From the Record Collection (7 of 8) Devo "Freedom of Choice"

Today, we feature the third studio album from the Akron, Ohio-based punk band Devo, which is "Freedom of Choice."

The record features the band's signature song "Whip It," which features a video with the band wearing hats that look like flower pots. Amazingly enough, Devo, a band known for covering songs of other bands ("I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones; "Gotta Serve Somebody" by Bob Dylan), were covered by Pearl Jam when they performed "Whip It" on stage complete with the flower pot hats and the yellow raincoats, that Devo is known for.

They Might Be Giants also covered the song "Through Being Cool," which is not on "Freedom of Choice."

The members of Devo are two sets of brothers, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, and Gerald and Bob Casale. It may seem startling today, but the industrial city of Akron, Ohio, was a thriving place for New Wave punk bands, including Devo, in the 1980s.

One of the other famous bands from the area during this era was The Waitresses, which is best-known for the holiday punk classic "Christmas Wrapping."

Chrissie Hynde, the lead singer of The Pretenders, is also from Akron and has even lived there in recent years though her band actually formed in London where Hynde was living abroad in the late '70s.

The name Devo comes from the term 'de-evolution,' which states that man is regressing back to the caveman years rather than moving forward.

Among the catchy tunes on "Freedom of Choice" are "Girl U Want," which is about how difficult it is to really be with the girl you want and the title track which is about the contradiction between rigid American conformity and the possibilities one should have in a free society. The song is made more ironic because it came out the same year that Ronald Reagan, arguably the poster boy for modern political conservatism in America, was elected president.

The album was recorded at Record Plant in Los Angeles, and produced by Robert Margouleff, who had produced many Stevie Wonder records.

In 2009, Devo re-released both "The Freedom of Choice" and their debut record "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo" and toured performing both albums in their respective entirety.

Quote of the Day/Week- Stevie Wonder

Today, we celebrate Black History Month with a quote from Stevie Wonder, 61, who has been a musical star since he was in his early teens. Wonder is best-known for his string of '70s hit singles, including "Superstition" (1972) and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (1973).

Here is his brilliant, grammatically incorrect quote:

"You got to work with what you gots to work with."

Quote of the Day- Stevie Wonder (in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

Since his hit song "Happy Birthday" (1981) from his stellar "Hotter Than July" album was in part politically responsible for bringing recognition to the honoring of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday, we thought we would quip Stevie Wonder today.

Other songs of his that we really like include (to name a few): "Superstition" (1972), "Living in the City" (1973) and "Boogie on Reggae Woman" (1973).

We also think this quote is very ironic since Wonder is blind:

"Eyes lie if you ever look into them for the character of the person."

Tomorrow, we are going to hopefully resume quoting composers; we're even thinking of going 'with the Russians!'