Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles,California. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence,the band came to prominence when its 1982 single "Mexican Radio" became a hit on MTV and alternative radio. The band was known for surrealist lyrics drawing on iconography of the American southwest.
I.R.S. Records was a major American record label founded by Miles Copeland III,Jay Boberg,and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s,and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock,new wave and alternative rock artists,including R.E.M.,The Go-Go's,Wall of Voodoo,and Fine Young Cannibals. Currently the label is distributed by parent company Universal Music Group.
Stanard "Stan" Ridgway is an American singer-songwriter,and film and television composer known for his distinctive voice,dramatic lyrical narratives,and eclectic solo albums. He was the original lead singer and a founding member of the band Wall of Voodoo.
Marc Moreland was an American rock musician. He was the former guitarist for rock band Wall of Voodoo,punk band The Skulls,and rock bands Pretty and Twisted and Department of Crooks. He also released a solo album under the name Marc Moreland Mess.
"Big Yellow Taxi" is a song written,composed,and originally recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell in 1970,and originally released on her album Ladies of the Canyon. It was a hit in her native Canada as well as Australia and the UK. It only reached No. 67 in the US in 1970,but was later a bigger hit there for her in a live version released in 1974,which peaked at No. 24. Charting versions have also been recorded by the Neighborhood,and most notably covered by Amy Grant in 1994 and Counting Crows in 2002. The song was also sampled in Janet Jackson's "Got 'til It's Gone" (1997).
Call of the West is the second studio album by Los Angeles rock band Wall of Voodoo,released in September 1982. The album contains "Mexican Radio",the group's most well-known song,which was released as a single and whose video received moderate airplay on MTV.
"Heaven" is a song by the Canadian singer and songwriter Bryan Adams recorded in 1983,written by Adams and Jim Vallance. It first appeared on the A Night in Heaven soundtrack album the same year and was later included on Adams' album Reckless in 1984. It was released as the third single from Reckless and reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in June 1985,over a year and a half after the song first appeared on record. The single was certified Gold in Canada in 1985.
"She Will Be Loved" is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5. It was written by frontman Adam Levine and lead guitarist James Valentine. The song was released on June 21,2004,as the third single from Maroon 5's 2002 debut studio album,Songs About Jane. The single peaked at No. 5 in the United States and by December 2012 had sold more than 2,722,000 digital downloads. It peaked at No. 4 in the United Kingdom. In Australia,it reached No. 1,a position it held for five non-consecutive weeks. The single is noted for its music video starring Kelly Preston in a mother-daughter love triangle with lead singer Adam Levine.
"Faded" is a song written by Matthew Gerrard,Jessica Origliasso,Lisa Origliasso,and Robbie Nevil,produced by Gerrard and Bryon Jones for Australian singer Kate DeAraugo's first album A Place I've Never Been (2005). It was released as the album's second single in Australia on 20 February 2006 as a CD single. Two of the song's co-writers—Jessica and Lisa Origliasso of the Veronicas—recorded a demo of "Faded" prior to DeAraugo's release. They have been known to perform the song live.
"Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by American surf rock band The Trashmen,containing the repetitive lyric "the bird is the word". It has been covered many times. It is a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons:"Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's the Word".
"That's the Way (I Like It)" is a song by American disco and funk band KC and the Sunshine Band from their self-titled second studio album (1975). The single became the band's second No. 1 hit in the Billboard Hot 100,and it is one of the few chart-toppers in history to hit No. 1 on more than one occasion during a one-month period,as it did between November and December 1975. It topped the American pop chart for one week,and then was replaced by another disco song,"Fly,Robin,Fly" by Silver Convention. "That's the Way (I Like It)" returned to No. 1 for one more week after "Fly,Robin,Fly" completed three weeks at the top. "That's the Way (I Like It)" also spent one week at No. 1 in the soul singles chart. The song is in natural minor.
"Pet Sematary" is a single by American punk rock band Ramones,from their 1989 album Brain Drain. The song,originally written for the Stephen King 1989 film adaptation of the same name,became one of the Ramones' biggest radio hits and was a staple of their concerts during the 1990s. The song plays over the film’s credits.
"Work to Do" is a 1972 funk song by the Isley Brothers,released on their T-Neck imprint. The song,written and produced by the group,was issued on their 1972 album,Brother,Brother,Brother,and charted at #51 pop and #11 R&B upon its initial charting.
Dark Continent is the debut studio album by American rock band Wall of Voodoo,released in 1981 by I.R.S. Records. Early live versions of four songs are featured on the compilation The Index Masters.
Jean Beauvoir is an American singer,bassist,guitarist,multi-instrumentalist,songwriter,producer and entertainment executive. He came to prominence in the early 1980s with the punk group the Plasmatics and went on to work with Little Steven,Kiss,the Ramones and as a solo artist.
Oliver Joseph Nanini was an American rock drummer,most famous for being the percussionist and a founding member of new wave group Wall of Voodoo during their heyday in the 1980s. He was known for playing with pots,pans,and other objects. This arrangement can be seen in the motion picture Urgh! A Music War in which Wall Of Voodoo performed a live version of the song "Back In Flesh" from the Dark Continent album,and also later in the video for the hit single "Mexican Radio". Along with Stan Ridgway and Bill Noland,he left the band after their performance at the US Festival in 1983. Nanini went on to become one of the co-founders of the neo-traditional band The Lonesome Strangers and played on their first record,Lonesome Pine.
"Joey" is the ninth track from American alternative rock band Concrete Blonde's third studio album,Bloodletting (1990). The song was released in 1990 and was written and sung by the band's frontwoman,Johnette Napolitano. The song was written in a cab on the way to a photo studio in Philadelphia;it was the last vocal recorded on the album due to Napolitano's reluctance to record the lyrics,which were hard for her to deal with.
Snakebite:Blacktop Ballads &Fugitive Songs is an album by Stan Ridgway. It was released in 2004 through redFLY Records.
The Bruthers were an American garage rock band from Pearl River,New York,active in the mid to late 1960s,and whose membership consisted the four brothers,Alf,Frank,Mike,and Joe of the Delia family. They recorded several songs for RCA records,of which,"Bad Way to Go" is the best known. The song is included on the compilation album,Pebbles Vol. 8,and is regarded by enthusiasts and collectors as a classic in the genre.
Francis Delia is an American filmmaker,photographer,writer and musician,at times credited as Francis X. Wolfe or F.X. Pope
