Everyone who writes about this song emphasizes how unlikely a pairing it is ... and most everyone concede that the song works perfectly well. Erik Adams at the A.V. Club at least had the wit to point out a few basic similarities that DEVO and Jermaine share, such as growing up in tough Rust Belt towns.

If it was Jermaine’s idea to seek out DEVO, it was a good one, and Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale—introduced here as “Spud and Pud Devo”—gamely agreed to pitch in. The song ended up cracking the top 20 on the Billboard charts in August of 1982.

I’d love to know what TV special this was, exactly; Adams identifies it as a “Dick Clark Productions Halloween special.” Anyone who is old enough to possibly have been watching at the time (I am, but I don’t recall catching it) will surely be able to identify the MC as funnyman Fred Travalena—he was the kind of guy to whom the identifier “funnyman” just comes naturally. (He did impressions, like Rich Little, Kevin Pollak, or, ah…. Frank Caliendo?)

In any case, it’s a Halloween special, as evidenced by the occasional camera pans over a pair of hearty jack-o’-lanterns. As I tried to figure out who changed to accommodate whom, DEVO or Jermaine, it became clear that nobody did—it turns out that DEVO and Jermaine fit together just fine exactly as they are.

But what makes this video truly special is Jermaine’s ... extraordinary technique on the guitar.
 

 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
John Lydon almost joined Devo in 1978? Well, I’ll be.
Devo performing live on TV in 1978: Secret teachings of the SubGenius