Devo

Five Akron, Ohio musicians regarded as video and multimedia innovators; the quintet, formed circa 1974, propounded a "de-evolutionary" dystopian cosmology and a visual style that included yellow jumpsuits and flowerpot helmets. Devo's initial association with the punk movement owed more to its scathing lyrics than its robotically clattering music. An Eno-produced debut album (Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO!, 1978) and a high-impact appearance on Saturday Night Live (with premise-establishing film) launched the band; the single "Whip It" charted in 1980. Gradually Devo shifted from guitars to synthesizers; by 1990's final studio album Smooth Noodle Maps, changing musical tastes had rendered them, to many, superfluous.