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Wall Of Voodoo
Wall of Voodoo had their origins in ‘Acme Soundtracks', a failed film score business started by Stan Ridgway. ‘Acme Soundtracks' office was quite close to Hollywood punk club ‘The Masque' and Ridgway was soon attracted into the up-and-coming punk/new wave scene. Guitarist Marc Moreland started jamming with Ridgway at the Acme Soundtracks office and eventually the company turned into a new wave band. The duo roped in Bruce Moreland as bassist, Chas T. Gray as keyboardist, and Joe Nanini as a drummer and the band ‘Wall of Voodoo' was born.
In 1980, the band came out with their first eponymous EP ‘Wall of Voodoo', which had a distinctive, synthesizer-driven cover of the Johnny Cash song ‘Ring of Fire'. A year later the band released their maiden full length album ‘Dark Continent'. After the release of the album Bruce Moreland quit the band and Chas Gray handled both bass and keyboard during this time. In 1982, the band released their second effort ‘Call of the West', which became their biggest-selling album. The song ‘Mexican Radio' became a hit and the video for the song got considerable airplay on the newly formed MTV. After the release of the album Bill Noland took charge of the keyboard. It is believed that at this point most of the band members were into drugs and alcohol. Ridgway, Nanini, and Noland quit the band after they performed at the second US Festival on May 28, 1983. Stan Ridgway embarked on a solo career in which he became successful and Joe Nanini started the country rock band ‘Lonesome Strangers'. The rest of the band members Marc Moreland, Chas T. Gray, and Bruce Moreland continued to play under the name Wall of Voodoo. The band continued to play and release albums till 1988, after which it again split. After a very long gap, Stan Ridgway-fronted Wall of Voodoo played at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Orange County as an opening band for Cyndi Lauper.
Discography
• Wall of Voodoo (EP) (1980)
• Dark Continent (1981)
• Call of the West (1982)
• Seven Days in Sammystown (1985)
• Happy Planet (1987)
• The Ugly Americans in Australia (1989)
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Wall of Voodoo was the popular new wave band from Los Angeles, known for their 1983 smash hit ‘Mexican Radio'. The band's music was a blend of synthesizer-based new wave music with the spaghetti western soundtrack style of Ennio Morricone.
