PAiA Oz As seen in DEVO's "Come Back Jonee" video

via this auction

"In 1982, a friend owed me money but I got this synth and a story instead... After high school I thumbed my nose at the regular life and moved myself to Austin, Texas which was then as it is now: the live music capitol of the world. Everybody was in a band and if you weren't in a band then someone in a band owed you money. Or both. I was both.

My friend Ryan was in a Devo/Kraftwerk ripoff band called "Light Switch" or some vaugely stupid electrical term. The band wasn't that good but they had a pretty impressive collection of synthesizers - especially for 1982 - including the first electronic drums I'd ever seen. One item in particular that I always admired in Ryan's aresenal was a lovely little Paia Oz. I liked the woopy little pitch bending pad, the teeny keyboard and the alien beep the little machine made.

Anyway, at some point I loaned Ryan and the guys of "Light Switch" nearly one-hundred dollars to pay for rehearsal space, food, electricity and probably weed, knowing them. Of course they had no intention of ever paying me back and, predicably, push came to shove (including actual shoving) in an attempt to recover my money. So I said we could call it even if Ryan gave me his PAIA Oz. I really loved that keyboard and I'd probably been subsconsciouly angling for this outcome in the first place.

And he said, "No way - Mark gave that to me." "Wait, " I said, "Mark? Like Mothersbaugh? Like Devo? That Mark?"

Yes, that Mark.
The story goes that in high school Ryan worked at a music shop in Houston around 1977 and who should walk into thier shop with a sweat-ruined Minimoog was none other than Mark Mothersbaugh himself. They had a show at the Texas Opry House, a Houston punk club, and Mark had ruined his Moog with sweat and possibly beer. So, Ryan cleaned up the Moog's contacts, replaced a few pots and had her booping again. Ryan was so flabbergasted that Mark was in his shop that he didn't charge Mark for the repairs and, in turn, Mark was so surprised that this kid could fix synths that he invited him to the next Devo show in San Antonio - including after-party passes. Wow - girls, booze and everything!

Ryan made the five-hour drive to the show, which was super-awesome, and the after-party, which was also super-awesome. Mark, possibly made jolly and generous by the various substances at the party kept introducing Ryan to partygoers as "the guy that saved the show." Before Ryan left for Houston, Mark gave him his PAIA Oz as a thank-you.

Well, it was a nice story and I wasn't sure if it was true. If it were in fact true, then it only made me all the more determined to let the Oz stand as repayment. And if it weren't true I wanted it anyway bacause I thought the Oz was way neato. But Ryan wouldn't budge. He wouldn't part with the synth.

Well, then...
I moved back to Austin a few years ago and who should I meet again but my old friend Ryan. We exchanged phone numbers and emails - and it turned out that our wives already knew each other - and bid farewell. He called me that night and said, "Hey - you still want Mark's keyboard?"

There you are. I have no idea if the lineage of this keyboard can be traced back to Devo or what. It's probably total BS, but you never know. There WAS a PAIA OZ in the Devo video "Come Back Jonee." I like the story more than I like the Oz, so bid early and often."


Update via BirdFLU in the comments: "That's a great story. But if you look at the little keyboard in the Come Back Jonee video it's the same orange/yellow color as an EML Polybox. The OZ may have been Mark's but I don't think it's what's in the video. "