Devo - B Stiff 1978 UK 12" Vinyl Compliation + Mechanical Man 7" Vinyl Single + Bonus Flexi Disc

In 1978 the "Be Stiff EP" was released by English independent label Stiff Records, which included the single "Be Stiff" plus two previous Booji Boy releases. "Mechanical Man", a 4 track 7" EP of demos; apparently a bootleg, rumored to be put out by the band themselves, was also released that year.

Stiff Records launched Devo in Britain in 1978, combining the company's customary gift for imaginative promotion with the Akron band's own distinctly bizarre outlook and sound. Certainly few people outside of Akron itself had heard anything remotely approaching the band's debut 45, coupling "Mongoloid" and the self-mythologizing "Jocko Homo," and long before the band's debut album arrived (in another year, on a different label), the chorus demand of "are we not men?" had established itself among the most pervasive chants of the year. A furiously mutated version of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" followed, this time catching the same breeze that had just blown in the Residents' even more distorted rendition, and finally, "Be Stiff" emerged to both eulogize the band's U.K. label and title the company's own next marketing push – all five acts featured in the upcoming Stiff label tour (Wreckless Eric, Rachel Sweet, Jona Lewie, Mickey Jupp, and Lene Lovich) recorded versions of the anthem for a Stiff label promo. Devo themselves, however, were stiffs no longer; those three 45s remained their sole output for the label (and, some might say, remain their best records ever), and thus lent themselves perfectly to a six-song (A- and B-sides) 12" EP titled for the final single but packed with highlights from start to finish.
Dave Thompson -amg

Track Listing

Side one
1. "Jocko Homo" (Mark Mothersbaugh) - 3:21
2. "(I Can't Get Me No) Satisfaction" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 2:53
3. "Be Stiff" (Gerald V. Casale, Bob Lewis) - 2:35

Side two
1. "Mongoloid" (G.V. Casale) - 3:30
2. "(I Saw My Baby Gettin') Sloppy" (M. Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, G.V. Casale, Gary Jackett) - 2:20
3. "Social Fools" (G.V. Casale, M. Mothersbaugh) - 2:52

Personnel

Bob Casale - rhythm guitar, additional keyboards, occasional backing vocals
Gerald V. Casale - bass guitar, additional keyboards, lead vocals
Bob Mothersbaugh - lead guitar, backing vocals
Jim Mothersbaugh - electronic drums
Mark Mothersbaugh - keyboards, occasional guitar, lead vocals
Alan Myers - drums









Track List

Side one
1 - Mechanical Man
2 - Blockhead

Side two
1 - Blackout
2 - Auto-Modown








Info:

I downloaded these from a well known torrent site some time ago so I only have second hand technical details. The original ripper said they used a USB turntable to create these files, burned them to CD and then re-ripped them before uploading. I have renamed and tagged the files since so the logs and md5 will probably not match and are included for completeness only.

Please don't let the above details put you off, this is some of the best sounding Devo I have heard, there is a clarity and separation of the mad synth noises, evil guitar and precision drumming that seems to be missing from the CD rips I have. Maybe I'm wrong, download them and let me know!
Thanks to Luckburz for are we not men. I love this band.

Thanks to the original uploader.

Reupped to Filesonic.

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1050677834

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