«Whip It» — История Создания и Успеха Песни Devo

1980 single by Devo

"Whip It" is a song by American new wave band Devo from their third studio album Freedom of Choice (1980). It is a new wave and synth pop song that features a synthesizer, electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums in its instrumentation. The apparently nonsensical lyrics have a common theme revolving around the ability to deal with one's problems by "whipping it". Co written by bassist Gerald Casale and lead vocalist Mark Mothersbaugh, Devo recorded "Whip It" with producer Robert Margouleff at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Although "Whip It" was released as the second single from Freedom of Choice, Warner Bros. Records did not expect it to be a hit, due to its nonstandard tempo and strange lyrics. The disc jockey (DJ) Kal Rudman took an interest in the song and it was soon being played on several radio stations in the Southeastern United States. Peaking at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Whip It" became a hit single and found chart success in several countries. Mothersbaugh believes the song sold well because some people assumed the lyrics were about masturbation or sadomasochism. An accompanying music video depicts these sexual themes; it features Mothersbaugh whipping clothing from a woman on a dude ranch. Despite some claims of misogynistic undertones, the video became popular on the fledgling television channel MTV.

Devo's previous studio album Duty Now for the Future (1979) was considered a disappointment by critics and band members; critics regarded it as a formulaic repeat of the band's 1978 debut Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and the band members primarily blamed the formulaic sound on the album's producer Ken Scott. Warner Bros. Records was also unhappy with Duty Now for the Future and issued an ultimatum to Devo that they needed to produce a successful follow up album, or they would be dropped from the label. The band members believed a hit single would bolster the next album's popularity and finally give them radio exposure. In late 1979, audio engineer Robert Margouleff was brought on to produce "Whip It", along with its parent album Freedom of Choice. "Whip It" was written between August and October 1979 by bassist Jerry Casale and lead vocalist and keyboardist Mark Mothersbaugh. Howard Siegal engineered the song while Margouleff served as the producer. It was recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles and mastered by Ken Perry at Capitol Studios. The song was recorded using API mixing consoles, 3M tape machines, and Minimoog and Prophet 5 synthesizers. Mothersbaugh created the main riff in "Whip It" by taking the riff used in Roy Orbison's song "Oh, Pretty Woman" and changing the ending slightly.

"Whip It" is a new wave and synth pop song, that is built around a consistent 4/4 beat known as a motorik beat. "Whip It" main riff alternates between a five note ascension and a three note descension, and is played with a synthesizer, electric guitar, and bass guitar. For example, its central theme revolves around the ability to solve one's problems by "whipping it"; other lines include motivational statements like "go forward, move ahead" and "it's not too late". Ultimate Classic Rock critic Dave Swanson interpreted the lyrics as being "an observation on the struggles of the common man, woman and mutant." Mothersbaugh offered a different interpretation of the lyrics, saying they were written in the form of a subtle pep talk for United States President Jimmy Carter during the 1980 presidential election. The members of Devo supported Carter and feared the Republican candidate Ronald Reagan would win the election. Mothersbaugh jokingly once said in an interview: "Come on Jimmy, get your shit together". Huey notes that despite the song's novelty, there are violent undertones in the lyrics. He describes the process of whipping it to solve one's problems as "a sardonic portrait of a general, problematic aspect of the American psyche: the predilection for using force and violence to solve problems, vent frustration, and prove oneself to others". "Girl U Want" did not chart and was considered a failure. Despite this disappointment, Devo decided to tour in support of the album without a hit single. Shortly into the tour, disc jockey (DJ) Kal Rudman programmed "Whip It" to be played on several radio stations in the Southeastern U. S., which led urban music programmer Frankie Crocker to push the song at powerhouse WBLS in New York City. Within a week, "Whip It" had become so popular that Devo was forced to temporarily stop its tour to book larger venues because the concerts were selling out too quickly. When Devo returned home, they played a series of large concerts at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in late August 1980, attended by Hollywood celebrities and other L. A. musicians. Casale later said that the rising popularity of "Whip It" helped to fill such large venues, along with the continued "big booster" promotion of Devo by KROQ radio in Southern California. KROQ's listeners chose "Whip It" as their number 1 favorite song in the year end list KROQ Top 106.7 of 1980. "Whip It" debuted at number eighty five on the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 on August 30, 1980. It spent twenty five weeks on the chart, peaked at number fourteen on November 15, 1980, and finished the year at number ninety four on the Billboard Year End singles chart for 1981. In a retrospective review, Huey said the song has "an irresistibly odd novelty appeal" and that it was "one of the best arguments that punk ideology didn't necessarily lose its bite when placed in the more pop oriented musical context of new wave". The website subsequently ranked "Whip It" as the fifty first best alternative song of the 1980s.

Although "Whip It" was not about masturbation or sadomasochism as some listeners believed, Devo used these sexual themes for an accompanying music video. The video is set on a dude ranch where cowboys and cowgirls are watching Mothersbaugh whip the clothing from a cigarette smoking woman. A cross eyed woman and a middle aged woman making whipped cream watch from a ranch house while the other members of Devo perform the song in a cattle pen. The band members are wearing sleeveless black turtlenecks and red flowerpot shaped hats called energy domes. Devo was heavily committed to adding film aspects to its act; the band asked Warner Bros. to provide non recoupable promotional money to make videos for "Girl U Want" and "Freedom of Choice". This was before the making of music videos had become standard industry practice, which confused label executives. When "Whip It" started to receive radio airplay, the record company embraced the concept and asked the band to produce a video for "Whip It" with a $15,000 budget. The idea for the video came from an article in a 1962 issue of The Dude magazine, which revolved around a former stuntman who marries a stripper and moves to a dude ranch in Arizona. For entertainment, the man would use a whip to remove the clothes from his wife, who would remain unhurt. Mothersbaugh stated; "That's the kind of stuff that fed us creatively. It was just so stupid and so low, and yet so great." The video was partially a reaction to President Ronald Reagan's previous career as a Hollywood actor; Devo wanted to make a video that satirized both the cowboy mythos and "right wing racist values". In the video, the whip does not strike the woman's clothes; they were tied to a fishing line and pulled away after each whip crack. The whip did, however, strike the cigarette holder to knock it out of her mouth. For the first few months after its release, the video was seen by a limited audience, primarily on late night talk shows. The American television channel MTV, which was launched in 1981, gave the video so much exposure that it temporarily revived the song's popularity, shortly before the release of Devo's next studio album New Traditionalists (1981). The video attracted some controversy, particularly for its perceived misogynistic undertones. Casale said the band members intended the video to appear tasteless and demeaning but also funny. Mann noted that the band's strange philosophy on devolution offset its accessibility, and wrote; "Devo's songs were, quite simply, too far out and counter culture for mainstream radio". Devo's members have never tried to distance themselves from "Whip It" and as of 2018 still play it live. One of the most unusual covers was recorded by the American teen pop band Devo 2.0 and featured on its album DEV2.0 (2006). Devo 2.0, which was created by Walt Disney Records in an attempt to emulate the popularity of the Swedish pop group the A Teens, covered Devo songs for a teenage audience.