Page 34 - the NOISE September 2013

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deVo’s Jerry Casale, photo by Debbie Leavitt, debbieleavitt.com
Human Highway lay dormant for nearly three years. By the time shooting resumed in early 1981, much had happened for its princi- pal players.
DEVO broke through to the mainstream in 1980. Their third LP Freedom Of Choice gave them a huge hit single with “Whip It,” which
was accompanied by a saucy video emphasiz- ing the tune’s S&M overtones. They debuted a new look: black sleeveless turtlenecks with shorts and red plastic “energy dome” headgear. Due in part to heavy airplay on the fledgling MTV, “Whip It” peaked at #14, coincidentally the same position shared by “Ohio” exactly ten years prior.
During the Human Highway shoot, one of the band had worn a shirt emblazoned with the words “Rust Never Sleeps” and it had caught Neil Young’s eye. In DEVO’s early days, Jerry and Mark worked for a rust-proofing out- fit for which they created “Rust Never Sleeps” as an advertising tagline. They felt it an appro- priately paranoid slogan for the Nixon 1970s: while you’re in bed and dreaming ... RUST NEV- ER SLEEPS!
Neil liked the phrase and decided to nick it. His 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps was book- ended by acoustic and electric versions of “Hey Hey, My My.” When Crazy Horse couldn’t find the groove, Neil made them listen to the DEVO version and said, “Play it like THAT.”
Rust Never Sleeps was also Shakey Pictures’ second feature. The concert film featured over- sized stage props, Jawa-like Road-Eyes scur- rying about, a conehead behind the mixing board and a smarmy host urging the audience to put on their Rust-O-Vision glasses.
The LP and film were huge critical and popu- lar successes. Rolling Stone awarded Rust Never Sleeps Album Of The Year and Young, Artist Of The Year for 1979. The Village Voice proclaimed him Artist Of The Decade.
Again, Neil was able to enjoy his fame only briefly before life dealt him another low hand. His second child Ben, born in 1978, was diag- nosed with severe non-oral cerebral palsy. Neil decided to spend time on his son’s health is- sues and allowed his career to cool off.
Hawks And Doves, the 1980 follow-up to Rust Never Sleeps, was slight and low-key. 1981’s re.ac.tor, recorded with Crazy Horse, was murky and brutal. Both were almost defiantly uncommercial. Once again, Neil Young’s main- stream acceptance was followed by a trip back into the ditch.
The patterning program Young and wife
Pegi were taking part in for their son turned out to be repetitive and exhausting. Neil’s frus- tration gets poured out in re.ac.tor’s “T-Bone,” where he sings the phrase “Got mashed po- tatoes/Ain’t got no T-bone” over and over for nearly ten minutes.
Ben Young’s condition was not made public and critics gleefully spat on Neil’s new music. He left Reprise Records and signed with Geffen, a decision that would cause him a multitude of headaches in the years to come.
It was in this frame of mind that Neil Young decided to finish Human Highway. The entire cast was recalled and filming recommenced.
Dennis Hopper was in a worse state than before. Despite a small role in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) and a strong return to directing in Out Of The Blue (1980), his life was still on the skids and his drug problem accelerated.
On set one day, an irritated Sally Kirkland at- tempted to take a knife away from Hopper and grabbed the wrong end. Kirkland was taken to the hospital with a severed tendon in her hand. Later, she sued Young and Hopper for criminal negligence. She lost the case, despite Dennis’ admission he was on drugs at the time of the incident.
The completed Human Highway was unique, to say the least. Booji Boy, the last man on Earth, has the film’s opening and closing lines. He watches as a container of nuclear waste gets dumped on Pegi Young, riding a Harley behind their truck. He turns to the camera and squeaks: “Barrel fall down go boom!” DE- VO’s glowing technicians perform the movie’s theme, “Worried Man.” The tune returns as a production number happily sung by the entire cast while the world is ending.
Human Highway didn’t do much for the ca- reers of Neil Young or DEVO. The film ended up costing Young three million dollars. It pre- miered in June 1983 and disappeared without a trace. It was released on VHS in 1995 and has yet to be reissued on DVD.
After Human Highway, Dennis Hopper en- tered rehab and emerged clean and sober. In
1986, he starred as Frank Booth, the gas-huff- ing PBR-chugging bad guy of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. The film rejuvenated Hopper’s career, leading to acclaimed roles in Hoosiers, Speed and True Romance. He directed the well- received Colors in 1988. Hopper remained drug-free until his death in 2010 at the age of 74. Frank Booth often tops lists of best movie villains.
34 • september 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
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