The pop music landscape is littered with bands whose time in the limelight was cruelly short. And let’s be honest, most of them didn’t even deserve the little success they had. Wall of Voodoo, however, is not one of those groups.

Yes, I’m talking about that “Mexican Radio” band.

Wall of Voodoo released just six records (four studio LPs, one live LP, and one EP), five of which are currently out of print. And while not every track they released is essential, they have been unfairly written off as one-hit wonders. In truth, the band has much more to offer, as we shall discover here. But first, a bit of history.

The band known as Wall of Voodoo took root in Los Angeles in 1977, where it began as a partnership between synth player/vocalist/composer Stan Ridgway and guitarist Marc Moreland. The duo formed a short-lived music production business called Acme Soundtracks, which specialized in off-kilter scores for films that were about as far away from John Williams as you could get.

Ridgway’s love of bebop and country music merged with Moreland’s affection for electronic pioneers such as Kraftwerk, and the duo’s sound quickly took shape. Before long the unsuccessful company became a band, but needed a new name. When Ridgway compared the sound of Acme Soundtracks’ music to that of Phil Spector’s famous Wall of Sound, Ridgway’s friend, Joe Berardi, remarked that it sounded more like a “wall of voodoo.” The name stuck, and the band — Ridgway on Farfisa organ and rhythm machine, Marc Moreland on guitar, and brother Bruce Moreland on synthesizers — began performing as Wall of Voodoo.

In 1979, Wall of Voodoo became a quintet with the addition of keyboardist Chas Gray and percussionist/drummer Joe Nanini. By this time, Ridgway had also emerged as the group’s lead singer, despite his intentions to the contrary. His skittering, staccato vocal delivery was the icing on the cake that was the band’s rather strange sound.

The group began to earn a following around the L.A. area, and was eventually discovered by Miles Copeland (brother of Police drummer Stewart Copeland, and manager of same) at one of their shows. Copeland agreed to distribute Wall of Voodoo’s self-titled debut EP in 1980, and later signed them to his own I.R.S. Records label. (more…)