Freedom of Choice

Very smart vinyl, good cover Includes inner sleeve.

Freedom of Choice is the third album by new wave musicians Devo, released on May 16, 1980 on LP and July 7, 1987 on CD. It saw the band moving in more of an overt synthpop direction, even though guitars still played a prominent role. The album was co-produced by Robert Margouleff, famous for his synthesizer work in Tonto's Expanding Head Band and with Stevie Wonder. It contains Devo's most well-known song, "Whip It."

According to the band's commentary on the Complete Truth About De-evolution DVD, the lyrics of "Whip It" began as a tongue-in-cheek anthem for then-president Jimmy Carter. The lyrics were also inspired by Norman Vincent Peale's 1952 book The Power of Positive Thinking and the "can do philosophy" espoused within.^[3] Devo bassist and co-songwriter Jerry Casale also told Songfacts that the lyrics were written by him "as an imitation of Thomas Pynchon's parodies in his book Gravity's Rainbow."^[4]

"Mr. B's Ballroom" is a lyric re-written version of an earlier relationship-focused song called "Luv & Such," which can be heard on the Rhino Handmade two-disc rarities collection Recombo DNA. The lyric of "That's Pep!" is an early 20th-century poem by Grace G. Bostwick.

In 1995, the band recorded a new version of "Girl U Want" for the film Tank Girl. An entire alternate demo version of Freedom of Choice was released in 2000 on the compilation album Recombo DNA. This demo version lacks "It's Not Right," "Ton o' Luv," "Don't You Know" and "Freedom of Choice," but it includes demos of the "Whip It" b-side "Turnaround" and three unreleased tracks ("Luv & Such," "Time Bomb" and "Make Me Move").^[