It was recorded during the Freedom of Choice tour on August 16, 1980, at the Fox Warfield Theatre in San Francisco.

[3] The broadcast was so popular that four songs ("Freedom of Choice Theme Song", "Whip It", "Be Stiff" and "Gates of Steel") were released as a promotional EP in November 1980, titled DEV-O Live, followed by the more widely available EP of the same name that added two more tracks ("Girl U Want" and "Planet Earth").

[3] In 1999, Rhino Handmade re-released DEV-O Live on CD and included both the wide release EP version and the original promotional album in its entirety.

On November 29, 2019, Rhino issued an LP of the 16-track version as a Black Friday limited edition for Record Store Day, under the title Devo Live!.

This paid off, as in August 1981, they found commercial success in Australia when the EP spent three weeks at the top of the Australian singles charts.