Post by Anacrusis on Feb 19, 2022 19:06:26 GMT
Mark Allen Mothersbaugh
Years Active: 1973 - Present
Associated Acts: DEVO, Nickelodeon’s Rugrats
Recorded Range: B2 - C♯6
Voice Type: Taurus
{Singer Bio and Voice Summary}
While DEVO is a one-hit wonder outside of their cult following (“Whip It”), the band’s influence had a clear impact during their heyday at the turn of the ‘80s: on new wave music, on the recently-developed concept of the music video, and more broadly, on satirical and absurdist songwriting.
DEVO is an interesting band. Their lyrics, image, and extended lore revolve around their fictional concept of humanity’s “de-evolution” (hence the band name), a regression they find in societal faults such as rampant consumerism; vapid branding and fashion trends; corrupt, yet image-obsessed authorities; the growing threat of nuclear war; and whatever else may have caught the attention of the band’s playfully dissident, undeniably horny (sex comes up a lot, too, out of praise), energy-domed minds.
The desire to mock everyone and everything quickly led DEVO to embrace their role as total outsiders. Onstage, at least especially in their prime, DEVO would dress like time travelers in hazmat suits and jerk around like animatronics reciting a corporate jingle. To match this, DEVO frontman Mark Mothersbaugh would shout melodies robotically like slogans from a campaign speech or a TV/radio commercial. And while he’s been careful never to break the parody with too much direct emotion, he has always offered just enough intensity and grit to keep the act alive and energized.
Since DEVO has kept to one consistent albeit very unique style throughout their career, it’s hard to tell what the full extent of Mark Mothersbaugh’s range would have been in his vocal prime. After all, most of his melodies are half-shouted. But it can very well be inferred that he’s a natural tenor and that he has always played to his strengths. As his Range Timeline shows, Mothersbaugh stayed pretty consistent over DEVO’s main career (1978-1990), having started out with noticeable agility in his upper register and then maintaining that over twelve productive years of touring and recording. Consequently, numerous songs from all over this period include long, belted passages that peak at A4 or higher. And as a testament to his technique, even on DEVO’s latest full studio album (2010’s Something for Everybody), Mothersbaugh sounds remarkably similar to how he did during DEVO’s commercial peak thirty years prior. With tone and belts still intact, Mothersbaugh arguably never even left his prime, and he was pushing 60 when he recorded Something for Everybody.
The only drawback, whether due to style or the limitations of being a natural tenor, is that his low range has been unfortunately rare and typically sounds dark as high as G3-A3, and in live shows, it may even sound rather strained just a few notes lower. Still, Mothersbaugh very much gets the job done. In DEVO’s heyday, his heavily-compressed, mechanically-phrased melodies not only served to mock the overly pleasant and sunshine-y image of modern brands and politicians (politicians if ostensibly so; DEVO’s not very authoritarian), but it also infused DEVO with an infectious, though shamelessly goofy angst that helped introduce the raw energy of punk to the synth-driven sounds of the ‘80s.
To conclude, if you’re still writing off DEVO as another corny one-hit wonder, then you must reconsider this in light of “Jimmy”. Love Jimmy or hate Jimmy, I’m sure we’d agree after hearing Jimmy that DEVO is both a corny and a downright cruel one-hit wonder, too.
While DEVO is a one-hit wonder outside of their cult following (“Whip It”), the band’s influence had a clear impact during their heyday at the turn of the ‘80s: on new wave music, on the recently-developed concept of the music video, and more broadly, on satirical and absurdist songwriting.
DEVO is an interesting band. Their lyrics, image, and extended lore revolve around their fictional concept of humanity’s “de-evolution” (hence the band name), a regression they find in societal faults such as rampant consumerism; vapid branding and fashion trends; corrupt, yet image-obsessed authorities; the growing threat of nuclear war; and whatever else may have caught the attention of the band’s playfully dissident, undeniably horny (sex comes up a lot, too, out of praise), energy-domed minds.
The desire to mock everyone and everything quickly led DEVO to embrace their role as total outsiders. Onstage, at least especially in their prime, DEVO would dress like time travelers in hazmat suits and jerk around like animatronics reciting a corporate jingle. To match this, DEVO frontman Mark Mothersbaugh would shout melodies robotically like slogans from a campaign speech or a TV/radio commercial. And while he’s been careful never to break the parody with too much direct emotion, he has always offered just enough intensity and grit to keep the act alive and energized.
Since DEVO has kept to one consistent albeit very unique style throughout their career, it’s hard to tell what the full extent of Mark Mothersbaugh’s range would have been in his vocal prime. After all, most of his melodies are half-shouted. But it can very well be inferred that he’s a natural tenor and that he has always played to his strengths. As his Range Timeline shows, Mothersbaugh stayed pretty consistent over DEVO’s main career (1978-1990), having started out with noticeable agility in his upper register and then maintaining that over twelve productive years of touring and recording. Consequently, numerous songs from all over this period include long, belted passages that peak at A4 or higher. And as a testament to his technique, even on DEVO’s latest full studio album (2010’s Something for Everybody), Mothersbaugh sounds remarkably similar to how he did during DEVO’s commercial peak thirty years prior. With tone and belts still intact, Mothersbaugh arguably never even left his prime, and he was pushing 60 when he recorded Something for Everybody.
The only drawback, whether due to style or the limitations of being a natural tenor, is that his low range has been unfortunately rare and typically sounds dark as high as G3-A3, and in live shows, it may even sound rather strained just a few notes lower. Still, Mothersbaugh very much gets the job done. In DEVO’s heyday, his heavily-compressed, mechanically-phrased melodies not only served to mock the overly pleasant and sunshine-y image of modern brands and politicians (politicians if ostensibly so; DEVO’s not very authoritarian), but it also infused DEVO with an infectious, though shamelessly goofy angst that helped introduce the raw energy of punk to the synth-driven sounds of the ‘80s.
To conclude, if you’re still writing off DEVO as another corny one-hit wonder, then you must reconsider this in light of “Jimmy”. Love Jimmy or hate Jimmy, I’m sure we’d agree after hearing Jimmy that DEVO is both a corny and a downright cruel one-hit wonder, too.
Significant High Notes:
C♯6 ("Too Much Paranoias")
C6 ("Gut Feeling")
B5 ("Bread and Butter", "Mr. DNA")
G5 ("Praying Hands")
F♯5 ("Beautiful World" live as Booji Boy 1982, "Pink Pussycat")
F5 ("Speed Racer", "What We Do")
E5 ("Bread and Butter", "Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin’)", "Working in the Coal Mine")
D5 ("Be Stiff", "Jimmy", "Monster Man", "Slap Your Mammy", "Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin’)", "Speed Racer", "Time Bomb")
C♯5 ("The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize", "Uncontrollable Urge" live on Fridays)
C5 ("Gut Feeling", "Penetration in the Centrefold", "Pity You", "Praying Hands", "Strange Pursuit", "Wiggly World")
B4 ("Agitated", "Be Stiff", "Blockhead" live 1980, "A Change Is Gonna Cum", "Dawghaus", "Fresh", "Gut Feeling", "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction", "Jocko Homo", "Man Turned Inside Out", "Monster Man", "Mr. DNA", "No Place Like Home", "Planet Earth" live 1980, "Secret Agent Man" Demo, "Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin’)", "Smart Patrol", "Sumthin’", "Uncontrollable Urge", "Wiggly World")
B♭4 ("Agitated", "The Big Picture", "Blockhead", "Disco Dancer", "Freedom of Choice", "Gates of Steel", "Going Under" live Seattle 1981, "I’d Cry If You Died", "Jimmy", "Morning Dew", "Penetration in the Centrefold", "Please Baby Please", "Praying Hands", "Time Bomb", "Too Much Paranoias", "Whip It" live on Fridays)
A4 ("Are You Experienced?", "A Change Is Gonna Cum", "Big Dog", "Dawghaus", "Devo Has Feelings Too", "Don’t Rescue Me", "Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man)", "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction", "I’d Cry If You Died", "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", "Jurisdiction of Love", "Later Is Now", "March On", "Mind Games", "Peek-A-Boo!", "Post Post-Modern Man", "Puppet Boy", "Raise Your Hands", "Red Eye", "Secret Agent Man", "The Shadow", "Social Fools", "Some Things Never Change", "Soo Bawlz", "Spin the Wheel", "Step Up", "Strange Pursuit", "Stuck in a Loop", "Sumthin’", "That’s Pep!", "Theme from Doctor Detroit", "Think Fast", "Throw Money at the Problem", "Time Bomb", "Turn Around", "Uncontrollable Urge", "What We Do", "Worried Man Blues" live as "Dove" 1980)
G♯4 ("Agitated", "Baby Doll", "Can U Juggle?", "The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize", "Devo Has Feelings Too", "Golden Energy", "Happy Guy", "I Wouldn’t Do That for You", "Jocko Homo", "Patterns", "Please Baby Please", "Sexi Luv", "Snowball", "Stop Look and Listen", "That’s Good", "Watch Us Work It", "What We Do", "When We Do It")
G4 ("Are You Experienced?", "Baby Doll", "Big Adventure", "The Big Picture", "Come Back Jonee", "Deep Sleep", "Don’t You Know", "Explosions", "Fraulein", "Fresh", "Girl U Want", "Head Like a Hole", "Human Rocket", "I Luv Ur Gun", "It’s Not Right", "Jerkin’ Back ‘n’ Forth", "Jimmy", "Love Without Anger", "Man Turned Inside Out", "Modern Life", "Monster Man", "Mr. B’s Ballroom", "Out of Sync", "Part of You", "Patterns", "Pity You", "Raise Your Hands", "Should-A Said Yes", "Shout", "S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)", "Some Things Never Change", "Sumthin’", "Thanks to You", "Time out for Fun")
Significant Low Notes:
G3 ("Are You Experienced?", "Big Adventure", "Come Back Jonee", "Dawghaus", "Don’t Be Cruel", "Don’t You Know", "Going Under" live Seattle 1981, "Head Like a Hole", "Here to Go", "I Desire", "I’d Cry If You Died", "It’s Not Right", "Luv-Luv", "Mecha-Mania Boy", "Part of You", "Patterns", "Peek-A-Boo!", "Pink Jazz Trancers", "Pity You", "Post Post-Modern Man", "Sexi Luv", "Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin’)", "Some Things Never Change", "Spin the Wheel", "That’s Pep!", "Time Bomb", "Wiggly World", "Working in the Coal Mine")
F♯3 ("Disco Dancer", "Golden Energy", "Let’s Talk", "Man Turned Inside Out", "The Super Thing", "Think Fast")
F3 ("Dogs of Democracy", "Don’t Rescue Me", "Going Under" live Seattle 1981, "Love Without Anger", "Mecha-Mania Boy", "Modern Life", "Planet Earth" live 1980, "Sexi Luv", "Smart Patrol", "Some Things Never Change", "Time Bomb", "Turn Around", "When We Do It")
E3 ("Baby Doll", "Don’t Rescue Me", "Don’t You Know", "Enough Said", "Find Out", "Fresh", "Human Rocket", "It’s Not Right", "Pink Pussycat", "Please Baby Please", "Race of Doom", "Secret Agent Man" Demo, "Soft Things", "Sumthin’", "The Super Thing", "Through Being Cool", "Turn Around", "What I Must Do")
E♭3 ("Mechanical Man")
D3 ("Bread and Butter", "Find Out", "Make Me Dance", "Planet Earth" live 1980, "Secret Agent Man" Demo, "Through Being Cool")
C3 ("Turn Around")
B2 ("Let’s Go", "Luv-Luv")
{Questionable Notes}
B5 ("Watch Us Work It" [2])
F5 ("I Luv Ur Gun" [4])
E5 ("Sumthin’" [2, 4])
D5 ("(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction" [1])
G4 ("Blow Up" [2, 4])
E3 ("Blow Up" [2, 4])
D3 ("Peek-A-Boo!" [3], "Turn Around" [2])
C3 ("One Dumb Thing" [2], "Pink Jazz Trancers" [1])
Please note that a lot of songs that sound like they could have been sung by Mark (eg. "Clockout", "Triumph of the Will", "Cold War") were really sung by Jerry Casale, who sounds like Mark but deeper and with a more exaggerated cadence.
..................................................
1. Brief jumps into high or low range (eg. Yelps, trills, anacrusis, etc.).
2. Notes whose singer is unclear.
3. Non-melodic (ie. Spoken or off-key) notes that also lack a clear pitch.
4. Possibly pitch-shifted notes.
5. Notes that do not fit the labels above but whose quality is still unrepresentative of the singer's usual work (eg. excessively distorted screams or sustained, but non-projected vocal fry).
B5 ("Watch Us Work It" [2])
F5 ("I Luv Ur Gun" [4])
E5 ("Sumthin’" [2, 4])
D5 ("(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction" [1])
G4 ("Blow Up" [2, 4])
E3 ("Blow Up" [2, 4])
D3 ("Peek-A-Boo!" [3], "Turn Around" [2])
C3 ("One Dumb Thing" [2], "Pink Jazz Trancers" [1])
Please note that a lot of songs that sound like they could have been sung by Mark (eg. "Clockout", "Triumph of the Will", "Cold War") were really sung by Jerry Casale, who sounds like Mark but deeper and with a more exaggerated cadence.
..................................................
1. Brief jumps into high or low range (eg. Yelps, trills, anacrusis, etc.).
2. Notes whose singer is unclear.
3. Non-melodic (ie. Spoken or off-key) notes that also lack a clear pitch.
4. Possibly pitch-shifted notes.
5. Notes that do not fit the labels above but whose quality is still unrepresentative of the singer's usual work (eg. excessively distorted screams or sustained, but non-projected vocal fry).
{Range Timeline}
With DEVO:
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978): G3 - D5 - G5 - C♯6
Duty Now for the Future (1979): D3 - C5 - F♯5 - B5
Freedom of Choice (1980): C3 - B4
New Traditionalists (1981): D3 - B♭4 - C5
Oh, No! It’s Devo (1982): E3 - A4 - F5
Shout (1984): E3 - A4
E-Z Listening Disc (1987): This is an instrumental album.
Total Devo (1988): E3 - B4
Smooth Noodle Maps (1990): F3 - B4 - D5
Something for Everybody (2010): E3 - B4 - F5
Something Else for Everybody (2013, but recorded in 2010): F♯3 - A4 - D5
With DEVO:
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978): G3 - D5 - G5 - C♯6
Duty Now for the Future (1979): D3 - C5 - F♯5 - B5
Freedom of Choice (1980): C3 - B4
New Traditionalists (1981): D3 - B♭4 - C5
Oh, No! It’s Devo (1982): E3 - A4 - F5
Shout (1984): E3 - A4
E-Z Listening Disc (1987): This is an instrumental album.
Total Devo (1988): E3 - B4
Smooth Noodle Maps (1990): F3 - B4 - D5
Something for Everybody (2010): E3 - B4 - F5
Something Else for Everybody (2013, but recorded in 2010): F♯3 - A4 - D5
..................................................
• Blue: Falsetto, head voice, and/or whistle register (projected mixed voice is kept in black).
• Green: Distorted screams.
• Bold: Some of the singer's arguably most impressive notes within a given register. Click on a bolded song title to hear audio of that note.
• Italics: Non-melodic notes (ie. Spoken or off-key).
• Underlines: Notes that are buried in the song's mix or which blend together with the other voice(s) in a harmony.
