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"Mexican Radio" is a song by American new wave band Wall of Voodoo. Produced by Richard Mazda, the track was initially released on their 1982 album Call of the West and was released as a single. With regular airplay on MTV in the United States,[3] the song had moderate commercial success, peaking at No. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[4] It did better in other parts of the world, peaking at No. 18 in Canada, No. 21 in New Zealand and No. 33 in Australia.[5] It also reached No. 64 in the UK.[6]

"Mexican Radio"
Single by Wall of Voodoo
from the album Call of the West
B-side"Call of the West"
ReleasedSeptember 1982[1]
Recorded1982
Genre
Length4:08 (album version)
3:55 (single/music video edit)
LabelI.R.S.
Songwriter(s)Wall of Voodoo
Producer(s)Richard Mazda
Audio sample
"Wall Of Voodoo - Mexican Radio"
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Background


Wall of Voodoo frontman Stan Ridgway and guitarist Marc Moreland cited listening to high-wattage unregulated AM Mexican radio stations (among them XERF, XEG, and XERB) as the inspiration for the song.[citation needed]

Moreland was the first to begin writing the song. In a recorded interview in the 1990s, he stated, "It was basically just me singing 'I'm on a Mexican radio' over and over again".[citation needed] Moreland added that, when he played it for his mother, she hated it because of his repetitious lyrics. Ridgway collaborated with Moreland to finish the song, adding all the verse lyrics to Moreland's chorus and guitar lick, as well as the "mariachi" harmonica melody in the song's middle breakdown. When performing live with Wall of Voodoo, Ridgway usually played the mariachi melody via an organ/synthesizer and Bill Noland used a synthesizer to play the melody when performing with Wall of Voodoo in the 1982–1983 era.


Single version


The 7" single mix differs in a few areas from the album mix:[citation needed]


Music video


The music video for the song was produced and directed by Francis Delia at his studio on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, CA, as well as on location in Tijuana, Mexico. Wall of Voodoo rehearsed down the hall from Delia's commercial photography studio and chose him to direct the video. The movie was edited by Kert VanderMeulen, and marked the first of many collaborations between the director and editor during the next two years. The video's fast cutting, impressionistic and bizarre dark images and faux documentary style of Mexico and Mexican culture made it one of the most popular clips in MTV history to that point in time[7] and was in heavy rotation throughout 1983.[8]

Iconic images include a woman (Ann Marie Bates), uncovering a large bowl of baked beans—cooked by Bob Casale of Devo[9]—from which the face of Stan Ridgway emerges.[10] The Los Angeles studio photography was done in a nearly 24-hour span and left the production bereft of extras, forcing the director to cameo as an anonymous Mexican turning an iguana on a spit over a campfire. The wardrobe for the video was provided by Genny Schorr and Tony Riviera of the Strait Jacket clothing store in Los Angeles.[citation needed]


Track listing



7" single


Side A

  1. "Mexican Radio" - 3:55

Side B

  1. "Call of the West" - 6:00

Two Songs by Wall of Voodoo 12" single


Side A

  1. "Mexican Radio" - 3:55

Side B

  1. "There's Nothing on This Side" - 10:00

1989 mini CD reissue


  1. "Mexican Radio" - 3:55
  2. "Tomorrow" - 2:43
  3. "Call of the West" - 5:35

Charts


Chart (1983) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[13] 33[14]
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[15] 18[16]
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] 21[18]
UK Singles (OCC)[19] 64[20]
US Billboard Hot 100[21] 58[22][23]


The song was influenced by the Sesame Street skit titled Martians Discover a Radio.

In Season 9, Episode 12 of Seinfeld, "The Reverse Peephole", Kramer sang the main chorus of the song while changing his peephole. In the closing credits, a two-second sting of the chorus was also played.

Rapper SPM Sampled the songs chorus on his rap song also called “Mexican Radio".

The song was used in Box of Moonlight

It has been the unofficial anthem of the hungarian pirate/alternative radio, Tilos Rádió from 1991.

The song was covered by extreme metal band Celtic Frost on their 1987 album Into the Pandemonium.

The song was also covered by punk rock band Authority Zero on their 2004 album Andiamo.


See also



References


  1. "Billboard". September 18, 1982.
  2. Raggett, Ned. "Into the Pandemonium - Celtic Frost | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 3, 2020. A nuclear-strength rip through Wall of Voodoo's West Coast new wave classic 'Mexican Radio,'
  3. "Where Are They Now? 1982's Biggest Pop Acts". Rolling Stone. August 8, 2012.
  4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  5. Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  6. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 590. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  7. Delia, Francis; Patrick Goldstein (September 2, 1983). "DELIA FILMS DREAMS, NIGHTMARES". Los Angeles Times. RAD PICS. pp. two (2).
  8. "30 Jun 1983, 6 - LA Weekly at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  9. "Devo - Hosting 'Rage' in Australia 1997". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13 via www.youtube.com.
  10. "80sonVEVO GAMV Takeover Week 7 w/ FEATURED VIDEO Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio"". February 26, 2013.
  11. "SP-70963 Promo Only". 45cat.com. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  12. "IR-9912". 45cat.com. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  13. "Wall of Voodoo – {{{song}}}". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  14. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 311. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4337." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  16. "Item: 4337 - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  17. "Wall of Voodoo – {{{song}}}". Top 40 Singles.
  18. Steffen Hung. "charts.org.nz - Wall Of Voodoo - Mexican Radio". Charts.nz. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  19. "Wall of Voodoo: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  20. "WALL OF VOODOO | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  21. "Wall of Voodoo Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  22. "Wall of Voodoo's Marc Moreland Dies". Billboard.
  23. "The Hot 100". Billboard.



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