Twisted
Pop Music
“Well, I'd say it now
sounds like background music for vast urban barbeques, metropolitan
rodeos, something along those lines. I've always called our music
twisted pop music” Bruce Moreland
Wall
of Voodoo came together at Acme Soundtracks, Stanard Ridgway's film
score company. Located across the street from The Masque (Hollywood's
infamous punk club) Acme Soundtracks became a magnet for aspiring
local punk musicians. Marc Moreland, guitarist for The Skulls, was
drawn in and from that collaboration came Wall of Voodoo. Bruce
Moreland joined on bass, Chas T. Gray, also from The Skulls was
enlisted as keyboardist and veteran drummer Joe Nanini rounded out
the original line up. The band's name was derived from a comment made
by Joe Berardi, a fellow musician whom upon listening to some of
Ridgway's Acme Soundtrack recordings, declared “Phil Spector has
his Wall of Sound, but you've got a Wall of Voodoo. The name stuck.
It's an L.A. thing, I suppose.
Question: which of the following genre
tags best describes Wall of Voodoo.... new wave, post punk,
alternative rock, dark wave, cowpunk? It's a trick question, they
all apply, unequivocally. How many times did you try and play Wall of
Voodoo at a party only to be met by belligerent bellows of “Take
that punk shit off!”
Lead singer,
Stanard “Stan” Ridgway drawled with
jaded detachment.... a flowing river of abstract pronouncements,
delivered with an unmistakably American west coast accent that
echoed western movie heroes and any number of their nasalized
sidekicks. “Cause I can tell at a glance you're not from 'round
these parts, Got a green look about ya And that's a gringo for
starts” Stan had the necessary tools: a shitload of confidence
combined with an endless reservoir of arrogance.
After parting ways with Wall of Voodoo,
Ridgway launched his solo career. He's recorded eight solo albums
(“Big Heat” his solo debut still remains his most successful)
Delving more and more into movie soundtracks while cultivating a
narrative vocal delivery that blurs the line between spoken word
and singing, it's not for everyone. Stan's split with Wall of Voodoo
wasn't all that amicable. Bruce Moreland still holds a grudge (Stan
was instrumental in his being booted from the band prior to “Call
of the West”) “With Wall of Voodoo, it had a lot
to do with Stan’s ego getting a little too big. People assume that
the lead singer is the songwriter and leader of a band. But in Stan’s
case he wasn’t. And I think it became obvious on his solo records
that Stan wasn’t the creative force behind Wall of Voodoo”
Guitarist, Marc Moreland specialized in
big rich rolling tones, shamelessly lifted from Morricone spaghetti
western soundtracks and spiced up with some Dick Dale inspired surf
licks. Stan would introduce “Morricone Themes” by announcing:
“Here's a little film music for you” Marc Moreland, one of the
truly underrated guitarist from the 1980s. On stage Marc and Chas T.
Gray gave off an underlying sense of hostility. Two So Cal bros ready
to stomp your ass into a mud puddle at any moment. “If it's the
rough stuff ya want You can point yer finger at me”
Gray's encyclopedic arsenal of keyboard riffs
gave Wall of Voodoo a “new wave” sound not unlike that of “Duty
Now for the Future” era Devo (Can't Make Love and pretty much the
entire “Call of the West” album)
Marc Moreland's roots went back to one
of Los Angeles' very first punk bands, The Skulls. A band that both
Marc and brother Bruce would later return to. (Bruce was asked to
leave Wall of Voodoo following the release of “Dark Continent”
due to his heroin addiction) Marc, Bruce and Chas T. Gray were also
instrumental in keeping Wall of Voodoo afloat after Stan Ridgway and
Joe Nanini left the band in 1983. Ridgway was replaced by Andy
Prieboy, Nanini by Ned Leukhardt (this resulted in the “Seven Days
in Sammy's Town” album) Post-Wall of Voodoo, Marc Moreland
collaborated with Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde) in Pretty and
Twisted. He moved to Las Vegas, Nv. and put together a new band,
Dept. of Crooks, which released one album “Plan 9 from Las Vegas”
Marc also released a solo album “Take
it to the Spotlight” credited to Marc Moreland's Mess. (Marc on
lead vocals w/ John Parish and Jean-Marc Butty, both of whom toured
with P.J. Harvey) He's rumored to be the subject of Concrete Blonde's
“Joey” a song about being in love with an alcoholic. (Johnette
would admit as much in later interviews) An unabashed alcoholic, Marc
Moreland died in Paris, France of renal failure following a liver
transplant in 2002. Prior to joining Wall of Voodoo, Bruce Moreland
had played bass for The Weirdos. He put together Black Cherry with
Paul Black of the L.A. Guns. He teamed up with Wall of Voodoo band
mate Chas T. Gray in Nervous Gender and also worked with Johnette
Napolitano and The Skulls.
Drummer Joe Nanini maintained a workman
like resolve even as his band mates resorted to surly on-stage
shenanigans and drunken audience baiting. A veteran of L.A.'s punk
scene, Nanini had played with Black Randy & the Metrosquad, The
Plugz and The Bags. Following his stint with Wall of Voodoo, Nanini
helped co-found The Lonesome Strangers, in (1983 w/ Randy Weeks, Jeff
Rymes & Nino Del Pesco) A country rock/roots band much ballyhooed
by critics, beloved by a small core of fans and and an utter
commercial failure. Nanini left the band shortly after their first
album “Lonesome Pine” was recorded in 1986. An ever inventive
percussionist, aptly schooled in all genres, Nanini passed away from
a brain hemorrhage in 2000.
“This modern world deserves a Modern attitude”
Ultimately, it would dawn on me that
Stanard Ridgway fashioned his drawling vocal mannerisms after those
of flaming asshole and proto-typical So Cal white guy.... Beach
Boy, Mike Love. It all makes sense....these two variables (Beach Boys
and Wall of Voodoo) have a linear relationship with each other. Both
sought (in their own fashion) to promote the SoCal lifestyle as the
American ideal. Brian Wilson painted sunny beach side landscapes and
doted endlessly on the pleasures of fast cars, nice girls and
surfing, Wall of Voodoo chose to expose the darkside of SoCal life,
preferring America's fast lane to sandy beaches and surf boards. The
post Ridgway version of the band (w/ Andy Prieboy) actually covered
The Beach Boys' “Do It Again” on their final studio album “Happy
Planet”
Wall
of Voodoo's lyrics could easily have come from a Jay McInerney novel.
“Mexican Radio” transports us to the land of barbecued iguana and
easy virtues. “I'm on a wavelength far from home” “Lost Week
End” is set on Interstate 15, a satiated couple returning to L.A.
after a weekend of gambling debauchery, during which Sin City lived
up to its other sobriquet: Lost Wages. “You can take any exit that
you happen to feel is the right one." “Tomorrow” addresses
the stress brought on by sudden fame and growing expectations. “Can't
understand what happened to all the plans I made” “Call of the
West” draws inspiration from Sergio Leone's epic spaghetti western,
Once Upon a Time in the West "Son this ain't no western movie
matinee and you're a long way off from yippee yi yay”
“Long
Arm” finds the boys preoccupied with menial jobs and corporate
headhunters “this business needs a strong arm. some new part to
clear out all the deadwood” “Factory” hits close to home “Now
I know I had something to say but the problem is to say something,
Uhh...you gotta say it” The factories of today come with piped in
music. It could be a big box retailer, a fast food restaurant, a
convenience store. All the same, you grind it out, then go home to
take stock of your prized possessions “I got a little rubber pool
in the backyard for the kids to wade in and I got a little backyard,
pink mustang, fenders chrome” It's all a facade “an average joe
from the grand design” caves in to the pressure and can't always
hold it together “Just lately now when my wife talks back to me I
slap her around”
Just
like Brian Wilson in the 1960s.... Ridgway, the Moreland bros., Joe
Nanini and Chas T. Gray had their fingers on the jaded pulse of 1980s
Southern California. Which as it turns out, was quite a bit different
from Wilson's era. They'll be wearing their Mexican poncho vests and
even if they could surf, the locals wouldn't let them go near the
water.... I feel a hot wind on my shoulder or maybe that's just the
cholos in that lowrider staring intently at me. I hear the talking
of the Dj.... but you can bet it's not Wolfman Jack, who built his
rep in the early 1960s broadcasting on XERB, just across the border
in Rosarita Beach. Even though, the son of a bitch was actually
working in Minnesota at the time and his shows were pre-recorded and
the tapes shipped by courier from Minneapolis.
"I've never seen so many corndogs in my
entire life"
Stan Ridgway scanning the crowd at US Festival, 1983