Devo – “Come Back Jonee” (1978) Review | The Adventures of Datsun Kamikaze

Kronomyth 1.2: Jonee B. Goode.

Uncontrollable Urge. Space Junk. Gut Feeling. Those would have all made for better singles. Instead, the mutant rock & roll of Come Back Jonee got tapped as their third single and promptly went nowhere. It’s a cool song, don’t get me wrong, but too far out there for the radio. The twisted “bad boys and the women who love them” stereotype was probably as close as this song was getting to anyone’s stereo. In Europe, where this was first released, fans were treated to the nonalbum Social Fools. Like a lot of Devo’s singles, they brought their A game to their B sides, and this is no exception. In the US, we got Praying Hands, because that’s all we deserved. Although the US single bills the A side as an edit, it’s only slightly shorter than the album version and identical to the UK A side.

The Product

A1. Come Back Jonee (Mark Mothersbaugh/Gerald V. Casale) (3:23)
B1. Social Fools (Gerald V. Casale) (2:52)

Original 7-inch single version (US)
A1. A1. Come Back Jonee (edit) (Mark Mothersbaugh/Gerald V. Casale) (3:23)
B1. Praying Hands (Gerald V. Casale/Mark Mothersbaugh) (2:47)

The Plastic

Released on 7-inch grey vinyl and black vinyl single in August 1978 in the UK (Virgin, VS 223) and Germany (Virgin, 15 815 AT) and on January 17, 1979 in the US (Warner Bros., WBS 8745) with regional picture sleeve. Also released as promotional 7-inch single in 1979 in the US (Warner Bros., WBS 8745) feat. A mono on flip.