If you’re a vinyl junkie, this Saturday, April 21st is probably like Christmas to you—hell, it’s probably bigger than Christmas, because your stupid relatives probably still buy you CDs no matter how many times you tell them it’s an obsolete technology. Yes, kids, it’s Record Store Day, and the cornucopia of limited-edition collector’s crack that will be hitting the shelves of your local independent music retailer should be a boost to eBay’s bottom line for months to come.
We’ve already written about the Flaming Lips’ pretty sweet-sounding Record Store Day exclusive. You can also snag RSD releases from such TWBITW-approved acts as The Misfits, Tinariwen and Captain Beefheart. But the other release that has us really intrigued is a 1981 live album (available only on vinyl—it’s the Record Store Day way) from DEVO called, in typical DEVO utilitarian fashion, Live in Seattle 1981. Previously available only as a bootleg unreleased, the album is a document of the band’s New Traditionalists tour, which featured Greek columns and treadmills and the Ronald Reagan hairpieces seen above. This was right after “Whip It” became a huge hit, so DEVO was a big deal back then.
Seattle Weekly just published a great little interview with DEVO’s Gerald Casale in which he talks about that tour, the 1981 music scene, and why the band likes supporting Record Store Day. (Spoiler alert: They think it’s “quaint.”) Read up on the backstory, then call your record shop and ask if they’ll be carrying Live in Seattle 1981. Then prepare to knock a few DEVO nerds’ Energy Domes off en route to securing your copy this Saturday. (Kidding! Be nice to the DEVO nerds. This is the one day a year some of them get out of the house.)
We’ll leave you with one of our favorite DEVO songs from the New Traditionalists era. Not sure if it’s on Live in Seattle 1981 or not, but we sure hope so.
