Do you remember I told you about the fantastic musical collaboration, as scorching as it is unlikely, between Neil Young and Devo? Unfortunately, at the time I told you about it, it had been removed from YouTube, so I couldn’t invite you to take a peek at it.

Well, now it’s back! And for a limited time too, no doubt. So let’s not waste any time in making it today’s Scene of the Day!

The reason that this scene keeps getting snatched back into the void is probably something to do with the fact the film in which it features, Human Highway, is notoriously hard to find. Neil Young is an infamously cagey character, and it’s not hard to imagine him ordering every copy of his directorial debut (in a narrative style, anyway, he had a shot a few concert films previous to this) to be seized and destroyed in order to protect his reputation. You see, on it’s release, Human Highway was mauled by critics, who regarded it as a messy, pretentious failure. And even though he had directed it under his career-long pseudonym, Bernard Shakey, Young still couldn’t escape the blame.

We’re going to ignore that stuffy bunch of critics, however, cos Human Highway is a hoot, and the grumpy ol’ “Godfather of Grunge” has nothing whatsoever to be embarrassed about. In fact, he gives an astoundingly good slapstick (you read that right) performance in the lead as Lionel, a hapless mechanic trying to find love in and around a small town diner. This surreal twist on white picket fence Americana makes Young’s film a close cousin of David Byrne’s True Stories, even if Human Highway isn’t nearly as aesthetically or intellectually rich as the Talking Heads man’s movie. It’s still well worth checking out, though, even if it is just to see Neil Young goofing around in a pair of bottle-thick comedy glasses.

Future Blue Velvet buddies Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell (who co-directed with Young) flesh out the cast in quirky supporting roles, but the real show-stealers are Neil’s fave new wave combo, Devo, who appear as workers in the local nuclear power plant.

This sets the scene for the collaboration in question as Lionel/Neil gets twatted in the head with a spanner and for some reason dreams he is performing a simply blistering version of ‘Hey, Hey, My, My’ with the Devo boys, whose lead singer, Mark Mothersbaugh, is dressed up as his creepy alter-ego, Booji Boy.

Rock ‘n’ Roll may never die, but this clip might well get taken off YouTube again. Rock out while you can!

Tags bernard shakey dean stockwell dennis hopper devo human highway mark mothersbaugh neil young scene of the day