Customer Rating: 
Summary: ARE WE NOT MEN?
Comment: The Men Who Make the Music was the first home video released by new wave band Devo. Finished in 1979, the film was set to be the first Video LP, but was shelved by Time Life due to concerns about its anti-music industry content. It was released in 1981. A DVD of this film was announced in 2000, due to be released by Rhino Records, but as of 2006 it has still not been released.
The Men Who Make the Music combines concert footage from Devo's 1978 tour with music videos and interstitials featuring a vague story about Devo's rocky relationship with "Big Entertainment". The majority of this story line is contained in a long segment called "Roll Out The Barrel" or "Rod Rooter's Big Ream"/"Rod's Big Reemer" This particular segment was shown as an intermission during Devo's 1979 tour and audio recordings appear on bootlegs from this tour. Part of this film also appears on The Complete Truth About Devolution. The other interstitials involve General Boy (Robert Mothersbaugh, Sr.) discussing DEVO's influence on the world and their philosophy. Members of Devo also make speeches during these interstitials.
TRACK LISTING:
Jocko Homo (Music video, taken from "The Truth About De-evolution")
Titles
General Boy Segment 1
Wiggly World (Live)
General Boy Segment 2
The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise (Music video)
Roll Out The Barrel (AKA "Rod Rooter's Big Ream")
Praying Hands (Live)
General Boy Segment 3
Uncontrollable Urge (Live)
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Music video)
General Boy Segment 4
Jocko Homo (Live, partial performance)
Secret Agent Man (Music video, take from "The Truth About De-evolution")
Smart Patrol / Mr. DNA (Live)
Come Back Jonee (Music Video)
General Boy Segment 5
Red Eye (Live)
Credits
Devo Corporate Anthem
Customer Rating:
Summary: It's all been said...
Comment: If you've ever enjoyed even one Devo song, you owe it to yourself to see this. I remember recording this from an FM telecast onto a cassette tape way back in '79 or '80, and I listened to it for years afterward.To see this is to see what sort of energy these guys brought to the stage... Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA never rocked so hard. And I still laugh when I think about Mark asking an audience member what his left hand was doing during a live performance of "Praying Hands"... the guy's response, inappropriate here, caused Mark to comment, "He must relax!"
Seriously cheesy fun and awesome music all rolled into one package. I've been looking for this video for years, and it seems I still need to look. If you find it, buy it. You have a duty.
Customer Rating:
Summary: D E V O!
Comment: be warned this is the real devo!not the 1 hit wonder pop success they were made out to be! this is a piece of punk rock history and is a direct attack on big entertainment.im surprized warner did not stop selling their records right after the release of this video back in the late 70s because it basically holds a loose plot that is tied to the ridiculousness of corporate america and all forms of media.im sure the band intended for this production to serve as information to kids everywhere about the reality of rock n roll, so if u like punk rock,artistic expression in film media or new ideas then please do urself a favor and try to pick up a copy.duty now for the future.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Progress in Spudland
Comment: This video changed my life! "The Men Who Make the Music" catches Dev-o at their finest period, fresh from the success of film, "The Truth About De-evolution", and right before the release of the second album, "Duty Now for the Future". Chuck Statler, who directed their first film, is also responsible for this one. The video is comprised of clips from some of their short films (Satisfaction, Secret Agent Man), the music videos from the first two albums (Satisfaction, Come Back Jonee, The Day my Baby Gave me a Surprise), some faked and real live footage, and an attempt at some sort of plot to tie things together. The Spuds' acting is wonderfully horrible and the absurd script is ripe with repeatable quotes and catch-phrases. Infamous masks and costumes abound. Many of the background songs are unavailable anywhere else (including an otherwise unreleased version of Secret Agent Man), but others are recognizable from the Dev-o "Hardcore" collections of early material. The film is hillarious and life-altering and a great companion for the "We're All Devo" video collection (some of the same characters are in both videos). This is really the only vid (other than Urgh!) to show the Spuds in action. Even though Amazon does not sell it, somebody must, because I have seen new copies of it around lately. Know the TRUTH about De-evolution and duty now for the FUTURE!
Customer Rating:
Summary: This is DEVO
Comment: While Tammy's review was brilliant, there should be at least one serious review of this tape.If you like "Whip It" and want to see all those Devo videos you saw on MTV in the '80s, then don't get this tape, get We're All Devo instead. Everything here is from before Freedom of Choice.
If, however, you want to see what Devo was all about, then get this. Get it now.
In the days before "music video", Devo dropped a movie screen and showed "short films" before their peformances. You will see these on this tape.
More importantly, you'll see the band playing in clubs in front of crazed post-punk fans. You'll see Mark have trouble with a Minimoog; you'll see Alan get tangled in his Tyvek suit. You'll see and hear the raw energy of De-evolution first hand.
You can't go back in time to 1979 and see Devo on stage, but you can get this tape, which is as close as you can get.
