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.

The Last 10 CDs I've Listened To....

Since Greensboro, NC, folk singer Bruce Piephoff is a personal friend, I thought it would be safer to go with an image of him, which I took from a Belgian web site_ of all places, than one for either David Bowie or Turkish psychedelic singer Erkin Koray, who turned 70 last year. All of these artists, along many bands that most of you will recognize, were in the last group of cds that I have listened to. Here they are in order:

1) Erkin Koray. "Erkin Koray" (1973) Key Tracks: "Kizlar Da Alin Askere" /("Let the Girls in the Army Too")

2. Bruce Piephoff. "The Chestnut Tree" (2008) Key Tracks: "Notes from Knoxville," "The Chestnut Tree," "The Ballad of Charlie Poole," "Jesse" and ""Jasper's World of no Return."

3. Coldplay. "A Rush of Blood to the Head" (2002). Key Tracks: "In My Place," "The Scientist" and "Clocks."

4. David Bowie. "Heroes." (1977) Key Tracks: "Beauty and the Beast," "Joe the Lion" and "Heroes."

5. The Rolling Stones. "Let It Bleed" (1969) Key Tracks: "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

6. U2. "Boy" (1980; debut album) Key Tracks: "A Day Without Me" and "I Will Follow."

7. The Pretenders. "Learning to Crawl" (1983). Key Tracks: "Back on the Chain Gang," "Middle of the Road" and "Show Me."

8. The Police. "Synchronicity." (1983). Key Tracks: "Every Breath You Take," "King of Pain," and "Wrapped Around Your Finger."

9. The Cars. "Candy-O." (1979) Key Tracks: "Let's Go," "It's All I Can Do" and "Double Life."

10. Rush. "2112" (1976, considered to be the band's best record). Key Tracks: "A Passage to Bangkok" and "The Twilight Zone."

From the Record Collection (2 of 8)_ The Pretenders II

It may come as a shock to folks who were born "The Smurfs" were no longer on tv that Akron, Ohio, was actually the hotbed of emerging New Wave punk scene in the late
'70s, thanks to band like Devo, The Dead Boys and The Waitresses, a band which is popular this time of the year because their song "Christmas Wrapping" gets played a lot around Christmas time on fm radio stations.

Though technically not a part of the Akron scene, The Pretenders have a definitive link with the northwest Ohio city because it's the hometown of lead singer Chrissie Hynde, who opened up a vegan restaurant called The Vegiterranean, which alas folded in October because of the bad American economy.

Recorded in 1981, an amazing year for rock and pop music with acclaimed records coming out from bands as diverse as Rush and The Go-Gos, "The Pretenders II" would be very last time that the four original members recorded together. Sadly, between the release of the band's second and third record "Learning to Crawl" two members would die, including Peter Farndon (1952-1983) and James Honeymoon Scott (1956-1982).

This just left Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers in the band, which has stayed together since they formed in 1978, with various lineup changes over the years.

"The Pretenders II" was produced by veteran Chris Thomas, who had worked with The Beatles and Pink Floyd. It the follow-up from their highly succesful first record and expectations were very high.

This is perhaps why the second record is not as highly regarded as it should be. Among the noted tracks on "Pretenders II" are two covers of songs by The Kinks in "Stop Your Sobbing" and "I Go to Sleep." Hynde would become romantically involved with Ray Davies, the lead singer of The Kinks in later years.

Sexual themes figure prominently in this record with suggestive tracks like "Baby Gets Spanked" in the mix; the record also features the following stellar songs: "Message of Love," "Talk of the Town" and "Day After Day."

20 years after its initial release, "Pretenders II" was finally certified gold.