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Artist
Wall of Voodoo
12+ albums
new wavepost-punk80salternativesynth pop
about
Wall of Voodoo were a New Wave band from Los Angeles, California, United States, best known for the 1983 hit "Mexican Radio". The band's sound was considered a fusion of synthesizer-based New Wave music with the style of spaghetti-western composers such as Ennio Morricone. The band had its roots in Acme Soundtracks, a film score business started by Stan Ridgway, who became the band's lead vocalist. Acme Soundtracks' office was across the street from The Masque, a club frequented by local punk rock bands, and Ridgway was soon drawn into the emerging punk/new wave scene. Marc Moreland, who at that time played guitar with The Skulls, began jamming with Ridgway at the Acme Soundtracks office. The duo expanded with the addition of Chas Gray on synthesizers and Marc's brother Bruce Moreland on bass, both of whom were also former members of The Skulls; Joe Nanini, formerly of Black Randy & the Metrosquad joined as the drummer, and in 1977 the first lineup of Wall of Voodoo had been formed. Wall of Voodoo released its first EP in 1980, the self-titled Wall of Voodoo, which featured a unique, synthesizer-driven cover of the Johnny Cash song, "Ring of Fire". The band's first full-length album, Dark Continent, followed in 1981. Bruce Moreland left the band for the first time soon after this, and Chas Gray performed on both bass and keyboard during this time. The band recorded their most successful album, Call of the West, in 1982, which contained hit single "Mexican Radio". The track
