Understanding the ‘devolution theory’ central to DEVO
Most readers will be familiar with DEVO, the quirky synth-wave group hailing from Akron, Ohio, but fewer will be aware of the curious philosophy at the heart of the band that spawned their name. While the band formed in 1973, the devolution theory crucial to their conception dates back to 1924, when Ohio-based Rev B.H. Shadduck published his whacky anti-evolution journal Jocko-Homo Heavenbound.
His company, Jocko-Homo Publishing, published several follow-up books that remained popular through the early 20th century, ensuring Darwin was kept turning in his grave. However, the books and the theories held within fizzled out of fashion following Shadduck’s death in 1950.
After more than two decades of dormancy, the theories were exhumed by none other than Mark Mothersbaugh. The future DEVO singer was the proud owner of the Jocko-Homo booklet and introduced its guiding principles to his school friend Gerald Casale in 1970.
Shadduck, born in 1869, lived a long and varied life, wherein he tried his hand as an officer in the Salvation Army, Deacon and Elder in the Methodist church, Doctor of Philosophy, Christian apologist, public speaker, and vocal critic of the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, this evident busybody is remembered today for his staunch denunciation of evolution and the comically unhinged creationist booklets he released concerning such views.
Intriguingly, Shadduck wasn’t raised in a religious household and regarded his father as an infidel. “I didn’t know what church or Sunday school was,” he once wrote. “With no one to teach me of the way of God, I naturally grew up wild. My first trip to church was to satisfy curiosity, and if I went afterwards it was to escape some disagreeable [farm] work that Father had for us on Sunday.”
Later, Shadduck revealed the turning point that introduced him to religion. He wrote: “At the age of eighteen, I heard a sermon that convinced me that I was treating God worse than anyone was ever likely to treat me, and I saw myself as a lost soul, reckoned in the company of the enemies of God. Broken in spirit, I could not say, ‘Oh, God, You can have me; I had nothing to give Him but my burden”.
Adding: “Not one of my close relatives or friends was a Christian. My father was hostile and insisted that I had brought shame on the family. I left home to face the world alone. All my dream castles had crashed in ruins; all whom I had relied upon had failed me. When I would have despaired, my inner soul heard the whisper of One Who can rebuke ‘the raging waters’ and call back the dead. And He said, as He has said to millions of others willing to forsake His rivals, ‘You can have Me.’ Giving to God is not over-emphasized, but God as a gift is often overlooked.”
In 1924, Shadduck reacted to the ever-strengthening reign of Darwinism by publishing Jocko-Homo Heavenbound (“Jocko-Homo” translates to “ape-man”), the first of these pamphlets. The 32-page booklet was printed en masse with colour covers and several full-page cartoons drawn by F.W. Alden. The book was an unprecedented success, demanding ten reprints and was distributed across the US and Canada.
Through their formative years, DEVO’s artwork and poster aesthetic was heavily inspired by the abstract illustrations in Shadduck’s booklets. Most notably, of course, their 1977 track ‘Jocko Homo’, the B-side to their first single, ‘Mongoloid’, was inspired by Jocko-Homo Heavenbound. The song was re-recorded for the band’s 1978 debut album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, which was produced by Brian Eno.
An early version of the track had also been a central feature of DEVO’s 1976 short film, In The Beginning Was The End: The Truth About De-Evolution. The film, too, was intrinsically related to Shadduck’s work, with the “Devolutionary Oath” lifted almost directly from the Reverend’s text.
Devolutionary Oath:
- Wear gaudy colors or avoid display
- Lay a million eggs or give birth to one
- The fittest shall survive yet the unfit may live
- Be like your ancestors or be different
- We must repeat!
DEVO’s above “oath” closely resembles Shadduck’s satirical list of the rules of evolution as laid out below.
- Be like your ancestors or be different.
- The fittest shall survive and the unfit may live.
- Grow big or stay little; either will help you survive or not.
- That your family may survive, lay a million eggs or give birth to one.
- Unused organs shall disappear or persist.
- Rudimentary organs are what you have had or what you will have.
- Win a mate by combat or not; it will help the family survive, or not.
- Polygamy will help survival, unless you prefer to mate in pairs.
- Fight your neighbors or unite with them; one way or the other will help.
- Wear gaudy colors or avoid display, so shall your family survive.
- Develop legs, wings, tail, horns, shells or not; they will help, or not.
- Remember, it’s a THEORY. Don’t let any man see you MAKING wings out of warts or Adams out of apes.
While DEVO obviously didn’t align with Shadduck’s regressive anti-evolution values, the late crackpot profoundly impacted their misanthropic views and artistic approach, noted for its socio-political rhetoric and humorous pessimism. The band’s devolutionist philosophy claims that the world is in a downward spiral of decadence, fuelled by moral decline, mechanisation, and overconsumption. Ultimately, mankind will dictate its own demise or devolution.
