Wall of Voodoo

Wall of Voodoo - US rock band from L.A.

Group from United States

Genres: alternative country, alternative rock, americana, electronic, electropop, new wave, pop, post-punk

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About Wall of Voodoo

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 became their only U.S. Top 100 hit and the video for the song got a great deal of exposure on the newly-formed MTV. Soon after the release of this album, Bill Noland was added as a keyboardist and performed with the band through their subsequent tour. In 1983, the band performed at the second US Festival as the final date of their tour, which became the band's largest performance. Due to a number of factors (of which were later reported by Stan Ridgway) including tension between members due to their significant drug use and "out-of-control behavior", shady behavior on the part of the band's management and record label, and Stan's own desire to branch out as a solo artist, three of the five members (Ridgway, Nanini, and Noland) left the band following the close of the tour. For a brief period of time in 1983, the remaining members, Chas Gray and Marc Moreland (along with continued assistance from Joe Nanini), continued to write new songs and record demos together under the band's name. Soon, Bruce Moreland returned to the lineup, and in 1984 the band found a new vocalist, Andy Prieboy (formerly of the San Francisco New Wave band Eye Protection), and drummer, Ned Leukhardt. The band continued to record and perform under this lineup, having released two studio albums: Seven Days in Sammystown, of which its lead single "Far Side of Crazy" performed particularly well on the Australian ARIA charts, and Happy Planet, which featured a cover of The Beach Boys' "Do It Again", which again performed relatively well in Australia and featured Beach Boys member Brian Wilson in its music video. Bruce Moreland left the band for the second and final time prior to Happy Planet's promotional tour, and after its completion the band ultimately parted ways in 1988. In 1989 following the band's break-up, their former record label, I.R.S., released a live album entitled The Ugly Americans In Australia which features performances from the Australian branch of the band's final tour. Most members of the band proceeded to embark on other musical journeys, including (but not limited to): Stan Ridgway released his first solo album, The Big Heat, in 1986 and has since released 12 studio albums along with a number of other collaborative projects; Joe Nanini initially resurfaced in the country rock band Lonesome Strangers and worked as a session musician throughout the 1990s until his death in 2000; Marc Moreland formed Pretty & Twisted with members from Concrete Blonde, then later formed Department of Crooks before ultimately releasing his first and only solo album as Marc Moreland Mess within the weeks prior to his death in 2002; Bruce Moreland began recording and releasing music as Ravens Moreland following his brother's death; Andy Prieboy released his first solo album, ...Upon My Wicked Son in 1990 and continues to write and release music presently. In 2023, Andy Prieboy announced that he and Chas Gray, who had come across old demo tapes from his years in the band, would be working with archivist Bill Smith to restore these tapes with the intention of releasing them for purchase online. The first collection, The Lost Tapes Vol. 1, was released in November 2023 and features demos of tracks that were released on the two Prieboy-era studio albums, while the following collection, Museums: The Lost Tapes Vol. 2, released in February 2024, features demos of songs written and recorded during the aforementioned period in 1983 following the departure of all members besides Chas Gray and Marc Moreland.

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