"That's Good" is a song by the American new wave band

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

, written by

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...

and

Gerald Casale Gerald Vincent "Jerry" Casale ( ) ( ''né'' Pizzute; born July 28, 1948) is an American musician. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, co-lead vocalist, and bass player of the new wave band Devo, which released a top 20 hit in ...

. It appears on their fifth studio album, ''

Oh, No! It's Devo ''Oh, No! It's Devo'' is the fifth studio album by American new wave band Devo, released on October 21, 1982 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded over a period of four months, between May and September 1982, at Cherokee Studios i ...

'' (1982). According to Casale, "the lyrics deal with the ambiguity that if everybody wants what you want, how can everybody have it if everybody wants it and what happens when everybody tries to get it, and maybe you should change what you want." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' called it "an almost-straightforward rocker" that is similar to " Whip It".

Promotional music video

The music video for "That's Good" eschewed Devo's previous narrative style for a basic performance against a bluescreen background displaying related visuals to the song. This was intended to replicate the band's intentions for the forthcoming tour for those who would be unable to attend. The video for "That's Good" was one of the first videos that ran into censorship troubles on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. The juxtaposition of the image in a cartoon of a

french fry French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips (Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

penetrating the hole of a

doughnut A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franc ...

and then quickly cut to a writhing, smiling nude woman, shot from the neck up, was considered too risqué for airplay. In an interview with band member and video director Gerald Casale for the book ''Devo's Freedom of Choice'',

"We got this call from TV co-founder
Les Garland Les Garland is an American entertainment executive who is the founder and CEO of AfterPlay Entertainment, a media and entertainment consulting practice. Garland was an executive or co-founder of networks including MTV, VH1, The Box Television Ne ...
, He was like, 'Look, we know what you're trying to do here.' I go, What do you mean? He goes, 'Ya know, when that cartoon French fry glides through that cartoon donut and then it's with the girl looking happy. You can have the French fry, or you can have the donut, but you can't have the French fry and the donut, Otherwise, you can't cut to the girl.' And I go, 'But what about when the French fry hits the donut and breaks in half and she's sad?' And he goes 'Alright you little smart ass.' It was horrible. Then I go, 'What about that
Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...
video you have and the girls are in skin-tight pants and their asses are full on in the screen and his head is between her legs and then somebody slaps her ass? What about that?' He goes, 'we're talking about you, we're not talking about them."

Casale eventually relented and made significant cuts to the video, which he regrets because by then, "the song was going down in the charts, not up."

Track listing

* 12" Single # "That's Good" – 3:23 # "Speed Racer (Long Edit)" – 3:42 * 7" Single # "That's Good" – 2:59 # "What I Must Do" – 2:34

Chart performance

References

External links

* {{Devo Discography 1982 singles 1982 songs Devo songs Songs written by Mark Mothersbaugh Songs written by Gerald Casale Warner Records singles