Three Wise Guys was a 2005 TV movie.

title: Damon Runyon


text:
Don Tennant

Donald G. Tennant (November 23, 1922 – December 8, 2001) was an American advertising agency executive.

He worked at the Leo Burnett agency in Chicago, Illinois. The agency placed anthropomorphic faces of 'critters' on packaged goods.Tennant was in charge of the Marlboro account and invented the Marlboro Man.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Don Tennant


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Devo

Devo (, originally ), often stylized as DEVO, is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", the song that gave the band mainstream popularity.

Devo's music and visual presentation (including stage shows and costumes) mingle kitsch science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor and mordantly satirical social commentary. The band's namesake, the tongue-in-cheek social theory of "de-evolution", was an integral concept in their early work, which was marked by experimental and dissonant art punk that merged rock music with electronics. Their output in the 1980s embraced synth-pop and a more mainstream, less conceptual style, though the band's satirical and quirky humor remained intact. Their music has proven influential on subsequent movements, particularly on new wave, industrial, and alternative rock artists. Devo (most enthusiastically Gerald Casale) was also a pioneer of the music video format.

1973–1978: Formation
The name Devo comes from the concept of "de-evolution" and the band's related idea that instead of continuing to evolve, mankind had begun to regress, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society. In the late 1960s, this idea was developed as a joke by Kent State University art students Gerald Casale and Bob Lewis, who created a number of satirical art pieces in a devolution vein. At this time, Casale had also performed with the local band 15-60-75 (The Numbers Band). They met Mark Mothersbaugh around 1970, a talented keyboardist who had been playing with the band Flossy Bobbitt. Mothersbaugh brought a more humorous feel to the band, introducing them to material like the pamphlet "Jocko Homo Heavenbound", which includes an illustration of a winged devil labelled "D-EVOLUTION" and would later inspire the song "Jocko Homo". The "joke" about de-evolution became serious following the Kent State massacre of May 4, 1970. This event would be cited multiple times as the impetus for forming the band Devo. Throughout the band's career, they have often been considered a "joke band" by the music press.

The first form of Devo was the "Sextet Devo" which performed at the 1973 Kent State performing arts festival. It included Casale, Lewis and Mothersbaugh, as well as Gerald's brother Bob Casale on guitar, and friends Rod Reisman and Fred Weber on drums and vocals, respectively. This performance was filmed and an excerpt was later included on the home video release The Complete Truth About De-Evolution. This lineup performed only once. Devo returned to perform in the Student Governance Center (featured prominently in the film) at the 1974 Creative Arts Festival with a lineup including the Casale brothers, Bob Lewis, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Jim Mothersbaugh on drums.

The band continued to perform, generally as a quartet, but with a fluid lineup including Mark's brothers Bob Mothersbaugh and Jim Mothersbaugh. Bob played electric guitar, and Jim provided percussion using a set of home-made electronic drums. Their first two music videos, "Secret Agent Man" and "Jocko Homo", which both appeared in The Truth About De-Evolution, were filmed in Akron, and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, the hometown of most members. This lineup of Devo lasted until late 1975 when Jim left the band. Lewis would sometimes play guitar during this period, but mainly stayed in a managerial role. In concert, Devo would often perform in the guise of theatrical characters, such as Booji Boy and the Chinaman. A recording of an early Devo performance from 1975 with the quartet lineup appears on Devo Live: The Mongoloid Years (1992), ending with the promoters unplugging Devo's equipment.

Following Jim Mothersbaugh's departure, Bob Mothersbaugh found a new drummer, Alan Myers, who played on a conventional, acoustic drum kit. Casale re-recruited his brother Bob Casale, and the lineup of Devo remained the same for nearly ten years.

Devo gained some fame in 1976 when their short film The Truth About De-Evolution, directed by Chuck Statler, won a prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. This attracted the attention of David Bowie, who began work to get the band a recording contract with Warner Music Group. In 1977, Devo were asked by Neil Young to participate in the making of his film Human Highway. Released in 1982, the film featured the band as "nuclear garbagemen". The band members were asked to write their own parts and Mark Mothersbaugh scored and recorded much of the soundtrack, his first of many.

In March 1977, Devo released their first single, "Mongoloid" backed with "Jocko Homo", the B-side of which came from the soundtrack to The Truth About De-Evolution, on their independent label Booji Boy. This was followed by a cover of the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".

In 1978, the B Stiff EP was released by British independent label Stiff, which included the single "Be Stiff" plus two previous Booji Boy releases. "Mechanical Man", a 4-track 7-inch extended play (EP) of demos, an apparent bootleg, but actually put out by the band, was also released that year.

1978–1980: Recording contract, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, and Duty Now for the Future
Recommendations from David Bowie and Iggy Pop enabled Devo to secure a recording contract with Warner Bros. in 1978. After Bowie backed out of the business deal due to previous commitments, their first album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! was produced by Brian Eno and featured re-recordings of their previous singles "Mongoloid" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". On October 14, 1978, Devo gained national exposure with an appearance on the late-night show Saturday Night Live, a week after the Rolling Stones, performing "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Jocko Homo".

The band followed up with Duty Now for the Future in 1979, which moved the band more towards electronic instrumentation. While not as successful as their first album, it did produce some fan favorites with the songs "Blockhead" and "The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize" [sic], as well as a cover of the Johnny Rivers hit "Secret Agent Man". "Secret Agent Man" had been recorded first in 1974 for Devo's first film and performed live as early as 1976. In 1979, Devo traveled to Japan for the first time, and a live show from this tour was partially recorded. Devo appeared on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in 1979, performing "Blockhead", "Secret Agent Man", "Uncontrollable Urge", and "Mongoloid". Also in 1979, Rhino, in conjunction with the Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, released Devotees, a tribute album. It contained a set of covers of Devo songs interspersed with renditions of popular songs in Devo's style.

Devo actively embraced the parody religion Church of the SubGenius. In concert, Devo sometimes performed as their own opening act, pretending to be a Christian soft rock band called "Dove (the Band of Love)", which is an anagram of "Devo". They appeared as Dove in the 1980 televangelism spoof film Pray TV.

1980–1982: Mainstream breakthrough, Freedom of Choice, and New Traditionalists
Devo gained a new level of visibility with 1980's Freedom of Choice. This album included their best-known hit, "Whip It", which quickly became a Top 40 hit. The album moved to an almost completely electronic sound, with the exception of acoustic drums and Bob Mothersbaugh's guitar. The tour for Freedom of Choice was ambitious for the band, including dates in Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Canada. The band used a minimalist set including large custom light boxes which could be laid on their back to form a second, smaller stage during the second half of the set. Other popular songs from Freedom of Choice were "Girl U Want", the title-track, and "Gates of Steel". The band released popular music videos for "Whip It" and "Girl U Want". Devo made two appearances on the TV show Fridays in 1980, as well as on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, American Bandstand, and other shows. The band members often wore red, terraced energy dome hats as part of its stage outfit. The dome was first worn during the band's Freedom of Choice campaign of 1980. It reappeared in the 1981, 1982, and 1988 tours, as well as in most of their performances since 1997. Devo also recorded two albums of their own songs as elevator music for their fan club, Club Devo, released on cassette in 1981 and 1984. These were later re-released on the album E-Z Listening Disc (1987), with all but two of the original Club Devo songs. These songs were often played as house music before Devo concerts.

In August 1981, the band's DEV-O Live EP spent three weeks at the top of the Australian charts. In 1982, they toured Australia and appeared on the TV show Countdown. Devo enjoyed continued popularity in Australia, where the nationally broadcast 1970s–1980s pop TV show Countdown was one of the first programs in the world to broadcast their video clips. They were given consistent radio support by Sydney-based non-commercial rock station Double Jay (2JJ) and Brisbane-based independent community station Triple Zed (4ZZZ), two of the first rock stations outside America to play their recordings. The late-night music program Nightmoves aired The Truth About De-Evolution.

In 1981, Devo contributed a cover of "Working in the Coal Mine", recorded during the Freedom of Choice sessions, to the film Heavy Metal. They offered the song to be used in the film when Warner Bros. refused to include it on the album. Warner then included it as an independent bonus single accompanying their 1981 release, New Traditionalists. For this album Devo wore self-described "Utopian Boy Scout uniforms" topped with a "New Traditionalist Pomp"—a plastic half-wig modeled on the hairstyle of John F. Kennedy. Among the singles from the album was "Through Being Cool", written as a reaction to their new-found fame from "Whip It" and seen as a response to new fans who had misinterpreted the message behind the hit song. The album's accompanying tour featured the band performing an intensely physical show with treadmills and a large Greek temple set. That same year they served as Toni Basil's backing band on Word of Mouth, her debut album, which included versions of three Devo songs, recorded with Basil singing lead.

1982–1987: Oh, No! It's Devo, Shout, and Myers' departure
Oh, No! It's Devo followed in 1982. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker, the album featured a more synth-pop-oriented sound than its predecessors. According to Gerald Casale, the album's sound was inspired by reviewers alternately describing them as both "fascists" and "clowns". The album's tour featured the band performing seven songs in front of a 12-foot high rear-projection screen with synchronized video, an image recreated using blue screen effects in the album's accompanying music videos. Devo also contributed two songs, "Theme from Doctor Detroit" and "Luv-Luv", to the 1983 Dan Aykroyd film Doctor Detroit, and produced a music video for "Theme from Doctor Detroit" featuring clips from the film interspersed with live-action segments.

The band's sixth studio album, Shout (1984), which featured extensive use of the Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer, was received poorly, and the expensive music video they'd produced for their cover of the Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Are You Experienced?" was criticized by some as being "disrespectful", all of which caused Warner Bros. to buy out the remainder of Devo's contract. Shortly thereafter, Myers left the band, citing creative unfulfillment.

In the interim, Mark Mothersbaugh began composing music for the TV show Pee-wee's Playhouse and released an elaborately packaged solo cassette, Musik for Insomniaks, which was later expanded and released as two CDs in 1988.

1987–1991: Total Devo, Smooth Noodle Maps, and breakup
In 1987, Devo re-formed with former Sparks drummer David Kendrick to replace Myers. Their first project was a soundtrack for the horror film Slaughterhouse Rock (1988), starring Toni Basil. The band released the album Total Devo in 1988, on Enigma Records. This album included two songs used in the Slaughterhouse Rock soundtrack. The song "Baby Doll" was used that same year in the comedy film Tapeheads, with newly recorded Swedish lyrics, and was credited to (and shown in a music video by) a fictitious Swedish band called Cube-Squared. Devo followed this up with a world tour, and released the live album Now It Can Be Told: Devo at the Palace in 1989. However, Total Devo was not a commercial success and received poor critical reviews.

In 1989, members of Devo were involved in the project Visiting Kids, releasing a self-titled EP on the New Rose label in 1990. The band featured Mark's then-wife Nancye Ferguson, as well as David Kendrick, Bob Mothersbaugh, and Bob's daughter Alex Mothersbaugh. Their record was produced by Bob Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh, and Mark also co-wrote some of the songs. Visiting Kids appeared on the soundtrack to the film Rockula, as well as on Late Night with David Letterman. A promotional video was filmed for the song "Trilobites".

In 1990, Smooth Noodle Maps, Devo's last album for twenty years, was released. It too was a critical and commercial failure which, along with its two singles "Stuck in a Loop" and "Post Post-Modern Man", were Devo's worst-selling efforts; all failed to appear on the U.S. charts. Devo launched a concert tour in support of the album, but poor ticket sales and the bankruptcy and dissolution of Enigma Records, which was responsible for organizing and financing the tour, caused it to be cancelled part way through.

In 1990, the members of Devo, bar Bob Mothersbaugh, appeared in the film The Spirit of '76. Two albums of demo recordings from 1974 to 1977, namely Hardcore Devo: Volume One (1990) and Hardcore Devo: Volume Two (1991), were released on Rykodisc, as well as an album of early live recordings, Devo Live: The Mongoloid Years (1992).

The band played one final show in March 1991 before breaking up. In an interview with Mark Mothersbaugh concerning their 1996 computer game Devo Presents Adventures of the Smart Patrol, he explained, "Around '88, '89, '90 maybe, we did our last tour in Europe, and it was kind of at that point, We were watching This Is Spinal Tap on the bus and said, 'Oh my God, that's our life.' And we just said, 'Things have to change.' So we kind of agreed from there that we wouldn't do live shows anymore."

1991–1996: Hiatus
Following the split, Mark Mothersbaugh established Mutato Muzika, a commercial music production studio, along with Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale. Mothersbaugh meant to further a career as a composer, and the latter worked as an audio engineer. Mothersbaugh has had considerable success writing and producing music for television programs, including Pee-wee's Playhouse and Rugrats, video games, cartoons, and films, where he worked alongside director Wes Anderson. David Kendrick also worked at Mutato for a period during the early 1990s. Gerald Casale began a career as a director of music videos and commercials, working with bands including Rush, Soundgarden, Silverchair and the Foo Fighters. In the wake of Devo's dissolution, Bob Mothersbaugh attempted to start a solo career with The Bob I Band, recording an album that was never released. The tapes for this are now lost, though a bootleg recording of the band in concert exists and can be obtained through the bootleg aggregator Booji Boy's Basement.

While they did not release any studio albums during this period, Devo sporadically reconvened to record a number of songs for various films and compilations, including a new recording of "Girl U Want" on the soundtrack to the 1995 film Tank Girl and a cover of the Nine Inch Nails hit "Head Like a Hole" for the 1996 North American version of the film Supercop.

1996–2007: Reunion
In January 1996, Devo performed a reunion concert at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The band performed on part of the 1996 Lollapalooza tour in the rotating Mystery Spot. On these tours and most subsequent tours, Devo performed a set-list mostly composed of material from between 1978 and 1982, ignoring their Enigma Records-era material. Also in 1996, Devo released a multimedia CD-ROM adventure game, Adventures of the Smart Patrol with Inscape. The game was not a success, but the Lollapalooza tour was received well enough to allow Devo to return in 1997 as a headliner. Devo performed sporadically from 1997 onwards.

In 1999, the Oh, No! It's Devo era outtakes "Faster and Faster" and "One Dumb Thing", as well as the Shout era outtake "Modern Life", were restored, completed and used in the video game Interstate '82, developed by Activision and released. Also that year, Mothersbaugh started the Devo side-project The Wipeouters, after their band in junior high,  featuring himself (keyboards, organ), Bob Mothersbaugh (guitar), Bob Casale (guitar), and Mutato Muzika composer Josh Mancell (drums). The Wipeouters performed the theme song to the Nickelodeon animated series Rocket Power, and in 2001 they released an album of surf rock material, titled P'Twaaang!!!.

Around this same time, Devo's online fandom continued to grow, leading to 'Devotional', a Devo fan convention held annually in Cleveland, Ohio. The festival was most recently held in September 2022.

In 2005, Devo recorded a new version of "Whip It" to be used in Swiffer television commercials, a decision they have said they regretted. During an interview with the Dallas Observer, Gerald Casale said, "It's just aesthetically offensive. It's got everything a commercial that turns people off has." The song "Beautiful World" was also used in a re-recorded form for an advertisement for Target stores. Due to rights issues with their back catalog, Devo has re-recorded songs for films and advertisements.

In 2005, Gerald Casale announced his "solo" project, Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers (the Evildoers, including the other members of Devo), and released the first EP, Army Girls Gone Wild in 2006. A full-length album, Mine Is Not a Holy War, was released on September 12, 2006, after a several-month delay. It featured mostly new material, plus re-recordings of four obscure Devo songs: "I Need a Chick" and "I Been Refused" (from Hardcore Devo: Volume Two), "Find Out" (which appeared on the single and EP of "Peek-a-Boo!" in 1982), and "Beehive" (which was recorded by the band in 1974, whereupon it was apparently abandoned, with the exception of one appearance at a special show in 2001). Devo continued to tour actively in 2005 and 2006, unveiling a new stage show at appearances in October 2006, with the Jihad Jerry character performing "Beautiful World" as an encore.

Also in 2006, Devo worked on a project with Disney known as Devo 2.0. A band of child performers was assembled and re-recorded Devo songs. A quote from the Akron Beacon Journal stated, "Devo recently finished a new project in cahoots with Disney called Devo 2.0, which features the band playing old songs and two new ones with vocals provided by children. Their debut album, a two disc CD/DVD combo entitled DEV2.0, was released on March 14, 2006. The lyrics of some of the songs were changed for family-friendly airplay, which has been claimed by the band to be a play on irony of the messages of their classic hits."

In an April 2007 interview, Gerald Casale mentioned a tentative project for a biographical film about Devo's early days. According to Casale, a script was supposedly in development, called The Beginning Was the End. Devo played their first European tour since 1990 in the summer of 2007, including a performance at Festival Internacional de Benicàssim.

2007–2013: Something for Everybody
In December 2007, Devo released their first new single since 1990, "Watch Us Work It", which was featured in a commercial for Dell. The song features a sampled drum track from the New Traditionalists song "The Super Thing". Casale said that the song was chosen from a batch that the band was working on, and that it was the closest the band had been to releasing a new album.

Devo performed at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in March 2009, unveiling a new stage show with synchronized video backdrops (similar to the 1982 tour), new costumes, and three new songs: "Don't Shoot, I'm a Man!", "What We Do", and "Fresh". On September 16, Warner Bros. and Devo announced re-releases of ''Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and Freedom of Choice'', as well as a subsequent tour, where they would perform both albums in their entirety.

A new album, Something for Everybody, was eventually released on June 15, 2010, preceded by a 12-inch single of "Fresh"/"What We Do" on June 10. Devo was awarded the first Moog Innovator Award on October 29, during Moogfest 2010 in Asheville, North Carolina. The Moog Innovator Award has been said to celebrate "pioneering artists whose genre-defying work exemplifies the bold, innovative spirit of Bob Moog". Devo was scheduled to perform at Moogfest, but Bob Mothersbaugh severely injured his hand three days prior, and the band was forced to cancel. Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale collaborated with Austin-based band the Octopus Project to perform "Girl U Want" and "Beautiful World" at the event instead.

The band split from Warner Bros in 2012 and launched a new "post-Warner Brothers" website that would offer "new protective gear" and "unreleased material from the archives in vinyl disc format". In August of that year, the band released a single called "Don't Roof Rack Me, Bro (Seamus Unleashed)", dedicated to the Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney's former pet dog Seamus. The title refers to the Mitt Romney dog incident of 1983, when Romney travelled twelve hours with the dog in a crate on his car's roof rack.

On June 24, 2013, the group's former drummer Alan Myers died of stomach cancer in Los Angeles, California. He was 58. News reports at the time of his death incorrectly cited brain cancer as the cause. One month later, Devo released their Something Else for Everybody album, which collected "Unreleased Demos and Focus Group Rejects" from 2006–2009. Gerald Casale had earlier teased the album in a 2012 interview with Billboard magazine.

2014: Hardcore Devo Tour, Bob Casale's death
On February 17, 2014, founding member Bob Casale died of heart failure at age 61. Shortly afterwards, the group, a quartet for the first time in 38 years, embarked on their Hardcore Devo Tour, a ten-show tour across the US and Canada between June 18 and July 2, 2014. The tour focused on material the group had written before the release of their first album, which was largely written when the group were a quartet. Partial proceeds for the ten shows went to support Bob Casale's family after his sudden death. The show featured the group performing material written during 1974–1977. The June 28 Oakland show was filmed and later released as the concert film Hardcore Devo Live!, released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Video on Demand on February 10, 2015, accompanied by CD and double-vinyl audio releases.

2014–present: Current activities
Immediately following from the Hardcore tour, Devo continued to tour a 'greatest hits' style show. Josh Hager joined the band at this time, playing both keyboards and guitar. On April 29, 2016, Devo performed at Will Ferrell and Chad Smith's Red Hot Benefit.

On May 22, Robert Mothersbaugh Sr., father of Mark, Bob, and Jim Mothersbaugh, died. Robert portrayed General Boy in various Devo films.

In 2017, the official Twitter account for the Are We Not Men? documentary film, which had been in production since 2009, stated that "the film was finished years ago" and that "mm [Mark Mothersbaugh] is blocking its release". Jeff Winner, who was consulting producer for the Devo documentary, went on to state that he and director Tony Pemberton had "delivered the film that was contracted, and on schedule. It's now in the hands of the band to decide when/how it's released/distributed."

Devo headlined the Burger Boogaloo festival in Oakland, California, on June 30, 2018, with comedian and former Trenchmouth drummer Fred Armisen on drums. On October 12, 2020, Devo performed at the Desert Daze festival, with Jeff Friedl on drums.

In January 2021, Funko released two Devo Funko Pops inspired by the group's "Whip It" and "Satisfaction" music videos. One month later, the band starred in Devolution: A Devo Theory, a television documentary based entirely on their theory of devolution, which had been completed in 2020. In September, Devo performed a short three-date tour of the USA, including a show at Riot Fest. These performances marked the return of Josh Freese on drums, who had not played live with Devo in over five years.

Shortly afterwards, Gerald Casale announced the release of an official Devo potato-based vodka through the Trust Me Vodka brand. The packaging for the drink was themed around Devo imagery and featured original artwork. It was signed by the group's co-founders Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh, as well as Bob Mothersbaugh.

On October 24, 2021, John Hinckley Jr posted on Twitter that he had not received any royalties for Devo's song "I Desire" in 35 years. "I Desire" had been written by Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale for their 1982 album Oh, No! It's Devo, inspired by a poem written by Hinckley that was published in a tabloid newspaper, following his attempt to assassinate then-current president Ronald Reagan. Hinckley had been adequately credited for his contributions through a co-writing credit on all releases. Casale claimed that Devo were not at fault, as it was the publishing company's duty to pay him, not the band's.

Devotional 2021, an annual convention for Devo fans, was held on November 5–6, with the annual 5KDEVO race taking place on the 7th. On November 15, it was announced that Devo would perform a one-off show at the Rooftop at Pier 17 on May 18, 2022, in order to make up for their cancelled Radio City Music Hall gig in September 2021. Tickets went on sale on the 18th.

In December, it was announced that rare images of Devo would feature in a book of rock photography from 1977–1980 titled HARD + FAST, to be released on February 1, 2022. The book will also include a 7-inch single of live recordings from the band, which were also released on SoundCloud prior to the book's release. The recordings were dated 1977, but the performances are identical to those found on an audience bootleg recorded on October 10, 1978.

Devo were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, 2021 and 2022.

On May 14 and 15, 2022, Devo performed at the Cruel World Festival at the Rose Bowl's Brookside golf course in Pasadena, California, followed three days later by their performance at The Rooftop at Pier 17.

In a February 20, 2023, article by the Akron Beacon Journal promoting the film Cocaine Bear, Mothersbaugh announced that the group would celebrate the year as their 50th anniversary, and that he had plans for Devo to remain active for 50 more years. He also stated that he, Gerald Casale and Bob Mothersbaugh were all interested in touring. This was followed by the announcement of a European tour, taking place between August 8th and 19th of 2023, with shows at London's Eventim Apollo, Øyafestivalen in Norway, Way Out West festival in Sweden, Flow Festival in Finland, Green Man Festival in Wales, and Luna Fest in Portugal. This was followed in November and December by a string of shows in the USA and Australia. On January 21st, 2024, Devo, a Chris Smith directed documentary on the band premiered at Sundance Film Festival, with the group performing at the event. The film was produced and financed by BMG, Fremantle Documentaries, and Warner Music Entertainment, and according to a statement by the band "explores Devo's evolution from hippie artistes to art-rockers with a message, to their unexpected mainstream success as a hit rock band and the pioneers of the MTV age," following the group's career arc up to its status as "elder statesmen". Smith was executive producer on Tiger King, which had been scored by Mark Mothersbaugh, with Bob Mothersbaugh co-scoring its first season.

Between May 4th and 26th, Devo underwent another short US tour, including a show at the Andy Warhol Museum and at this same time, Mothersbaugh released an art book titled Apotropaic Beatnik Graffiti. On the June 5th, 2024, a collaboration between David Byrne and Devo was released. The recording was an early version of Byrne's song "Empire," recorded during the sessions for his 1997 Feelings album, seven years before the song appeared on his Grown Backwards album

Band members
Current members

 * Gerald Casale – lead and backing vocals, bass, keyboards (1973–1991, 1996–present)
 * Mark Mothersbaugh – lead and backing vocals, keyboards, guitar (1973–1991, 1996–present)
 * Bob Mothersbaugh – lead guitar, backing and lead vocals (1974–1991, 1996–present)
 * Josh Freese – drums, percussion (1996–present)
 * Josh Hager – guitar, keyboards (2014–present)

Former members
 * Bob Casale – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1973–1974, 1976–1991, 1996–2014; his death)
 * Bob Lewis – lead guitar (1973–1974)
 * Rod Reisman – drums (1973)
 * Fred Weber – vocals (1973)
 * Jim Mothersbaugh – electronic drums (1974–1975)
 * Alan Myers – drums (1976–1986; died 2013)
 * David Kendrick – drums (1987–1991, 1996–2004)

Touring members
 * Neil Taylor – drums (2008)
 * Pete Parada – drums (2011)
 * Brian Applegate – keyboards, bass guitar (2014 Hardcore Tour)
 * Alex Casale – bass guitar (2014 Hardcore Tour)
 * Ed Marshall – bass guitar (2014 Hardcore Tour)
 * Fred Armisen – drums (2018 Burger Boogaloo)
 * Jeff Friedl – drums (2008–2014, 2019, 2023)

Discography
Studio albums
 * Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!. (1978)
 * Duty Now for the Future (1979)
 * Freedom of Choice (1980)
 * New Traditionalists (1981)
 * Oh, No! It's Devo (1982)
 * Shout (1984)
 * Total Devo (1988)
 * Smooth Noodle Maps (1990)
 * Something for Everybody (2010)

title: Devo


text:
Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly (born September 20, 1941) is an American glass artist and entrepreneur. He is well known in the field of blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture".

Early life
Dale Patrick Chihuly was born on September 20, 1941, in Tacoma, Washington. His parents were George and Viola Chihuly; his paternal grandfather was born in Slovakia. In 1957, his older brother and only sibling George died in a Navy aviation training accident in Pensacola, Florida. In 1958, Chihuly's father died of a heart attack at the age of 51.

Chihuly had no interest in continuing his formal education after graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1959. However, at his mother's urging, he enrolled at the College of Puget Sound. A year later, he transferred to the University of Washington in Seattle to study interior design. In 1961, he joined the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Kappa Epsilon chapter), and the same year he learned how to melt and fuse glass. In 1962, Chihuly dropped out of the university to study art in Florence. He later traveled to the Middle East where he met architect Robert Landsman. Their meeting and his time abroad spurred Chihuly to return to his studies. In 1963, he took a weaving class where he incorporated glass shards into tapestries. He received an award for his work from the Seattle Weavers Guild in 1964. Chihuly graduated from the University of Washington in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in interior design.

Chihuly began experimenting with glassblowing in 1965, and in 1966 he received a full scholarship to attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He studied under Harvey Littleton, who had established the first glass program in the United States at the university. In 1967, Chihuly received a Master of Science degree in sculpture. After graduating, he enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he met and became close friends with Italo Scanga. Chihuly earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the RISD in 1968. That same year, he was awarded a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant for his work in glass, as well as a Fulbright Fellowship. He traveled to Venice to work at the Venini factory on the island of Murano, where he first saw the team approach to blowing glass. After returning to the United States, Chihuly spent the first of four consecutive summers teaching at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. In 1969, he traveled to Europe, in part to meet Erwin Eisch in Germany and Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová in Czechoslovakia. Chihuly donated a portion of a large exhibit to his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, in 1997 and it is on permanent display in the Kohl Center. In 2013 the university awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts.

Career
In 1971, with the support of John Hauberg and Anne Gould Hauberg, Chihuly co-founded the Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington. Chihuly also founded the HillTop Artists program in Tacoma, Washington at Hilltop Heritage Middle School and Wilson High School.

In 1976, while Chihuly was in England, he was involved in a head-on car accident that propelled him through the windshield. His face was severely cut by glass and he was blinded in his left eye. After recovering, he continued to blow glass until he dislocated his right shoulder in 1979 while bodysurfing.

In 1983, Chihuly returned to his native Pacific Northwest where he continued to develop his own work at the Pilchuck Glass School, which he had helped to found in 1971. No longer able to hold the glassblowing pipe, he hired others to do the work. Chihuly explained the change in a 2006 interview, saying "Once I stepped back, I liked the view", and said that it allowed him to see the work from more perspectives, enabling him to anticipate problems earlier. Chihuly's role has been described as "more choreographer than dancer, more supervisor than participant, more director than actor". San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Erin Glass wrote that she "wonders at the vision of not just the artist Chihuly, but the very successful entrepreneur Chihuly, whose estimated sales by 2004 was reported by The Seattle Times as $29 million."

Chihuly and his team of artists were the subjects of the documentary Chihuly Over Venice. They were also featured in the documentary Chihuly in the Hotshop, syndicated to public television stations by American Public Television starting on November 1, 2008.

In 2010, the Space Needle Corporation submitted a proposal for an exhibition of Chihuly's work at a site in the Seattle Center, in competition with proposals for other uses from several other groups. The project, which sees the new Chihuly exhibition hall occupy the site of the former Fun Forest amusement park in the Seattle Center park and entertainment complex, received the final approval from the Seattle City Council on April 25, 2011. Called Chihuly Garden and Glass, it opened May 21, 2012.

2006 lawsuit
In 2006, Chihuly filed a lawsuit against his former longtime employee, glassblower Bryan Rubino, and businessman Robert Kaindl, claiming copyright and trademark infringement. Kaindl's pieces used titles Chihuly had employed for his own works, such as Seaforms and Ikebana, and resembled the construction of Chihuly's pieces. Legal experts stated that influence on art style did not constitute copyright infringement. Chihuly settled the lawsuit with Rubino initially, and later with Kaindl as well.

Works
Regina Hackett, a Seattle Post-Intelligencer art critic, provided a chronology of Chihuly's work during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s:

 * 1975: Navajo Blanket Series, in which patterns of Navajo blankets were painted onto glass
 * 1977: Northwest Coast Basket Series, baskets inspired by Northwest coast Indian baskets he had seen as a child
 * 1980: Seaform Series, transparent sculptures of thin glass, strengthened by ribbed strands of color
 * 1981: Macchia Series, featuring every color available in the studio
 * 1986: Persian Series, inspired by Middle East glass from the 12th- to 14th-century, featuring more restrained color and room-sized installations
 * 1988: Venetian Series, improvisations based on Italian Art Deco
 * 1989: Ikebana Series, glass flower arrangements inspired by ikebana
 * 1990: Venetian Series returns, this time in a more eccentric form
 * 1991: Niijima Floats, six-foot spheres of intricate color inspired by Japanese glass fishing floats from the island of Niijima from Chihuly's website
 * 1992: Chandeliers, starting modestly but by the middle of the decade involving a multitude of glass orbs and shapes that in some works look like flowers, others like breasts, and still others like snakes. Chihuly has also produced a sizable volume of "Irish cylinders", which are more modest in conception than his blown glass works.

For his exhibition in Jerusalem, in 1999–2000, in addition to the glass pieces, he had enormous blocks of transparent ice brought in from an Alaskan artesian well and formed a wall, echoing the stones of the nearby Citadel. Lights with color gels were set up behind them for illumination. Chihuly said the melting wall represented the "dissolution of barriers" between people. This exhibit holds the world record for most visitors to a temporary exhibit with more than 1.3 million visitors.

Two of Chihuly's pieces can also be found at two casino resorts owned by MGM Resorts International: one in the reception area of the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip, and the other in the VIP lobby of the MGM Macau in Macau, China. The piece at the Bellagio, titled Fiori di Como, holds the Guinness World Record for largest glass sculpture. In July 2001, in response to positive feedback from guests who viewed the installation at Bellagio, Chihuly partnered with Bellagio to open a store that sold some of the artist's original works, as well as books and videos about the artist. However, the store has since been marked permanently closed on Google Maps.

Exhibitions
• 1995: Chihuly Exhibition, National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, Glasnevin, Ireland

• 1996: Chihuly Over Venice, Venice, Italy

• 1999–2000: Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem 2000, Tower of David, Jerusalem

• 1999–2000: Dale Chihuly: Masterworks in Glass, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, and JamFactory, Adelaide, Australia

• 2001: Chihuly at the V&A, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

• 2001–2002: Chihuly In The Park: A Garden Of Glass, Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, Illinois

• 2002: Winter Olympic Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah

• 2004: Chihuly Across Florida: Masterworks in Glass, Orlando Museum of Art and Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida, Jan. 18 - May 30, 2004

• 2004: Chihuly in the Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, Georgia

• 2005: Gardens of Glass, Kew Gardens, London.

• 2005: Modern and Contemporary American Art (1900 to present), Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan

• 2005–2007: Chihuly at Fairchild, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida

• 2006: Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri

• 2006: Oisterwijk Sculptuur, Oisterwijk, Netherlands

• 2006: New York Botanical Garden, New York, New York

• 2007: Wrapped In Tradition: The Chihuly Collection of American Indian Trade Blankets, Mayborn Museum Complex, Waco, Texas

• 2007: Chihuly at Phipps: Gardens and Glass, Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• 2008: Chihuly at the de Young, de Young Museum, San Francisco, California

• 2009: Chihuly: Day and Night, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona

• 2009: Chihuly Illuminated, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio

• 2009: Chihuly: Recent Work, Naples Museum of Art, Naples, Florida

• 2010: Chihuly at Cheekwood, Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, Nashville, Tennessee

• 2010: Chihuly at the Salk, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California

• 2010: Chihuly at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park: A New Eden, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan

• 2010–2011: Chihuly at the Frist, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, Tennessee

• 2011: Through the Looking Glass, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

• 2012: Chihuly at The Dallas Arboretum, Dallas Arboretum, Dallas, Texas

• 2012: Chihuly at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia

• 2013: Chihuly, Un univers à couper le souffle (Chihuly: Utterly Breathtaking), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

• 2013–2014: Chihuly in the Garden, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona

• 2014: Chihuly Denver, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, Colorado

• 2016: Chihuly Venetians, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, Mississippi

• 2016: Chihuly, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• 2016: Chihuly in the Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden

• 2017: Chihuly, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York

• 2017: Chihuly: In the Forest, Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, Arkansas

• 2017: Chihuly at the Catalina Island Museum, Ada Blanche Wrigley Schreiner Building, Avalon, California

• 2018: Chihuly at Biltmore Biltmore House, Asheville, NC

• 2019: Reflections on nature, Kew Gardens, London

• 2020: Chihuly: Celebrating Nature, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Columbus, Ohio

• 2020 "Bridge and Chandelier," Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas

• 2020-2021: Chihuly at Cheekwood, Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, Nashville, Tennessee

• 2020-2021: Rose Crystal Tower, New Orleans Botanical Garden, New Orleans, Louisiana

• 2020-2021: Dreaming Forms: Chihuly Then and Now, The Baker Museum, Artis-Naples, Naples, Florida

• 2021: Chihuly: Whitestone Karuizawa, Karuizawa New Art Museum, Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan

• 2021: Chihuly: Whitestone Tokyo, Whitestone Ginza New Gallery and Online Gallery, Chūō, Tokyo, Japan

• 2021: Dale Chihuly: Glass in Bloom, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

• 2021: Chihuly, Sandra Ainsley Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• 2021-2022: Chihuly in the Desert, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona and Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona

• 2022: Chihuly, Schantz Galleries Contemporary Glass, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

• 2022: Chihuly, Traver Gallery, Seattle, Washington

• 2022–2023: A Lasting Friendship: Gerard Cafesjian and Dale Chihuly, Cafesjian Art Trust Museum, Shoreview, Minnesota

• 2022-2023: Dale Chihuly: Blanket Cylinders 1975-2016, The Community Library, Ketchum, Idaho

• 2023: Laguna Murano Chandalier: From the George R. Stroemple Collection, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, Mississippi

• 2023: Chihuly in the Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri

Permanent collections
Chihuly's art appears in over 400 permanent collections all over the world, including in the United States, Canada, England, Israel, China, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. Chihuly's largest permanent exhibit is at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Other large collections can be found at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, Washington. Four large-scale installations are on permanent display at the Baker Museum in Naples, Florida.

Recognition

 * In 1994, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
 * In 2006, he received the American Craft Council’s gold medal.
 * In 2011, he received the Fritz Redlich Alumni Award of the Institute of International Education.

title: Dale Chihuly


text:
Dean Kamen

Dean Lawrence Kamen (born April 5, 1951) is an American engineer, inventor, and businessman. He is known for his invention of the Segway and iBOT, as well as founding the non-profit organization FIRST with Woodie Flowers. Kamen holds over 1,000 patents.

Early life and family
Kamen was born on Long Island, New York, to a Jewish family. His father was Jack Kamen, an illustrator for Mad, Weird Science and other EC Comics publications. During his teenage years, Kamen was already being paid for his ideas; local bands and museums paid him to build light and sound systems. His annual earnings reached $60,000 before his high school graduation.

He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, but in 1976 quit before graduating, after five years of private advanced research for the insulin pump AutoSyringe.

Inventions
Kamen is known best for inventing the product that eventually became known as the Segway PT, an electric, self-balancing human transporter with a computer-controlled gyroscopic stabilization and control system. The device is balanced on two parallel wheels and is controlled by moving body weight. The machine's development was the object of much speculation and hype after segments of a book quoting Steve Jobs and other notable information technology visionaries espousing its society-revolutionizing potential were leaked in December 2001.

Kamen was already a successful inventor: his company Auto Syringe manufactures and markets the first drug infusion pump. His company DEKA also holds patents for the technology used in portable dialysis machines, an insulin pump (based on the drug infusion pump technology),  and an all-terrain electric wheelchair known as the iBOT, using many of the same gyroscopic balancing technologies that later made their way into the Segway.

Kamen has worked extensively on a project involving Stirling engine designs, attempting to create two machines: one that would generate power, and the Slingshot that would serve as a water purification system. He hopes the project will help improve living standards in developing countries. Kamen has a patent on his water purifier, and other patents pending. In 2014, the film SlingShot was released, detailing Kamen's quest to use his vapor compression distiller to fix the world's water crisis.

Kamen is also the co-inventor of a compressed air device that would launch a human into the air in order to quickly launch SWAT teams or other emergency workers to the roofs of tall, inaccessible buildings.

In 2009 Kamen stated that his company DEKA was now working on solar powered inventions.

Kamen and DEKA also developed the DEKA Arm System or "Luke", a prosthetic arm replacement that offers its user much more fine motor control than traditional prosthetic limbs. It was approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2014, and DEKA is looking for partners to mass-produce the prosthesis.

FIRST
In 1989, Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization intended to build students' interests in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In 1992, working with MIT Professor Emeritus Woodie Flowers, Kamen created the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), which evolved into an international competition that by 2020 had drawn 3,647 teams and more than 91,000 students.

FIRST organizes robotics competition leagues for students in grades K-12, including FIRST LEGO League Discover for ages 4–6, FIRST LEGO League Explore for younger elementary school students, FIRST LEGO League Challenge for older elementary school and middle school students, FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) for middle and high school students, and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) for high school students. In 2017, FIRST held its first Olympics-style competition – FGC (FIRST Global Challenge) – in Washington, D.C.

In 2010, Kamen called FIRST the invention he is most proud of, and said that 1 million students had taken part in the contests.

Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute
In 2017, Kamen founded the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) and launched BioFabUSA, a Manufacturing USA Innovation Institute with an $80 million grant from the Department of Defense. BioFabUSA's mission is to "...make practical the large-scale manufacturing of engineered tissues and tissue-related technologies, to benefit existing industries and grow new ones" In addition to DoD funding, Kamen brought together a consortium of private sector entities to form a public-private partnership which pledged $214M additional private dollars.

In early 2020, ARMI was awarded a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to establish the first Foundry for American Biotechnology, known as NextFab "to produce technological solutions that help the United States protect against and respond to health security threats, enhance daily medical care, and add to the U.S. bioeconomy".

Awards
Kamen has won numerous awards. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1997 for inventing and commercializing biomedical devices and fluid measurement and control systems, and for popularizing engineering among young people. In 1999 he was awarded the 5th Annual Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment, and in 2000 received the National Medal of Technology from then President Clinton for inventions that have advanced medical care worldwide. In April 2002, Kamen was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize for inventors, for his invention of the Segway and of an infusion pump for diabetics. In 2003 his "Project Slingshot", an inexpensive portable water purification system, was named a runner-up for "coolest invention of 2003" by Time magazine.

In 2005 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his invention of the AutoSyringe. In 2006 Kamen was awarded the "Global Humanitarian Action Award" by the United Nations. In 2007 he received the ASME Medal, the highest award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, in 2008 he was the recipient of the IRI Achievement Award from the Industrial Research Institute, and in 2011 Kamen was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Mechanical Engineering of the Franklin Institute.

Kamen received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1992, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute May 17, 1996, a Doctor of Engineering degree from Kettering University in 2001, an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Clarkson University on May 13, 2001, an honorary "Doctor of Science" degree from the University of Arizona on May 16, 2009, and an honorary doctorate from the Wentworth Institute of Technology when he spoke at the college's centennial celebration in 2004, and other honorary doctorates from North Carolina State University in 2005, Bates College in 2007, the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2008, the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2008 the Plymouth State University in May 2008 and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 2012. In 2015, Kamen received an honorary Doctor of Engineering and Technology degree from Yale University. In 2017, Kamen was honored with an institutional honorary degree from Université de Sherbrooke.

Kamen received the Stevens Honor Award on November 6, 2009, given by the Stevens Institute of Technology and the Stevens Alumni Association. On November 14, 2013, he received the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award.

Kamen received the 2018 Public Service Award from the National Science Board, honoring his exemplary public service and contributions to the public's understanding of science and engineering.

Trivia
In 2007, his residence was a hexagonal, shed style mansion he dubbed Westwind, located in Bedford, New Hampshire, just outside Manchester. The house has at least four levels and is very eclectically conceived, with such things as: hallways resembling mine shafts; 1960s novelty furniture; a collection of vintage wheelchairs; spiral staircases; at least one secret passage; an observation tower; a fully equipped machine shop; and a huge cast iron steam engine which once belonged to Henry Ford (built into the multi-story center atrium of the house) which Kamen is working to convert into a Stirling engine-powered kinetic sculpture. Kamen owns and pilots an Embraer Phenom 300 light jet aircraft and three Enstrom helicopters, including a 280FX, a 480, and a 480B. He regularly commutes to work via his helicopters and had a hangar built into his house. In 2016 he flew as a passenger in a B-2 Spirit bomber at Whiteman AFB, marking the opening of the 2016 FRC World Championship in St. Louis.

He is the main subject of Code Name Ginger: the Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World, a nonfiction narrative book by journalist Steve Kemper published by Harvard Business School Press in 2003 (released in paperback as Reinventing the Wheel).

His company, DEKA, annually creates intricate mechanical presents for him. The company has created a robotic chess player, which is a mechanical arm attached to a chess board, and a vintage-looking computer with antique wood, and a converted typewriter as a keyboard. In addition, DEKA has received funding from DARPA to work on a brain-controlled prosthetic limb called the Luke Arm.

Kamen is a member of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's Advisory Board and is also a member of the Xconomists, an ad hoc team of editorial advisors for the tech news and media company, Xconomy. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the X Prize Foundation.

Dean of Invention, a TV show on Planet Green, premiered on October 22, 2010. It starred Kamen and correspondent Joanne Colan, in which they investigate new technologies,

Kamen was a keynote speaker at the 2015 Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders.

In the 2016 United States Senate election in New Hampshire, Kamen endorsed Kelly Ayotte, appearing in an ad supporting her.

title: Dean Kamen