Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, best known
for its 1983 hit "Mexican Radio". The band had a sound that was a fusion of synthesizer-based new wave music with the spaghetti Western soundtrack style of Ennio Morricone. Wall of Voodoo formed in Los Angeles in 1977, originally as a soundtrack company. Led by singer/songwriter Stan Ridgway and rounded out by guitarist Marc Moreland, bassist/keyboardist Bruce Moreland, keyboardist Chas Gray, and drummer Joe Nanini, the group issued its self-titled debut EP in 1980.
With the additions of bassist Bruce Moreland and his brother Marc on guitar (replacing Noland), the
band's sound crystallized on 1981's full-length Dark Continent, which couched Ridgway's highly stylized and cinematic narratives -- heavily influenced by Westerns and film noir, and sung in the vocalist's distinctively droll, narcoleptic manner -- in atonal, electronically based settings.
Wall of Voodoo had its roots in Acme Soundtracks, a film score business started by Stan Ridgway, later the vocalist and harmonica player for Wall of Voodoo. Acme Soundtracks' office was across the street
from the Hollywood punk club The Masque and Ridgway was soon drawn into the emerging punk/new wave scene. Marc Moreland, guitarist for the Skulls, began jamming with Ridgway at the Acme Soundtracks office and the soundtrack company morphed into a new wave band. In 1977, with the addition of Skulls members Bruce Moreland (Marc Moreland's brother) as bassist and Chas T. Gray as keyboardist, along with Joe Nanini, who had been the drummer for the Bags, the Eyes, and Black Randy and the Metrosquad, the first lineup of Wall of Voodoo was born.
Wall of Voodoo released a self-titled EP in 1980 which featured a synthesizer-driven cover of "Ring of
Fire." The second half of "Ring of Fire" features a dissonant guitar solo covering the theme to the 1966 film Our Man Flint. The band's first full-length album, Dark Continent, followed in 1981. Much of the material from this record would feature in live shows over the next few years, such as "Red Light", "Animal Day" and fan favorite "Back In Flesh". Bruce Moreland left the band for the first time soon after this, and Chas Gray performed both bass and synthesizers during this time.
[In some ways, Dark Continent is Wall of Voodoo's greatest album. Although it lacks the "Mexican
Radio" of its follow-up, there is no filler and the arrangements and concepts are brilliantly executed. Proffering an utterly unique blend of drum machine beats, Marc Moreland's Western-influenced guitar leads, and Stan Ridgway's distinctive vocals and lyrics, Dark Continent has been compared to the music of Devo, but is not quite like anything -- or anyone -- else.
The songs deal with natural and industrial perils, tense relationships, and reflect a cranky, working-class perspective that offers an interesting contrast to the new wave elements of prominent synthesizer and hyperactive rhythm box beats. If originality and artistic vision are any measure of a rock album's worth, Dark Continent delivers on both counts.
Review by Greg Adams]
In 1982, following the exit of Bruce Moreland, Wall of Voodoo released "Call of the West", which featured "Mexican Radio," their biggest hit. After an appearance at the 1983 US Festival, Ridgway left
the group for a solo career. The remaining members enlisted singer Andy Prieboy, and resurfaced in 1985 with the LP Seven Days in Sammystown. Happy Planet followed two years later, while 1988's live effort The Ugly Americans in Australia* (the asterisk denoting that a few tracks were recorded in Bullhead City, Arizona) effectively closed out the Wall of Voodoo story.
MEMBERS
Stan Ridgway – vocals, keyboards, harmonica
Marc Moreland – guitar
Bruce Moreland – bass guitar, keyboards
Chas Gray – keyboards, synthesizers
Joe Nanini – drums, percussion
TRAXS
01. Red Light 3:08
02. Two Minutes Till Lunch 2:55
03. Animal Day 3:13
04. Full Of Tension 2:14
05. Me And My Dad 3:20
06. Back In Flesh 3:42
07. Tse Tse Fly 4:46
08. Call Box (1-2-3) 2:32
09. This Way Out 3:56
10. Good Times 2:29
11. Crack The Bell 3:33
MP3 @ 320 Size: 88 MB
Flac Size: 206 MB
Marc Moreland – guitar
Bruce Moreland – bass guitar, keyboards
Chas Gray – keyboards, synthesizers
Joe Nanini – drums, percussion
TRAXS
01. Red Light 3:08
02. Two Minutes Till Lunch 2:55
03. Animal Day 3:13
04. Full Of Tension 2:14
05. Me And My Dad 3:20
06. Back In Flesh 3:42
07. Tse Tse Fly 4:46
08. Call Box (1-2-3) 2:32
09. This Way Out 3:56
10. Good Times 2:29
11. Crack The Bell 3:33
MP3 @ 320 Size: 88 MB
Flac Size: 206 MB