The bright green, circular building of Mutato Muzika in Los Angeles is easy to spot when cruising down Sunset Boulevard. But most people might not realize it contains the creative hub of Mark Mothersbaugh, a founding member of DEVO turned award-winning Hollywood composer. Famous for his use of the synthesizer, Mothersbaugh has accumulated a vast collection over the years.
Blood Orange: Tiny Desk Concert
This Blood Orange Tiny Desk is a beautifully conceived concert showing off the craft and care that has made Devonté Hynes a groundbreaking producer and songwriter. It’s a distillation of themes found on Dev Hynes’ fourth album as Blood Orange, titled Negro Swan. Themes of identity, both sexual and racial, through the eyes of a black East Londoner (now living in New York) run through this album and concert. Dev Hynes is a composer who fits as comfortably in the worlds of R&B, gospel and electronics as he does in the classical world of someone like Philip Glass.
Purl, A Disney Pixar Animated Short About A Pink Ball of Yarn Working At A Startup
Purl, directed by Kristen Lester and produced by Gillian Libbert-Duncan, features an earnest ball of yarn named Purl who gets a job in a fast-paced, high energy, bro-tastic start-up. Yarny hijinks ensue as she tries to fit in, but how far is she willing to go to get the acceptance she yearns for, and in the end, is it worth it?
Robot rockstars in disguise, The Cybertronic Spree Cover Led Zeppelin
Robot rockstars in disguise, The Cybertronic Spree pay tribute to all time greats, Led Zeppelin and their Immigrant Song.
That day Lou Reed and John Cale took over WPIX in New York City
in January 1979, Lou Reed and John Cale visited the music station WPIX in New York City to be the hosts for an afternoon and immediately garnered the attention of everyone listening. Reed is in a hostile mood, already, until later on he takes some calls from listeners. In between he rails against the record industry, music critics, and almost everything else on his mind. God bless them both.
François Clemmons Reflects on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
In February 1968, the children’s television program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” debuted nationally.
Besides its eponymous creator, the show also featured a cast of characters from Mister Rogers’ make-believe world (King Friday XIII, Daniel Striped Tiger, and Bob Dog), and his “real” world (Mr. and Mrs. McFeely, Lady Aberlin, and Handyman Negri).
François Clemmons was cast in the “real” world as Officer Clemmons.
Fred Rogers met François in 1968 after hearing him sing in a Pittsburgh-area church they both attended. He was so impressed with his voice that he asked him to join the show. At the time, François was a graduate student working on getting his singing career going and was reluctant to accept Fred’s offer. But after realizing he would get paid to appear on the show—enabling him to afford his rent—François accepted, becoming the first African American actor to have a recurring role on a children’s television series.
For 25 years François appeared on the show while maintaining a separate career as a professional singer. In 1973, his performance with the Cleveland Orchestra earned him a Grammy Award and his love of spiritual music later led him to found the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble. He also spent 16 years as an artist-in-residence at Middlebury College in Vermont until his retirement in 2013.
François came to StoryCorps to discuss how he became the friendly singing Officer Clemmons, and his relationship with the man known to children as Mister Rogers.
The next MOJO Innovators podcast is here… this week the editors discuss Kraftwerk!
In the latest episode of the MOJO Innovators Podcast MOJO Editor John Mulvey and Associate Editor Ian Harrison discuss how the machine-age grooves of Kraftwerk propelled music into the future.

















