Album · Devo
Duty Now for the Future by Devo
Duty Now for the Future is an album by Devo, released in 1979. 2 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 4 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Secret Agent Man”, on 2 lists with a best position of #305.
Duty Now for the Future, Devo's second album, came out on Warner Bros. on June 1, 1979, and it's the sound of the Akron band doubling down on de-evolution. Ken Scott produced it at Chateau Recorders in Hollywood between September 1978 and early 1979, and the classic lineup was all present and correct: Mark Mothersbaugh on vocals, his brother Bob on lead guitar, Gerald Casale on bass, his brother Bob Casale on rhythm guitar and Alan Myers drumming like a machine that got the rhythm slightly wrong on purpose.
This is art punk wired to electronics, jerky and dissonant, with synth bleeps poking through the guitars and a deadpan, sci-fi satirical grin plastered over the whole thing. "Smart Patrol / Mr. DNA" is Devo at their most twitchy and mechanized, and their chilly, stiff-limbed "Secret Agent Man" marches like a robot on a spy mission.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Duty Now for the Future on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Secret Agent Man | 2 | #305 | – | 1988–2024 | |
| 2 | Smart Patrol / Mr. DNA | 2 | #254 | – | 1988–1996 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.