© Melanie Nissen - Hard + Fast book : Devo
The late 70's and early 80's was my time to shine and go down in flames as well, a time to find and lose myself on more than one occasion. Me and my bandmates played iconic Hollyweird places like the original Madame Wongs, Gazzarris on the strip and the infamous Starwood. When I wasn't gigging, I was hanging at Tower Records or downing late night eats at Ships coffee shop in Westwood. Those venues, those rights of passage and lost polaroids don't exist anymore. The Motels, X, Oingo Boingo, the NuCats, Bates Motel, The Plimsouls, 20/20, The Cars, Sparks, the Go-Go's, The Heaters, Quiet Riot, The Jam were just some of the bands that blew me away back in the day. The first time I saw Devo was at the Long Beach Arena in 1979 on New Years Eve opening up for Cheap Trick (to this day, still the loudest musical act I have ever seen). I already loved Devo, a year prior they had turned my brain inside out performing on SNL. On the 79 New Years Eve Show they played the entire show jumping on conveyor belts on the floor that would moved them forward at a pretty fast clip so they could jump off to robotically walk backwards to do it all over again. Amazing, mind blowing. This was, of course, more than 20 years before the advent of any social media so you could go to shows and be completely surprised instead of being inundated with imagery (beforehand) of what you might see.
That pivotal time in music, in rock and punk culture is chronicled by the amazing rock photographer Melanie Nissen - dive in below.
[HARD + FAST the first official collection of work by legendary rock photographer Melanie Nissen. Gracing the pages of the illustrious punk rock fanzine Slash from 1977-1980, her photos have always stood apart. Published by Blank Industries and due out February 1, 2022, the HARD + FAST hardbound art book will also be available in a “special edition” bundle which comes with three exclusive 7” singles from Devo, the Go-Go’s and a Dangerhouse Records split single. FLOOD has debuted the Devo 7” tracks "Too Much Paranoias" + "Praying Hands" today alongside a photo of the band, inviting fans to hear the only high quality 24-track live recordings from 1977.
"I did the first Devo photo shoot in LA at the Slash Magazine studio,” reflects Nissen. “I’m a big fan of theirs but had no idea what to expect. We hadn’t met yet. It was very exciting to photograph them. They brought a lot of energy, interesting things to work with and are very creative. Soon they were in their underwear and so it began. I loved it and will never forget it. To listen to their music is a bonus for the photos.”]
"I did the first Devo photo shoot in LA at the Slash Magazine studio,” reflects Nissen. “I’m a big fan of theirs but had no idea what to expect. We hadn’t met yet. It was very exciting to photograph them. They brought a lot of energy, interesting things to work with and are very creative. Soon they were in their underwear and so it began. I loved it and will never forget it. To listen to their music is a bonus for the photos.”]
The LIVE Starwood recordings are stellar. They capture Devo's ferocity and absurdist, politico art punk as they were / are. I saw them decades later at the now defunct San Diego Street Scene in 2008 (with "X" I might add) and even though to some they may come off as an oldies act, they still, STILL, sounded energetically tight, dynamic and forward thinking. I always have felt that DEVO have shaped and inspired legions of art punk, progressive art pop artists in the same way that The Beatles shaped popular music.
Enjoy and step back and forward.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
HARD + FAST the first official collection of work by legendary rock photographer Melanie Nissen. Gracing the pages of the illustrious punk rock fanzine Slash from 1977-1980, her photos have always stood apart. Published by Blank Industries and due out February 1, 2022, the HARD + FAST hardbound art book will also be available in a “special edition” bundle which comes with three exclusive 7” singles from Devo, the Go-Go’s and a Dangerhouse Records split single. FLOOD has debuted the Devo 7” tracks "Too Much Paranoias" + "Praying Hands" today alongside a photo of the band, inviting fans to hear the only high quality 24-track live recordings from 1977.
"I did the first Devo photo shoot in LA at the Slash Magazine studio,” reflects Nissen. “I’m a big fan of theirs but had no idea what to expect. We hadn’t met yet. It was very exciting to photograph them. They brought a lot of energy, interesting things to work with and are very creative. Soon they were in their underwear and so it began. I loved it and will never forget it. To listen to their music is a bonus for the photos.”
In its early years, the L.A. punk scene was egalitarian, and the mix of people in her pictures is astonishing. Senior citizens, people of every race, children, swells in fancy clothes, people in rags – everyone was welcome. “The early years were special,” Nissen reflects. “There was a real sense of camaraderie and everyone was generous with their work.”
Immersed in the burgeoning scene herself, Nissen was friends with most of the people she photographed. This created a unique trust and comfort for her subjects to act naturally, injecting a biting sense of humor and extravagant body language into her photographs. There are also elements of formal portraiture evocative of work by Richard Avedon; like Avedon, Nissen sometimes prints her portraits framed with rough outlines of thick black ink that give them an unconventional edge.
When Nissen left Slash she embarked on a career in the record industry, working as a photographer and graphic designer for the four major labels – Warner Brothers, Atlantic, Virgin, and A&M – for more than two decades.
Devo, alt rock, new wave, experimental pop, divergent pop, art pop, art rock, art alt rock, LIVE, Starwood, Hollywood, California, 1977, "Praying Hands", "Too Much Paranoias", rock photographer Melanie Nissen,
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
HARD + FAST the first official collection of work by legendary rock photographer Melanie Nissen. Gracing the pages of the illustrious punk rock fanzine Slash from 1977-1980, her photos have always stood apart. Published by Blank Industries and due out February 1, 2022, the HARD + FAST hardbound art book will also be available in a “special edition” bundle which comes with three exclusive 7” singles from Devo, the Go-Go’s and a Dangerhouse Records split single. FLOOD has debuted the Devo 7” tracks "Too Much Paranoias" + "Praying Hands" today alongside a photo of the band, inviting fans to hear the only high quality 24-track live recordings from 1977.
"I did the first Devo photo shoot in LA at the Slash Magazine studio,” reflects Nissen. “I’m a big fan of theirs but had no idea what to expect. We hadn’t met yet. It was very exciting to photograph them. They brought a lot of energy, interesting things to work with and are very creative. Soon they were in their underwear and so it began. I loved it and will never forget it. To listen to their music is a bonus for the photos.”
In its early years, the L.A. punk scene was egalitarian, and the mix of people in her pictures is astonishing. Senior citizens, people of every race, children, swells in fancy clothes, people in rags – everyone was welcome. “The early years were special,” Nissen reflects. “There was a real sense of camaraderie and everyone was generous with their work.”
Immersed in the burgeoning scene herself, Nissen was friends with most of the people she photographed. This created a unique trust and comfort for her subjects to act naturally, injecting a biting sense of humor and extravagant body language into her photographs. There are also elements of formal portraiture evocative of work by Richard Avedon; like Avedon, Nissen sometimes prints her portraits framed with rough outlines of thick black ink that give them an unconventional edge.
When Nissen left Slash she embarked on a career in the record industry, working as a photographer and graphic designer for the four major labels – Warner Brothers, Atlantic, Virgin, and A&M – for more than two decades.
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