Imagine it’s 1978. Neil Young is basically the "Grandfather of Granola," the folk-rock titan of Harvest and After the Gold Rush. Meanwhile, Devo—a bunch of art-school weirdos from Akron, Ohio—are running around in yellow radiation suits yelling about devolution. On paper, it makes zero sense. It’s like putting a flannel shirt on a robot. But neil young with devo is the weirdest, most pivotally strange collision in rock history, and it didn't just happen for a laugh; it actually birthed one of the greatest album titles of all time.
They met because of a movie. Not a good movie, mind you. A weird, psychedelic, $3 million fever dream called Human Highway.
Neil, operating under his director pseudonym "Bernard Shakey," wanted to make a film about the last day on Earth. He cast himself as a dorky mechanic named Lionel Switch and decided he needed "nuclear garbage men." Through a chain of connections involving Dean Stockwell and Toni Basil, he found Devo. When the band first met Neil, they were skeptical. Mark Mothersbaugh later admitted they thought he was just some "hippie grandpa."
But then they got into a room together.
What Really Happened at Different Fur Studios
The centerpiece of the neil young with devo saga is a session at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco. This wasn't a polished recording session. It was a ten-minute, ultra-twisted jam on a brand-new song Neil was tinkering with: "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)."
You've probably heard the classic version. It’s heavy, distorted, and iconic.
But the Devo version? It’s pure chaos.
Mark Mothersbaugh puts on his "Booji Boy" mask—that creepy, high-pitched infant character—and takes lead vocals. Neil handles the lead guitar, grinding out massive, filthy chords. While they’re jamming, Mothersbaugh starts ad-libbing. He doesn't want to sing about Johnny Rotten like the original lyrics. Instead, he shouts "Johnny Spud!" and mumbles a phrase Devo had used back in their graphic-arts days to promote a rust-proofing company.
"Rust never sleeps!"
Neil’s ears perked up instantly. He loved it. He didn't just love it; he stole it. He realized that these weird kids from Ohio had just summarized his entire career's philosophy in three words. If you don't keep moving, if you don't keep changing, you corrode. You turn to rust.
That one session gave Neil the title for his 1979 masterpiece, Rust Never Sleeps.
The Madness of the Human Highway Film
If you haven't seen Human Highway, you're in for a trip. It’s basically The Wizard of Oz if Dorothy was a radiation victim. The production was a disaster.
- Dennis Hopper played a cook named "Cracker" and spent his time doing real knife tricks while allegedly high on everything.
- He actually sliced a tendon in actress Sally Kirkland’s arm during a scene.
- Devo, meanwhile, felt like the most professional people on set because they were just watching the "rock star" insanity from the sidelines.
The band plays these "Nuclear Garbagepersons" who dump radioactive waste near a diner. At the end of the movie, the world literally ends in a nuclear blast. Amidst the apocalypse, Devo performs a de-evolved version of the folk classic "Worried Man Blues" while dancing around with shovels.
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It is deeply uncomfortable. It is also kind of brilliant.
Why This Weird Pairing Actually Worked
Why did a guy who sang about "Old Man" get along with guys who sang about "Jocko Homo"? Honestly, it’s because Neil Young is secretly more punk than most punks.
Jerry Casale of Devo later said that once they started working together, they realized Neil was "out there" just like they were. He wasn't some stale legacy act. He was looking for a way to blow up his own image. Seeing Devo’s total commitment to their "concept"—the uniforms, the jerky movements, the anti-consumerist satire—gave Neil the permission he needed to get weird again.
You can trace a direct line from neil young with devo to his 1982 album Trans. That’s the record where Neil used Vocoders and synthesizers, confusing the hell out of his label (Geffen) to the point they eventually sued him for not sounding like "Neil Young."
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The Legacy of the "Johnny Spud" Session
People often forget how much of an impact this had on Neil's band, Crazy Horse. When Neil showed the footage of the Devo session to his guitar player, Frank "Poncho" Sampedro, it changed their approach. Poncho saw how hard Devo was hitting those notes and decided Crazy Horse needed to play "Hey Hey, My My" even harder.
The version that ended up on Rust Never Sleeps—the one that defined the end of the 70s—owes its grit and its "fuck you" energy to those few days in 1978 with the Spud Boys.
Actionable Ways to Experience This History
If you want to actually see what the fuss is about, don't just take my word for it. You can find the pieces of this puzzle if you know where to look.
- Watch the Director's Cut: Neil released a restored version of Human Highway on Blu-ray. It’s the only way to see the Devo performances in high quality.
- Listen to the "Trans" Connection: Check out the track "Transformer Man" and then watch the Devo "Worried Man Blues" clip. You’ll hear the sonic DNA being passed from one to the other.
- Find the Different Fur Footage: There are bootleg clips of the "Hey Hey, My My" session on YouTube. Watch Mark Mothersbaugh in the Booji Boy mask while Neil shreds behind him. It is one of the most surreal artifacts of the era.
This wasn't just a gimmick. It was a rare moment where the old guard and the new wave actually understood each other. They both knew that the "Human Highway" was heading toward a cliff, so they might as well have a strange, noisy party on the way down.
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To understand the full scope of Neil's evolution, compare the acoustic "Out of the Blue" with the electric "Into the Black" while keeping the Devo session in your mind; the transition from folk to "rust" becomes much clearer.