DEVO emerged from Kent, Ohio's art-school scene with a satirical theory of cultural "de-evolution," channeling it into jerky, mechanized new wave built on matching uniforms and deadpan stage choreography. 'Whip It' turned their art-punk satire into an unlikely mainstream hit in 1980, bringing their uncanny, robotic aesthetic to a mass pop audience. Their fusion of conceptual art-school irony and synth-driven new wave shaped decades of art-pop that followed.

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1980

Whip ItDEVO