Devo Recall Tense Meeting With Mick Jagger

Posted on Nov 3rd 2009 11:00AM by Dan Reilly
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With the rerelease of two of their landmark albums -- their 1978 debut 'Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!' and their 1980 masterpiece 'Freedom of Choice' -- Devo are reliving many of the memories of what made the early stage of their career so special. Before their debut, the Ohio-born band was riding high with artists like David Bowie -- who nearly produced 'Are We Not Men?' -- and Iggy Pop backing them. Still, all that support couldn't get them out of a tense meeting where Mick Jagger had to give his approval on their cover of the Rolling Stones' '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' for inclusion on their debut disc.

"We weren't even allowed to put it out unless we got [the Stones'] approval because back then people took intellectual property seriously," Devo bassist/vocalist Gerald Casale tells Spinner. "Because we mutated the songs completely -- it wasn't just a faithful cover, it was completely twisted and some lyrics were changed -- we had to go play it for Mick Jagger in New York City in his lawyer's office."

"Mark [Mothersbaugh] and I went and [Mick] sat in a chair drinking wine," Casale continues. "It was really scary, because what if he didn't like it? We would have been so crushed, crestfallen. After about 30 seconds, he got up, put the wine on the mantle of the fireplace -- this wasn't just any lawyer's office, this was big time. It was cold and raining outside and the fire was going and he started dancing around in front of the fireplace going 'I like it! I like it!' We were like 'Oh f---. It's Mick Jagger and he's dancing and saying "I like it."' It was great."

The reissues, which also contain live tracks from the band, are available now.

Buy Devo Reissue Albums on Amazon
Watch Devo Cover 'Satisfaction'