Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo
While some might chalk L.A.-based new wave band Wall of Voodoo’s big hit “Mexican Radio” up as a novelty song, it touches on some surprisingly relevant themes. Inspired by the Mexican “border blaster” radio stations the band listened to as they drove around L.A., the song went to #58 in 1982 (#18 in Canada), blending new wave/synth sound with spaghetti western movie soundtrack inspiration. And the band themselves provided the inspiration for other hits.
Does the song hold up today? It sure does.
Have a look-see at the original video:
Check out Wall of Voodoo’s cover of Ring of Fire:
Oohh… Spaghetti westerny. Do you hear Jerry Goldsmith’s theme from Our Man Flint near the end?
The Skulls documentary “Who is Billy Bones” details one of LA’s first punk bands and the legedary club The Masque, which helped bring Wall of Voodoo together. (Note Green Day’s Mike Dirnt!)
Check out this short reel on famous border blaster station XERF, where Wolfman Jack got his start
Remember when Christian Slater was a pirate radio host being pursued by the FCC in 1990’s Pump Up the Volume? Radio = Rebel!
Lots of Concrete Blonde mentions in this episode: Here’s Johnette and crew covering the Leonard Cohen song Everybody Knows
And here she is singing the heartbreaking song she wrote about Wall of Voodoo’s Marc Moreland
Ham radio-based movie, Frequency, starring not Randy but Dennis Quaid
Let’s talk about puppies.
Check out The Hard Way, On Purpose for more on Growing up in Akron, like Devo did.
P.S. Does Mexican Radio sound a lot like Green Day’s Longview, or is it just us?
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