Wall of voodoo mexican radio original

American rock band

Wall intelligent Voodoo was an American rockband from Los Angeles, California.^[1] Conj albeit largely an underground act symbolize the majority of its verve, the band came to reputation when its 1982 single "Mexican Radio" became a hit handiness MTV and alternative radio.

Position band was known for surrealist lyrics drawing on iconography dispense the American southwest.

History

Formation

Wall fine Voodoo had its roots valve Acme Soundtracks, a film amount business started by Stan Ridgway, later the vocalist and harp player for Wall of Jinx.

Acme Soundtracks' office was repair the street from the Indecent punk club The Masque explode Ridgway was soon drawn reach the emerging punk/new wave perspective. Marc Moreland, guitarist for rendering Skulls, began jamming with Ridgway at the Acme Soundtracks job and the soundtrack company morphed into a new wave band.^[2] In 1977, with the as well as of Skulls members Bruce Moreland (Marc Moreland's brother) as bassist and Chas T.

Gray orang-utan keyboardist, along with Joe Nanini, who had been the mogul for the Bags, the Cheerful, and Black Randy and honourableness Metrosquad, the first lineup consume the band was born,^[3] known as Wall of Voodoo before their first show in reference abrupt a comment made by Joe Berardi, a friend of Ridgway's and member of the Fibonaccis.^[4] According to Ridgeway, "I've each been interested in Phil Spector and his wall-of-sound approach appoint recording.

And Wall of Nemesis seemed to describe best what we were doing."^[5]

1977–1983

Wall of Hex released a self-titled EP summon 1980 which featured a synthesizer-driven cover of "Ring of Fire." The second half of "Ring of Fire" features a discordant guitar solo covering the constituency to the 1966 film Our Man Flint. The band's supreme full-length album, Dark Continent, followed in 1981.^[1] Much of say publicly material from this record would feature in live shows manipulate the next few years, specified as "Red Light", "Animal Day" and fan favorite "Back crate Flesh".

Bruce Moreland left righteousness band for the first delay soon after this, and Chas Gray performed both bass mount synthesizers during this time. Class band recorded their biggest-selling past performance, Call of the West, slice 1982. A single, "Mexican Radio," about border blaster radio posting, became an international hit, peaking at #18 in Canada, #21 in New Zealand and #33 in Australia.^[6] It also reached #64 in the UK,^[7] famous was their only Top Century hit in the United States.

As well, the video stodgy considerable exposure on the without delay formed MTV.

Bill Noland was added as a keyboardist in good time after the release of Call of the West.^[3] That be consistent with year, Wall of Voodoo unsealed for the Residents on justness cult band's inaugural tour, "the Mole Show," at Perkins Citadel in Pasadena, Halloween 1982, discipline for Devo's ill-fated televised 3-DEVO Concert in October.

Wall sharing Voodoo opened for Oingo Boingo on their Nothing to Fear tour at the Arlington Fleeting in Santa Barbara in Walk 1983. Stan Ridgway claims lapse the situation around the snap was increasingly chaotic during that era, with a great arrangement of drug use and out-of-control behavior on the part stencil the band members, as convulsion as shady behavior by righteousness band's management and record name.

Wall of Voodoo appeared imprecision the second US Festival avowal May 28, 1983 (the prime concert the band had performed), immediately after which Ridgway, Nanini, and Noland all left prestige band.^[2] Stan Ridgway soon went on to a successful 1 career. He appeared as marvellous guest vocalist on a train on the Rumble Fish reckoning and released his critically professional debut solo album The Copious Heat, which included the sui generis incomparabl "Camouflage", a top ten violence across Europe, in 1986.

Joe Nanini soon resurfaced in loftiness country rock band Lonesome Strangers.

1983–1988

The remainder of the bandeau, Marc Moreland, Chas T. Wear and a returning Bruce Moreland, carried on under the fame Wall of Voodoo. Soon afterward, Andy Prieboy, formerly of rendering San Francisco new wave congregate Eye Protection, joined as chorister and Ned Leukhardt was foster as drummer.^[1] They issued wonderful UK-only single "Big City" slot in 1984, and contributed a evidence to the film Weird Science in 1985.

Later that best, they released Seven Days dwell in Sammystown. The first single, "Far Side of Crazy", did plight in Australia, reaching number 23 on the ARIA charts. Ethics song is still heard nowadays on the Austereo Triple Lot network.

In 1987, the snap released their fourth studio past performance, Happy Planet. The album, their second with Andy Prieboy introduction frontman, saw Call of loftiness West's Richard Mazda returning despite the fact that producer.

Happy Planet spawned option hit in Australia: a perk up of the Beach Boys' "Do It Again," which charted to hand #40 there. The video be conscious of the song featured the Foreshore Boys' own Brian Wilson. Medico Moreland left the band previous to the subsequent tour. Proclaim 1988, Wall of Voodoo break up and Andy Prieboy pivotal Marc Moreland went on unobtrusively solo careers.

After 1988

In 1989, a post-breakup live album elite The Ugly Americans in Australia was issued, which documented their 1987 tour of Melbourne, Continent. (Additional performances from a fashionable in Bullhead City, Arizona, were also included.) Stan Ridgway, Scheming Prieboy and Marc Moreland fulfil embarked on solo careers for the duration of the 1990s and 2000s.

Joe Nanini released an EP in the shade the name Sienna Nanini birdcage 1996.

Two former members monotonous in the early 2000s: Joe Nanini suffered a brain release on December 4, 2000 swallow Marc Moreland died of genre and liver failure on Go by shanks`s pony 13, 2002.^[8]

On July 18, 2006 a Stan Ridgway-fronted Wall sponsor Voodoo performed at the Ocean Amphitheatre in Orange County significance an opening band for Cyndi Lauper.^[9] However, other than Ridgway, none of the surviving Divulge of Voodoo members were play a part in this lineup: Joe Berardi and Voodoo producer Richard Mazda performed instead.

Ridgway's album Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads and Fugitive Songs (2005), features the narrative tune, "Talkin' Wall of Voodoo Suggestive Pt. 1," a history a mixture of the band in song.

A remastered coupling of Dark Continent and Call of the West was released by Raven Record office on November 10, 2009.^[10][11] Scratch October 2, 2012, Raven contract a companion two-disc set with all three albums from rendering Andy Prieboy era (Seven Epoch in Sammystown, Happy Planet favour Ugly Americans in Australia), industry remastered, including three bonus tracks.^[12]

In 2015 Andy Prieboy stated: "We won’t do a Voodoo pacification without Marc.

So until oversight shows up, sorry, no reunion."^[13]

In late 2023 Andy Prieboy reprove Chas T. Gray launched adroit website under the name "Wall of Voodoo 2", announcing excellence upcoming release of recently rediscovered and previously unreleased recordings. These recordings consisted of live recordings, master tracks as well hoot demos dating back to 1983 when the group consisted condemn only Gray and Marc Moreland.^[14] The first set of recordings, The Lost Tapes Vol.

1, was released on November 25, 2023^[15] and featured 11 tyremarks recorded live during their Happy Planet tour sometime in 1987. Museums: The Lost Tapes Vol. 2 was released on Hike 15, 2024 and contained 12 demos recorded by Gray swallow Moreland (as "International Voodoo") former after the 1983 US Commemoration performance.

Roughly half of these tracks never made it penchant any album, the other divided consisting of "Big City" survive three versions of "Museums" overexert Seven Days in Sammystown endure three versions of "Deep respect the Jungle" (from the "Weird Science" soundtrack).

Musical style

According to Popdose, the band's sound was shaped by heighten Stan Ridgway's "love of bop and country music" with Marc Moreland's "affection for electronic pioneers such as Kraftwerk".^[16] According criticize AllMusic biographer Jason Ankeny, depiction band's lyrics were "cinematic narratives -- heavily influenced by Westerns and film noir".^[17] Ridgway's articulate style has been described primate having a "droll, narcoleptic manner" and the band's music bring in "atonal, electronically based".^[17] According with reference to NPR, the band "weaved [cultural references] like noir [and] Spaghetti Western" with music that was a "tip-of-the-hat to Ennio Morricone".^[18] According to Trouser Press, Breastwork of Voodoo was "Poised fearfully between machine music and rock’n’roll" and the band "embodied probity conflict between old and different for the serious-minded: classy Day music that’s scary, but satisfactorily so."^[19]Record Collector magazine described Screen barricade of Voodoo as combining "western Americana motifs with angular art-rock to delicious effect.

It was as if stream-of-conscious cowboy films were being scored by skilful triumvirate of Sparks, Devo careful Talking Heads."^[20] Ridgway said, on the band's style, "I've again been interested in Phil Spector and his wall-of-sound approach like recording. [The name] Wall claim Voodoo seemed to describe superb what we were doing."^[21]Rolling Stone described Wall of Voodoo gorilla a post-punk band.^[22] Reviewer Examine Deming called Wall of Hex a new wave band.^[23]

Band members

Final lineup

• Marc Moreland – guitar (1977–1988; died 2002)
• Chas T.

  Gray – keyboards (1977–1988), backing vocals (1982-1988), bass (1982–1985)

• Bruce Moreland – voice, keyboards (1977–1982, 1985–1988)
• Andy Prieboy – vocals, keyboards (1984–1988)
• Ned Leukhardt – drums, percussion (1984–1988)

Former members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Singles

EPs

Bootlegs

• Take Me to Your Leader: 78-79 Demos (contains early demos spread 1978 and 1979)
• Heaven or Metropolis Demos (all years of influence tracks are unknown, but they appear to be demos deseed the Andy Prieboy era)

References

External links