Meet 56-year-old Lisa A Casale she was the wife of Bob Casale, a founding member of New Wave pioneers Devo, sadly her husband died at the age of 61 on Monday, Feb. 17. The Casale brothers formed Devo in Akron, Ohio in 1972 with Mark Motherbaugh and Robert Mothersbaugh (Bob Casale was known as “Bob 2” in the group, with Robert Mothersbaugh called “Bob 1”). The group’s spastic post-punk earned a cult following in the mid-70’s, and 1978 debut album “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!”
Her husband’s biggest success on the Billboard charts came with its iconic single “Whip It,” which reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980. The act charted two more singles: “Working In the Coal Mine” (No. 43 in 1981) and “Theme from ‘Doctor Detroit'” (No. 59 in 1983). The album that contained “Whip It,” 1980’s “Freedom of Choice,” was the group’s highest-charting effort on the Billboard 200. It hit No. 22 and spent 51 weeks on the list, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Did you also danced to Devo’s “Whip it”
Lisa’s brother in law, Gerald said in a statement
“He was my level-headed brother, a solid performer and talented audio engineer, always giving more than he got. He was excited about the possibility of Mark Mothersbaugh allowing Devo to play shows again. His sudden death from conditions that lead to heart failure came as a total shock to us all.”
Lisa attended L.A. Baptist, graduating in the class of 1975. She has also lived in Culver City, CA; Sherman Oaks, CA; Beverly Hills, CA and Santa Monica, CA. She gave birth to the couple’s children, son, Alex Casale, 23 and daughter, Samantha Casale. Their son, Alex was born March 5, 1990. He attended Santa Monica High, graduating in 2008 and works at IBEW local 11.
Lisa’s husband, Robert Edward Casale, was a specialist in keyboards, rhythm guitar, vocal support, songwriting. He was rarely heard solo; apart from the keyboard, Bob also played guitar and usually operated the VOCODER. InShout, his voice was sampled into the Fairlight CMI.
His sudden death came from conditions that lead to heart failure according to reports.
You can find Lisa on Facebook here, our prayers go out to her and the rest of Bob’s family.
