Freedom of Choice (album)

Freedom of Choice (stylized as F R E E D O M O F C H O I C E) is the third studio album by the American new wave band Devo, released in May 1980 on Warner Bros. Records. The album contained their biggest hit, "Whip It", which hit No. 8 and No. 14 on the Billboard Club Play Singles and Pop Singles charts, respectively. Freedom of Choice peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

Composition
According to the band's commentary on The Complete Truth About De-Evolution DVD, the lyrics of "Whip It" began as a tongue-in-cheek anthem for then-president Jimmy Carter, and were also inspired by Norman Vincent Peale's 1952 book The Power of Positive Thinking and the "can do philosophy" espoused within. Devo co-songwriter and bass guitarist Gerald Casale also told Songfacts that the lyrics were written by him "as an imitation of Thomas Pynchon's parodies in his book Gravity's Rainbow". The lyric of "That's Pep!" is based on an early 20th-century poem by Grace G. Bostwick.

Music historian Andy Zax later observed that, "Beneath the shiny surface of Freedom of Choice, the band's ability to dissect the de-evolving world around it remained as incisive as ever."

Production
Freedom of Choice was recorded between October 1979 and early 1980, at the Record Plant in Hollywood, California. The album was co-produced by Robert Margouleff, notable for his synthesizer work in Tonto's Expanding Head Band and with Stevie Wonder. Zax noted that, on Freedom of Choice, "synthesizers had now been upgraded to a starring role, while an increasingly sophisticated pop sensibility infiltrated the group's new songs."

The album was demoed at Modern Music Recording Studio in 1980 and these tracks were later released on the compilation album Recombo DNA in 2000. This demo version lacks "It's Not Right", "Ton o' Luv", "Don't You Know" and "Freedom of Choice", but it includes demos of the "Whip It" B-side "Turn Around" and three unreleased tracks ("Luv & Such", "Time Bomb" and "Make Me Move"). The lyrics of "Luv & Such" were later rewritten and the song became "Mr. B's Ballroom".

In 2009, another demo titled "Red Shark" surfaced, an early version of "It's Not Right" with alternate lyrics that was offered as a download-only track for fans who purchased tickets to the Freedom of Choice album concerts.

Artwork and title
The cover features the band wearing silver suits made of Naugahyde, designed by Casale and inspired by suits worn by Black R&B groups of the 1950s. The band's red "energy dome" hats were inspired by Art Deco light fixtures Casale remembered from the grade school he'd attended, which was built in the 1920s. The hats were designed by Brent Scrivner and fashioned from vacuform ABS white plastic, spray-painted with Chinese red laquer. The band also wore black boat neck shirts, which were popular with beach-goers in the 1960s.

Other proposed titles for the album included Time for Devo and You R It.

Promotion
Devo produced three music videos for the album. "Whip It" was based on a 1962 issue of Dude magazine that lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh had found in an antique store, which contained a story about a dude ranch where the owner would whip his wife's clothes off. The video also played on the popular misconception that the song was about sadomasochism. It was shot in Devo's rehearsal studio for $15,000. "Girl U Want" saw the band performing on a television set in front of a live audience. The colors of the video were heavily saturated. In "Freedom of Choice", the band appeared as aliens. This video also featured professional skateboarders of the day.

The popularity of "Whip It" garnered the band several television appearances, including The Merv Griffin Show, American Bandstand and two appearances on the sketch comedy and variety show Fridays. A planned appearance on The Midnight Special was canceled when host Lily Tomlin saw the video for "Whip It" and objected to the content.

Commercial
Freedom of Choice peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200 chart, while "Whip It" peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 8 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. The album was awarded platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America on May 13, 1986.

Critical
In a 1981 review, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice quipped that "if they ever teach a rhythm box to get funky, a Mothersbaugh will be there to plug it in." Writing in Trouser Press, critics Scott Isler and Ira Robbins described the album as "the band's most evocative pairing of words and music". In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Steve Huey praised the album, calling it "their most cohesive, consistent material to date".

Record World described a live version of "Gates of Steel" saying that "its wall-of-sound guitar grind and Mark Mothersbaugh's vocal frenzy should satisfy AOR listeners."

Tour
For the tour, Devo donned their red energy domes, as well as white paper jumpsuits sprayed with gray fabric paint, adorned with red gaffer tape as a shoulder piece and waistband. The stage featured five light panels at the back which were fashioned from plywood with metal frames, and for the second part of the show, the panels were laid down, lit from underneath and used as a stage. The tour included several dates in Japan, including Osaka, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Sendai. Some performances featured the band wearing "goodwill outfits", including white short-sleeved shirts with shoulder pads and black trim, and white pants with black stripes.

The tour was captured on several different commercial releases. The first was a promotional LP of an almost complete gig from August 16 at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show and issued as part of the ongoing Warner Bros. Music Show series. Shortly thereafter, six tracks from the album appeared as the DEV-O Live mini-album, and in 2000, Rhino Handmade issued a limited edition CD of DEV-O Live, containing both the mini-album and the LP on one disc. In 2005, a performance from the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, California from the following night was issued as Devo Live 1980 in DualDisc format, with one side containing the show in DVD format and the other containing an edited version of the show's audio in CD format.

The evening show at Raincross Square in Riverside, California on August 19 was cancelled, due to a light bank malfunctioning during the afternoon show, which led ticket holders to riot. However, the show was made up a week later, on August 25.

Legacy
On September 16, 2009, Warner Bros. and Devo announced vinyl and deluxe CD re-releases of both Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and Freedom of Choice, as well as a tour in which they would perform both albums on back-to-back nights in selected cities. On December 22, 2009, the Ultra Devo-Lux Ltd. Edition box set was released, which featured the remastered versions of Q: Are We Not Men? and Freedom of Choice with bonus tracks, a DVD of the 2009 Q: Are We Not Men? HMV Forum concert, a DVD of music videos, a 7-inch single and a poster.

Track listing
1993 Virgin Freedom of Choice/Oh, No! It's Devo CD bonus tracks:

2009 Warner Bros. CD bonus tracks:


 * These bonus tracks constitute the DEV-O Live EP.

2009 Ultra Devo-lux Ltd. Ed. CD bonus tracks:

Personnel
Credits adapted from Pioneers Who Got Scalped: The Anthology CD liner notes.

Devo
 * Mark Mothersbaugh – vocals, keyboards, guitar
 * Gerald Casale – vocals, bass guitar, keyboards
 * Bob Mothersbaugh – lead guitar, vocals
 * Bob Casale – rhythm guitar, keyboards, vocals
 * Alan Myers – drums

Credits adapted from the original album's liner notes:

Technical
 * Devo – producer
 * Robert Margouleff – producer, engineer
 * Howard Siegal – engineer
 * Karat Faye – assistant engineer
 * Ken Perry – mastering
 * Artrouble – album cover