Mongoloid

Mongoloid was the first single Devo released, in 1977 on their own Booji Boy label, with Jocko Homo on the B-side. The original sleeve was a triple gatefold held together with stickers, and Stiff Records later issued it in the UK in several packages. The song is built on a motorik beat. A bass line opens it, joined by drums and guitar, and a Minimoog synthesizer line frames the start and the end. Casale and Bob Mothersbaugh sing the doubled vocal together, nasally on the single. The lyrics follow a man with Down syndrome who leads a normal life in a de-evolved society.

The band re-recorded it for the debut album, adding far more synthesizer through the track. Tom Carson called it a sort of bastard cousin to the Ramones' Pinhead, with a great, stuttering guitar line. The video, Devo's second, was made by the experimental filmmaker Bruce Conner, who combined 1950s television adverts, science fiction film clips and scientific documentaries with abstract animation. Devo played the song on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in 1979.

It is among the most covered Devo songs. A 1979 Rhino Records compilation of Devo covers has three versions, the Hotfoot Quartet recorded a bluegrass take in Cleveland in 1980, the Australian band Custard put it on a 1996 EP, and Sepultura recorded it for the 2003 EP Revolusongs.