I cam across Revenge of the Nerds while surfing the TV channels tonight. I am a child of the 80s and I loved this movie while going through high school, both as a cult movie and as an ultimate nerd revenge fantasy. Having endured my share of bullying and humiliation from the more popular kids in high school, the idea of getting revenge on those people resonated with me, as did the ending speech of the movie, about how there are more of us being put down than those on top putting us down.
There's also a nice group of 80s tunes running through the movie. Outside of the overt Devo references in the movie, most seen in the Lambda's musical number, with Lewis and Gilbert dressed up in yellow Tyvek radiation suits like the early incarnations of Devo, there's lots of great 80s tunes in the soundtrack. If you look closely too, Lewis and Gilbert have a Devo poster up in their first room at college. Then there's one that comes with a bit of a delay to it, The Gleaming Spires.
The Gleaming Spires were formed as a side project of the great new wave band Sparks. Formed first as a duo of Leslie Bohem and David Kendrick, they performed as Bates Motel, before recruiting two other members of Sparks, Jim Goodwin and Bob Haag. The Spires were short lived, only putting out three albums over their 5 year existence. Their best known song "Are You Ready for the Sex Girls?" appeared on their debut album, Songs of the Spires, in 1981. It's also featured in the Lambda/Mu party scenes in Revenge of the Nerds.
So, where's the Devo connection. Well, after Alan Myers left Devo, the band recruited Spires member David Kendrick in the late 80s to replace him. Kendrick spent three albums with the band, ending in 1991's Smooth Noodle Maps, after which Devo broke up for 20 years. Kendrick was replaced with Josh Freese for Devo's comeback, Something for Everybody.
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