‘The Beginning Was the End’ tells Devo’s story | Book Talk
Devo has been nominated three times for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but maybe that’s only a technicality.
The influential Akron band’s formation and early success are presented in “The Beginning Was the End: Devo in Ohio” by former Beacon Journal columnist David Giffels and Jade Dellinger, a Florida art museum director.
Devo was a pioneering band of performance art. “Audiences were repelled by the group, and Devo’s response was to heap on more revulsion.” Most audience members walked out on Devo in 1975 at a Halloween party hosted by WMMS.
The big break came in 1976, and the time was right. Akron was beginning to be a center of punk and alternative music, with bands like Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys following in Devo’s wake.
Akron also was a dismal place, barely hanging on through a United Rubber Workers strike and foreign companies moving in on the tire industry.
The band’s short video “The Truth About De-Evolution,” filmed in Akron, Kent and Cuyahoga Falls, was a forerunner to MTV’s programming and won a prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. When the band screened it before their shows, it became an early example of multimedia.
One of the band members and his girlfriend took the video to an Iggy Pop show at the Cleveland Agora, and he and David Bowie eventually became champions of the band.
That story might not be true, though. The authors acknowledge that some stories are contradictory, leading to friction and litigation. It does include more than 80 new photos and new interviews, including with Iggy Pop.
The book is an expansion and update on Giffels’ and Dellinger’s out-of-print “Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!” In an email, Giffels said it is “edited with a sharper focus on the Ohio years — their decade-long gestation as a sprawling multimedia conceptual project before emerging as a conventional rock band.”
“The Beginning Was the End” provides that sharper focus, and captures the pain and pride of Akron in hard-luck years.
“The Beginning Was the End” (285 pages, softcover) costs $35.95 from University of Akron Press.
Giffels is a professor of English at the University of Akron. His other books include “The Hard Way on Purpose: Essays and Dispatches from the Rust Belt.”
Dellinger and Giffels will join the Main Event: Many Voices series to talk about “The Beginning Was the End” with moderator Bob Ethington from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday at Akron-Summit County Public Library, 60 S. High St., and with moderator Jason Prufer from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Kent State University May 4 Visitors Center, 300 Midway Drive.
Giffels will discuss the book from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Beachwood branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library, 25501 Shaker Blvd. (register at cuyahogalibrary.org), and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Learned Owl Book Shop, 204 N. Main St., Hudson.
Events
Cuyahoga Falls Pavilion & Amphitheater (100 Broad Blvd.): Mark Dawidziak signs “A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death of Edgar Allan Poe” and, with Sara Showman, presents poems and stories written by Poe, 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday as part of the Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society’s “Nightmare on Front Street.”
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Green branch, 4046 Massillon Road): University of Akron history professor Kevin Kern, co-author (with Gregory S. Wilson) of “Ohio: A History of the Buckeye State,” will talk about “Indigenous People’s History in Ohio, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Hudson Library & Historical Society (96 Library St.): Former Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger talks about “Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country,” 6:30 p.m. Monday. At 7 p.m. Thursday, cookbook author Nik Sharma talks about “VegeTable: Recipes, Techniques, and Plant Science for Big-Flavored, Vegetable-Centered Meals” in a virtual event at 7 p.m. Monday. Register at hudsonlibrary.org.
Wadsworth Public Library (132 Broad St.): Doug Waller talks about “Standing in the Shadows: Bigfoot Stories from Southeastern Ohio,” 7 to 8 p.m. Monday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Mayfield branch, 500 SOM Center Road, Mayfield Village): Josh Womack discusses “You Are Not That Funny: Stories from Cleveland Stand-Up,” 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Fairlawn-Bath branch, 3101 Smith Road, Fairlawn): Jane Turzillo talks about her true-crime books, including “Ohio Heists: Historic Bank Holdups, Train Robberies, Jewel Stings and More,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Olmsted Falls branch, 8100 Mapleway Drive): Katherine Kerestman, 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.): Scott Simon discusses “Scare Your Soul: 7 Powerful Principles to Harness Fear and Lead Your Most Courageous Life,” 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Stephen Conn talks about “Lies of the Land: Seeing Rural America for What It Is” with Steven Conn, author of “Believing in Cleveland: Managing Decline in the Best Location in the Nation,” 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (60 S. High St.): Raina Telgemeier joins the Young Author Spotlight series to talk to students in Grades 3-5 about her graphic memoir “Smile,” 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday. Register at akronlibrary.org.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (North Hill branch, 183 E. Cuyahoga Falls Ave., Akron): Nar Pradhan joins the Here is Home author series with “The Himalayan,” about his journey from Bhutan to the United States, 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Register at akronlibrary.org.
Black Cat Books (420 S. Court St., Medina): Mark Dawidziak signs “A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death of Edgar Allan Poe” and, with Sara Showman, presents poems and stories written by Poe, 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday. Register at blackcatmedina.com.
Wayne Center for the Arts (237 S. Walnut St., Wooster): James A. Willis presents “Ohio’s Historic Haunts: Investigating the Paranormal in the Buckeye State,” 6 to 7:45 p.m. Thursday. Register at wcpl.info.
Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library: John Irving, author of “A Prayer for Owen Meany” and “The Cider House Rules,” joins the Online Author Talk series in a virtual event from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Register at smfpl.org.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Maple Heights branch, 5225 Library Lane): Kathy Schulz signs “The Underground Railroad in Ohio,” 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Cleveland Public Library: Hank Phillipi Ryan talks about her suspense novel “The House Guest” in a Facebook Live and YouTube event, 7 p.m. Thursday. Register at cpl.org.
Music Box Supper Club (1148 Main Ave., Cleveland): Charles Cassady Jr. (“Cleveland Ghosts”) and William G. Krejci (“Ghosts and Legends of Northern Ohio”) join the Cleveland Stories Dinner Parties series at 7 p.m. Thursday. Dinner is $25; the lecture is free. Go to musicboxcle.com.
Stark County Public Library (715 Market Ave. N., Canton): Kathy Schulz talks about “The Underground Railroad in Ohio,” 3 to 4 p.m. Friday. Register at starklibrary.org.
Visible Voice Books (2258 Professor Ave., Cleveland): Matt Hribar talks about “Chastity Shawl & Other Stories,” 7 p.m. Friday.
Morley Library (184 Phelps St., Painesville): Former Beacon Journal writer Thrity Umrigar talks about “The Museum of Failures,” 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Registration required; go to morleylibrary.org.
Fireside Book Shop (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls): John Bernatovicz signs “HR Like a Boss,” 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch, 1876 S. Green Road, South Euclid): Contributors to the “Poems for Cleveland” anthology read from their work, 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.
Book Talk: Learn the stories behind 100 holiday hits
Book Talk: Akron woman’s marriage to Thomas Edison was a dim time
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘The Beginning Was the End’ tells Devo’s story | Book Talk
