50 years ago today (5/4/70) the United States National Guard fired on protesters at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four students, two of whom weren’t even protesting. This haunted event in American history leads to the formation of Devo, as Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale are both on-campus and were horrified by the events. Later they would brand their own type of Bizzaro proto-punk music that would capture the sounds of a world falling apart. Check out Devo performing “Gut Feeling” at Max’s in NYC ’77.
