WikiDevo

Song Name: Baby Doll

Artist:DEVO

Appears On:

  • Baby Doll (Sung in Swedish) (about 3:37) on Tapeheads soundtrack (1988)

Run Time:  3:56    BPM:   137 (album version)

Year Released:  1988 (album version)

Years Performed:   1988-1989 setlist.fm stats

Writing Credits:Mark Mothersbaugh / Gerald V. Casale

Sung By:  Mark Mothersbaugh (lead),   DEVO (additional vox)

Remixes By: DEVO and by Ivan Ivan

Single Versions:   7” single,   and versions of the 12” maxi-single and   promos were released in 1988 on audiocassette, 12” vinyl records, 7” vinyl record, and CD. Most later released on expanded, deluxe versions of Total DEVO. The DEVO single mix was also later released on DEVO compilations.

Remix Credits:
produced by DEVO・baby doll remixes by ivan ivan・engineer roey shamir・at soundtrack studios new york city・editing roger paulette・additional programming paul c.

Trivia / Info:[]

  • Sequenced as the first album track, before “Disco Dancer”.
  • Remixed at three different studios in New York. [1]

Onstage Behavior

  • “Baby Doll” was usually performed after “Whip It” and before “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction”.
  • DEVO T-shirts are worn inside belted, pleated trousers. Jerry plays bass on a headless Steinberger. Mark grabs his crotch and thrusts. David and the Bobs rock out.

Lyrics:

Girl of my dreams, she don't love me
Always the way it seems to be

(My baby doll) (x5)

Light of my life, she turns it on
Over my head not close enough

(My baby doll) (x5)

[Baby doll], You look so good
[Baby doll], You feel so big
[Baby doll], You let me have it
[Baby doll], Why did you do it, baby doll?

[Baby doll] (x4)
Quick tempered queen knows what she wants
And what I got is what it's not

(My baby doll) (x5)

[Baby doll], You look so good
[Baby doll], You feel so big
[Baby doll], You let me have it
[Baby doll], Why did you do it, baby doll?
 
[Baby doll], You look so good
[Baby doll], You feel so big
[Baby doll], You let me have it
[Baby doll], Why did you do it, baby doll?

[Baby doll]
[Baby doll]
Why did you do it, baby doll?

[Baby doll]
[Baby doll]
Why did you do it, baby doll?
[Baby doll]
[Baby doll]
Why did you do it, baby doll?

[Baby doll]
[Baby doll]
Why did you do it, baby doll?


Video:

Live Video

  • Live video of “Baby Doll" was not released commercially.


  • Fan videos are available online.

Additional Info:

  • Beaulah” is probably a lyrical predecessor to “Baby Doll”.
  • Different lyrics found on both “Satan” and on “Money Pit”.
(Mark explains: https://genius.com/Devo-before-baby-doll-there-was-satan-with-mark-mothersbaugh-lyrics)
  • “Baby Doll” lyrics recorded in Swedish / Svenska before the album version was released in English.
The Tapeheads movie was filmed in 1986 and had a delayed release in 1988.[2]
  • “ ‘Baby Doll’ is more of a broken-hearted view of women.”[3]


References:

  1. Bob 2 said, Ivan Ivan did the dance mix at three different studios in New York using the SSL G-Series, which is also the same board we mixed the album on.
  2. Kim Cruickshank. “DEVO: Those Flower-Pot Heads Are At It Again”, Happening (1988, December)
    “The Swedish version is actually two years old.”
  3. Kim Cruickshank. “DEVO: Those Flower-Pot Heads Are At It Again”, Happening (1988, December)
    “ ‘Baby Doll’ is more of a broken-hearted view of women. The entire DEVO album, Total Devo, also comes down to earth, concentrating more on interpersonal relationships.”

Links:

External Links
https://musicbrainz.org/work/3bc98584-c682-4fa9-b555-973b133862e6
https://www.discogs.com/artist/12834-Devo?searchParam=Baby+Doll
https://www.allmusic.com/song/baby-doll-mt0001300190
www.discog.info/devo.html (https://archive.is/FC6hL)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Doll_(Devo_song)


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DEVO
Mark Mothersbaugh | Gerry Casale | Bob Mothersbaugh
Bob Lewis | Bob Casale | Jim Mothersbaugh | Alan Myers
David Kendrick | Josh Freese
Jeff Friedl | Josh Hager
Record Labels / Publishers
Booji Boy Records | Warner Brothers | Enigma | Devo, Inc. 
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MVD Audio | The Orchard | Superior Viaduct | Futurismo
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The Teddybears | Greg Kurstin | Santi White | John King | John Hill | Mark Nishita 
Studio Albums
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978) | Duty Now For The Future (1979) | Freedom of Choice (1980) | New Traditionalists (1981) | oh, no! it's Devo (1982) | Shout (1984) | Total Devo (1988) | SmoothNoodleMaps (1990) | Something for Everybody   (2010)
Compilations / Live Albums
B Stiff EP (1978) | E-Z Listening Disc (1987) | Now It Can Be Told: DEVO at the Palace (1989) | Hardcore DEVO Vol. 1 74-77 (1990) | Hardcore DEVO Vol. 2 1974-1977 (1991) | DEVO Live: The Mongoloid Years (1992) | DEV-O Live (1999) | Recombo DNA (2000) | Live In Central Park (2004) | DEVO Live 1980 (2005) | New Traditionalists: Live 1981 Seattle (2012) | Something ELSE for Everybody  (2013) | Miracle Witness Hour  (2014) | Live at Max's Kansas City - November 15, 1977  (2014) | Butch Devo and the Sundance Gig  (2014) | Hardcore DEVO Live!  (2015) | Art Devo 1973-1977  (2023)
Filmography
In The Beginning Was The End: The Truth About De-Evolution (1976) | The Men Who Make The Music (1981) | Human Highway (1982) | We're All DEVO (1984) | The Complete Truth About De-Evolution (1993) | DEVO Live (2004) | DEVO Live In The Land Of The Rising Sun (2004) | DEVO Live 1980 (2005) | Butch Devo and the Sundance Gig  (2014) | Hardcore DEVO Live!  (2015)
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