Q: Are We Not Men? A: No, We Are Chi Chi Rodriguez

August 27, 2017 1:35 PM

"All our efforts were, in fact, in earnest," Jerry says. "But what it looked like in the end is that Devo had meanly tricked Chi Chi Rodriguez and put out something that made him look hideous. It was — you know, it was a mess."
posted by jenkinsEar (24 comments total)

That's a delightful piece, and yeah, it still looks like Chi Chi.
posted by languagehat at 1:44 PM on August 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

Nice article. Chi Chi Rodriguez is a very good human being and it shows.
posted by seasparrow at 1:46 PM on August 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

Yes. Now do Boojie Boy.
posted by adamgreenfield at 2:03 PM on August 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Great story, but it needs this snap of the original picture.

And here's the Be Stiff single which used the original art.
posted by zompist at 2:10 PM on August 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

Thread cannot continue without Les Nessman mispronouncing Mr. Rodriguez's name to comedic effect.
posted by GamblingBlues at 2:47 PM on August 27, 2017 [16 favorites]

adamgreenfield: Booji Boy is as old as the mountains, yet unborn. He is the infantile spirit of de-evolution. This is all you need to know.
posted by SansPoint at 3:43 PM on August 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

I've always thought the final artwork looked a lot like Jay Johnston of Mr. Show and a million other comedic parts.
posted by jason_steakums at 3:45 PM on August 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

It was — you know, it was a mess.

But was it... a big mess?
posted by Halloween Jack at 3:57 PM on August 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

I knew when I read Devo wrote a letter to Chi Chi that he had to have said yes. Chi Chi has done a ton of charitable work here in the Tampa Bay Area and is known to be a mensch.
posted by photoslob at 3:59 PM on August 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

You cannot mutate a picture of Chi Chi so that it is not Chi Chi any more. Its internal Chichiness will always shine forth.
posted by delfin at 4:08 PM on August 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

I do wish DEVO was a little bit better at clearing copyrights. Spent quite some time making a video with Jerry, for their version of Hendrix's R U Experienced. It showed exactly once on MTV before the Hendrix estate put the kabosh on it.
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:18 PM on August 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

Did this come before or after the Church of the SubGenius' “Bleeding Head of Arnold Palmer” thing, and were the two connected? (I know Mark Mothersbaugh was involved in some way in the CotSG.)
posted by acb at 4:20 PM on August 27, 2017

Just the other day I was wondering about "Chy chy rodrigweez" (thanks GamblingBlues) which was something that we would repeat, maybe because of my parents. I was just wondering, though, what was that from and who is the person the joke references? And now this. Thank you! Timely and fascinating!
posted by stevil at 4:30 PM on August 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Oscar Kiss Maerth is also a part of the Devo origin mythology.
posted by ovvl at 5:09 PM on August 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Let's hope he's up to par next time.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 6:23 PM on August 27, 2017

TIL this. Thanks!
posted by mosk at 6:28 PM on August 27, 2017

I can make that face but I need that hat.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 8:14 PM on August 27, 2017

I logged in to post the Les Nessman clip, and saw that GamblingBlues beat me to it. So, since I'm here, I'll just say thank you to GamblingBlues for spreading the Nessman love.
Thank you, GamblingBlues.
posted by landis at 8:25 PM on August 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

What a great story. Made even better by interviewing Rodriguez. Thanks for posting it.

GamblingBlues: “Thread cannot continue without Les Nessman mispronouncing Mr. Rodriguez's name to comedic effect. ”

The very best part about this is that the guy shooting this off his TV to post on YouTube — who's seen this scene a million times probably — couldn't help but chuckle when the moment comes.
posted by ob1quixote at 10:09 PM on August 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

DEVO has been my favorite band since Freedom of Choice came out and my age was a single digit, yet I've never heard this story before. Thank you, thank you, thank you. (I still don't see that as Nixon's nose or Johnson's ears, but whatever.)
posted by ejs at 12:36 AM on August 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

StickyCarpet: The Hendrix Estate didn't keep the "Are You Experienced?" video from MTV. Only from the DVD releases of The Complete Truth About De-Evolution. What kept it from MTV was likely the album tanking, DEVO losing their contract with Warner Bros., and MTV's general dismissive attitude towards DEVO after the network took off and didn't need their content anymore.
posted by SansPoint at 5:19 AM on August 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Because it still makes me laugh.
posted by evilDoug at 11:56 AM on August 28, 2017

On preview, what obl1quixote said.
posted by evilDoug at 11:59 AM on August 28, 2017

Well damn. I'm so far behind the posts on this it ain't even funny.

OK, it is funny.
posted by evilDoug at 12:01 PM on August 28, 2017