Crack that whip
Give the past a slip
Step on a crack
Break your momma’s back

Whip It by Devo was released on August 13, 1980. It was the second single from the band’s third studio album, Freedom of Choice. There were two 7″ single releases of the song, one with a remix of the track Snowball, which appears on Freedom of Choice, as the B side and one with Turn Around as the B side.

Whip It was Devo’s biggest hit, reaching No. 14 in the United States and No. 11 in Canada.

The music video for the song featured the band’s members in black, sleeveless turtlenecks, black shorts, and their infamous red headgear. Devo funded the video with $15,000 of their own money.

Also released on this day in the 1980s: Who Can It Be Now? by Men at Work, 8/13/82; Freedom by Wham!, 8/13/84; La Di Da Di by Doug E. Fresh, 8/13/85; Saving All My Love for You by Whitney Houston, 8/13/85; Paul Revere by Beastie Boys, 8/13/86; and Didn’t We Almost Have It All by Whitney Houston, 8/13/87.