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From: krazykat500
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  • I loved them in the 80's and still love them. Marc Moreland's guitar sound is absolutely awesome.

  • immortal for the conoseur , but don't let wall of voodo decit you, they are nothing like country

    music, this was underground alternative 80's. totally alternative underground but awesome.

  • I remember this like it was yesterday, jesus 30 years ago...this band was fun to watch live

  • RIP Marc

  • I was at this show. Marc Moreland fucking ruled. What an original style that dude had!

  • one of the greatest band ever been and one of the greatest 80st greatfulest artists.greats from germany!

  • RIP Marc Moreland. You were such a gifted, unique guitarist.

  • Its immediately clear this is amazing, the writer/singer is absolutely into the theme/feel of the material.

  • Great Band! Stan Ridgway has a special voice.

    Thanks for posting this rare concert!

  • I was 13 years old in 1982. Damn.

  • quite simply this album is the greatest story told of american white collar / trailer trash life. from the monotony of life in the factory, the hopelessness of lost weekend where the greatest hope they have is appearing in a quiz show to cleaning pools. Then with the realisation of despair and hopelessness. the flight to the america of old.. where anyone could make it.. when in doubt and in need... heed the call and head west

  • the band was simply for an audience with the ears to hear......i love them

  • <3

  • I never get tired of this performance. The music has such "weight".

  • Was at this show - drove down from Knoxville. Thanks for posting.

  • @napoleonicstrike.Absolutely!M­arc Moreland was a fabulously creative guitarist - but so underrated.

  • Calling occupants of interplanetary most extraordinary crafts...

  • This still kicks ass!

  • I listen hip hop realy but i love this guys voice n storytelling capabilities realy powerful n full of carracter. Also the band leading him have a unique sound Simply Great Music from better times

  • Wall of Voodoo (the Stan Ridgeway years) were like if William S. Burroughs, John Wayne and Mark Mothersbaugh (DEVO) united into a single, powerful organization whose goal was to make the greatest music about transience and living in the decline of American civilization in the late 20th century.

  • We gotta get them back on the stage man! these guys are underrated and yet very talented!

  • @Paladin1441 That would be great, but unfortunately both the percussionist and guitarist have died.

  • really good music never gets radio airplay anyway...its always been that way... mainly because of one station managers limited taste in music....stans quirky style in singing and story telling won them a cult following fan base but not large enough to maintain mainstream success which mexican radio had...and without radio airplay the band will not sell alblums...don't sell alblums no income...no money no band

  • Camouflage was a big solo hit of Stan!

  • Most uderrated band of all time.

  • @QMPhilosophe Agreed.....amazing...

  • nearest thing i can compare these guys to is Claypool...outrageous, unique and never a let down

  • He played this song when he came here to Dallas with his band one month ago! It was a riot I had such a blast that night! He was touring on the new cd 'Neon Mirage' (which is really great by the way)..... I was lucky enough to meet him and chat with him for a bit...... I now have a picture of my best friend and I with Stan in the middle! :D He is such a nice person, too!

  • This is EPIC:

    -and then the old-timer pulled him close and said,

    "you've come a long way, i know, you got a longer drive ahead,

    through the bones of a buffalo, through the claims of the western dead

    and just like the spokes of a wheel, you'll spin 'round with the rest,

    you'll hear the drums and the brush of steel, and you'll hear the call of the west."

  • This has to be one of the best songs from Wall of Voodoo... but perhaps just one of the best ever ever. Look out for Neon Mirage folks.

  • Stan, I want to use a couple of your songs as part of my movie's soundtrack..this one and Camouflage.

  • epic fucking sound this band had

    and please don't mention the andy prieboy years

  • I love this version of the song - better than the album version. WOV was one of the underrated bands of the 80's.

  • EPIC!! such an incredible unique voice...

  • That was AWSOME

  • I love this band. Music industry needs to pump out this quality of music again.

  • @ToolMartyr69

    Agreed, but as I recall It wasn't pumped as much as tolerated by the industry. But it was appreciated by a lucky few.

  • @mnhynes - Yep, you all were lucky to be checking out groups like WoV in those days. In the early 80's, I was busy discovering prog stuff from the 70's like Yes, Rush, Tull, etc, and wasn't interested in New Wave, punk, and such, even though I could detect that videos like Mexican Radio were cool as hell. Too bad, I realize now on what I was missing back then.

  • very good performance here.

  • Bad ass.

  • mp3iiify is the best site to get this mp3. google mp3iiify.

  • 'i used to be somebody you hear me ?, don't walk away.....'

    i wonder if anyone has posted ' lost weekend' ?

  • spit out the window of your car and not have the wind blow it back in your face........

    best Ridgeway/Voodoo on youtube. well done uploader.

  • This live version simply proves just how incredible this band actually is. The video is perfect because it sets the correct mood of the song. Kudos!!!

  • Trust me I lived in so. cal. in the 80s and there the best /and oingo boingo to.

  • The best band ever!!!!!!!

  • Color of the vid is just right: black and green.

  • great! thanks.

  • Simply amazing.

  • Touches the inner recesses of my heart............much lik a colt .45 revolver.

    BEAUTIFUL.

  • The more I listen to Wall of Voodoo the more I realize and appreciate the genuis of Marc Moreland. Almost single handedly he created the band's unique sound. I've never heard anyone come close what he did on the Call of the West album.

  • Excellent call. Marc is so underrated. What an incredible sound -- Morricone meets the sparseness of Andy Gill. Marc Moreland was definitely a gifted and unique guitarist. A couple of my friends who play guitar recognize Marc's genius and borrow from him.

  • A workingman's dream guitarist! Best "worker" among guitarists I've ever seen with nothing fancy - just straight ahead he goes - on and on.

  • @napoleonicstrike You took the words outta my mouth !! i so agree !!

  • inclassables il y a près de 30 ans et c'est toujours le cas aujourd'hui..... Extras terrestres géniaux....

  • whiskey and rifles and unarmed men. awesome, what a great song.

  • Wonderful

  • It is rare that a band sounds better "live" then in the studio but Wall of Voodoo stands heads and shoulders above the oh so lame rest. I only wish that I could have been there to hear and see the pure magic that I saw in this video.

  • great footage.. And yes I agree that Album was a masterpiece. The raw anger and real edge to this album changed alot of minds where music could go..

  • Stan Ridgeway's singing voice is both ethereal and iconic. I'm really surprised that he didn't reach bigger critical success in the 80s. Although I've always liked his work, he was definitely ignored by the masses.

  • Maybe, it works that way.

  • Because the "masses" helped Bon Jovi and LA Drag Queen metal infect the musical landscape.

    Wall Of Voodoo was too good for even pop radio to ignore, as short as their time in the spotlight was.

  • @Malocosa

    Hard to believe that the content of this song came from an American artist... from the '80s no less. I guess this is what we call anti-thesis?

  • @Malocosa Unfortunatly, i realised how many singers and band who was complitly ignored by the masses...

    I think this is especially in 80's this ignorance happened..

  • @Malocosa I think if had stayed with the band they'd be a hell of a lot bigger than they were.

  • This band is so far ahead of their time it is pleasure to see. Thanks!

  • the first time I saw this song live fantastic! thanks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooo Much!

  • I was at this concert! This video just floored me! LOL Thanks for the memories hehe

  • absolutely great. thanks.

  • Wall of Voodoo opened for Gary Numan at the first concert I went to. I'd never heard of them before that day but was very impressed. Stan is still pumping out great songs and good music. Rock on Stan!

  • This is one creepy song.

  • wow...and nobody's ever really heard this or given this group any real credit....personally i think it is very powerful wth a great guitar riff and lyrics i have to strain to hear and comprehend.

    thanks for posting it.

  • Yeah, The entire COTW cd is great. Unfortunately, People thought the single, Mexican Radio, is what the band was all about. Ironically, it was probably the closest thing to a "throw away" tune on the whole cd. Get the cd if you can find it.

  • Wow. Fucking sensational.

  • hipnotic guitar riff!

  • I'll hear the Call of the West...and watch out for the Son of the Morning Star!

  • I will always keep my eyes and ears open for Stan's unique musical and lyrical visions.

  • Stan Ridgway is by far the best for descring the human scene. He continues today to produce some of the best American music available, and will always be my favorite.

  • They don't write like this anymore,classic new wave,with some punk thrown in,even a dash of pshychedelia.If you want to hear music like this now you have to tune out America and tune in some of the Nordic countries like Iceland or parts of Europe.

  • Well, and even then it's just a really pale imitation of stuff like this, quite devoid of the true originality and creativity that defined the bands of the early 80s. Then, they were rebelling hard against their predecessors and doing everything possible to NOT sound like anyone else. Now, it's driven by bands actually trying to sound like their influences. It's really pathetic, lazy, and obvious.

  • I agree with you, Longfade.

  • Wow. That was pretty freaking powerful.

  • Really great performance. This song is so evocative and epic.

  • Stan Ridgway is a Real Superstar Songwriter with very good Voice ...

  • You're a long way off from yippee-ay-ay!

  • what a fantastic live performance - love it!

  • Stan Ridgway put it all together with this one. Kinda like a punk / beatnik Natanial West of the High Desert. Ride on Ridgway. We're coming to the shows in 2009 for your new one. You keep it going Stan! We are always there.

  • CLASSIC VOODOO BABY............Marc's guitar riff rules! The most underrated guitarist of all time!!!!

  • He really is close, given scores and scores of underrated ones.

  • I'd put Johnny Marr on the list of underrated guitarists as well.

  • THere are no better songs of the broken promise of the West than "Call of the West" and "Welcome to the boom town".

  • Different,Strange,Unik,Persona­l and Anti-Commercial & True.

    This is Wall Of Voodoo!!!;)

  • God, I was a huge fan of this band in the 80s but never got to see them live. It's great to hear this stuff again. I owned "Call of the West" on vinyl. Remember vinyl? Wow.

  • I have Call Of The West on vinyl. I got it in october for $5. I actually have more than 100 LPs

  • Yeah, well, I had the 45 of this (it was on the back of "Mexican Radio").

  • I wouldn't mind getting that 45 of which you speak.

  • Yes, we are serious. Got a problem with that, sir?

  • What a great band. Unique sound and lyrics that capture modern commercial alienation. While I wish they had gone on and on, I think Call of the West was a great album to end their life as a band. One of the best.

  • Please. This is the Clash with brains. But, that probably flew right past you. Whoosh.

  • RIP Marc and Joe.. its such a shame that Stan and the boyz couldnt arrainge a get together to rehearse for a tour after the passing of Marc and Joe; they derseved a reunited tour with Bruce, Chas, Ned, and even Andy.. ; suck up the egos; do it for the lost members and the fans..they would make millions.. they are the best and my favorite of all time.. i miss them so much..

  • I saw this show at Club 688 in Atlanta and again 25 years later when Stan took his "regular" band back on the road for the "reunion tour of Call of the West". Even though Mark,Joe and Chas weren't at the latter, Stan still performed virtually that entire album juat as spectacularly as they did in '82. It was bittersweet. I love that album and consider this song perfect with some of the best lyrics ever written . Internal politics killed that band. Certainly on the verge of superstardom.

  • I always liked the Theme from Barnaby Jones.

  • I wish my parents could of had sex maybe twenty years earlier.

  • i'm with you. :(

  • Mine did. :-P

  • I know what you mean.

  • In 2007 Stan hit the road with the "Call of the West" tour" marking the 25th year of that classic album's release. I saw the show in Atlanta. Neither surviving members Bruce Moreland (Marc's brother) or keyboardist Chas Gray were invited which rankled them. Stan's wife handled the keyboard work while his regular guitarist and drummer did the rest. I had ambivalent feelings about attending the show but I must admit, hearing those classic songs again. .even with the different players (con't)

  • (con't) was simply incredible. Like him or not, Stan Ridgway is the consummate performer on stage and every song off Call of the West sounded exactly like it did 25 years earlier when I saw them at Club 688. Of course I would have preferred it if Marc Moreland was hitting those licks on his Gibson Flying Vee and Joe Nanini was handling percussion. .but in fairness, the band did the work justice. As noted, egos and internal woes split great bands and the Wall of Voo Doo was going to be huge.

  • Tell your ma hicca ho ha hicca hi ho hi hay hicca hi ho for me!

  • stan ridgway is still performing live...but there's not the verve and the twangy guitar of those days with wall of vodoo. Though is still a great and intelligent song writer....(to be continued)

  • You saved my day. Bourbon someone?

  • Great band from an era when most sucked bigtime!!What ever happend to them?

  • Great song, fantastic performance

  • Ha!!! I used to go to 688 club!!! Aggghh!!

  • My favorite band of all time.

    Saw these guys 8 times in the early 80's. The San Diego Police Department shut down one show after the first song due to a "curfew" violation at the Adams Avenue Theater in Normal Heights. Stan apologized and said..."It looks like were off to Sing Sing if we don't leave..."

    If you even looked at the cops wrong on the way out they tossed you into awaiting paddy wagons.

    Somewhere I've got a cassette tape from that night.

  • Wow this song actually tells a story!

    Who would have thought that there really

    were genuine songwriters at one time. Genius!

  • I USED TA BE SOMEBODY YA HEAR ME!?!?!

  • Call of the West, best album ever (IMNSHO) :-)

  • FACTORY!!!!!

  • i actually was at this show : )

    they complained earlier in the set that all of their equip. had been stolen!

    still it was pretty hot.

  • This is one creepy song.

  • I concur.. there was nothin like the original WOV live. I sure miss ole' chickenhead

  • I concur.. there was nothin like the original WOV live. I sure miss ole' chickenhead

  • Bruce being Mark's brother ex-WEIRDOS, ex-MASQUE MC.....

    Musical differences, ego, and loyalty caused the split. Stan left with Joe quitting with him.

    The ORIGINAL line up was amazing live! Never to be duplicated again unfortunately...

  • The reason why the ORIGINAL line up fell apart was that Mark Moreland had been writing songs from the beginning which eventually put pressure on Stan who inturn had been writing too. The band consisted of two groups one with Stan and Joe Nanini who had the Dangerhouse connection going as well as sharing playing duties in other bands notably the early FLESHEATRS. The other group was Mark Moreland, Chas Grey who were originally in the SKULLS with Bruce Moreland.

  • I was at this show. Stans parents were there also

  • One of the things I always felt that was overlooked in this song was the sound Chas Gray puts out on that recorder he played. It's a steady backing melody that allows Marc Moreland's guitar to fade in and out with clarity and precision. When they split up, this band had an incredibly tight sound. To this day it still baffles me as to why they did but at least they left an incredible album for posterity. That's art.

  • WOV - Awesome Band. Call of the West is one of the all-time classic albums. "Well, I like to know what I'm doin' when I do it and I do what I'm doin' 'cause I don't know what to do when I'm not doin' it..." lmao Ridgeway was one of the great satirists of all time!

  • Stan Ridgway is still cool as hell, and Wall of Voodoo was great. It is no accident that so many young people know who they are now.

  • wall of vodoo are well gd but they aient like super star material my dad got me into them n im 16 i think stan is a lazz aswell

  • put this album (Call of The West)on 10 years from now and it will still kick your ass!!!WOV fan from south Texas

  • Spit out the window and have the wind blow it back in ye face.

  • There's only two words needed to describe this F***ing Brilliant.

    Brownie Points for posting this.

    Saw them live in london but unfortunately stan the man had gone solo by then.

    They were still awsome though.

  • One the songs that makes me so happy that I was born and got to live on this planet for awhile. ..."whiskey and rifles and unarmed like youuuuu...

  • Urgh! A Music was has been in my noggin since 1980. These guys were incredible!!! Never forgot it.

  • I consider myself quite privileged to see these guys @ toad's place in New Haven do this song back in the 80's. They had the best sound of any of the bands I've seen there. Thanks for recapturing that haunting performance.

  • omg bands were so much better dressed back then! LOVE THIS VIDEO, THANK YOU from out West...

  • Great song, with a terrific guitar rift

  • Yea, i've always loved that sound. Im not a guitarist, but I've always wanted to know how they got that sound. Certain guitar and amp combination? delay effects? reverb? Please tell me or I will obsess over it.

  • You should go to the websites devoted to WoV. .that are still active. You'll get your answers there. Marc Moreland was obsessed with the "spaghetti" Westerns that Clint Eastwood were in. .and the Tex-Mex sound that emanated from their soundtracks. Moreland was brilliant at obtaining "clean" licks. .and produced a distinctive sound of his own. RIP. He died in '04 and is sorely missed.

  • I will definitely check it out. As I have always had a fascination with the soundtracks from those films as well. Thanks!

  • A Great Record! When I go to New Mexico I always have this on....

  • Oh yeah...I was there. Snuck in with fake i.d. at age 15 and actually hung with the band back stage. I remember Joe Nanini the drummer was super cool....688 was a killer place in the days...saw Dead Kennedy's and many other great shows there....

  • Isn't it ironic that Joe Nanini would return to Atlanta with his wife to live. And where he died in 2000. I used to frequent the bar in Toco Hills they did. Life is a full circle. This was one of my favorite bands of all time. Their sound was simply unique. It's too bad they never made it big.

  • I fully agree with you and I wish I knew why stan decided to leave the band, as they lost thier sound without him.Call of the west is one of the greatest albums of all time.And the other album theyput out DArk continent.very rare,I only dicovered it by looking through the album cover album#3 and it was NEVER sold in canada..but I fouond it in washington dc in 1987....cool

  • I used to be somebody, do you hear me!?

  • I would of killed like, 20 people, to be there

  • just psycho enough. great song, WOV's best. funny that the crowd ain't diggin it, and they paid to be there.

  • Esto se sale mazo. Cagon to lo voy a poner en mi carro para ir a Barraca.

  • Amén, hermano del otro lado del charco.

  • ...there's enough bite in the music that it remains satisfying two decades on. Stan Ridgway's and Wall Of Voodoo's Call of the West is that rare example of a new wave band scoring a fluke success with what was also their most satisfying album. All Music Guide (AMG)

  • I got into Stan Ridgway on Lonely Town. Driving back and forth from Las Vegas his Mosquitos was always in my player. Then I worked back, and found this. I agree. Ridgway really was Wall of Voodoo. His solo stuff might as well be. my 2 cents.

  • Wake up you stupid. Stan Ridgway has been making music and many songs and cds LONG after he left Wov. Its been 25 years. Stan is still making songs for us. And Ridgway's solo stuff might as well be WOV when you hear it. The band was dead after he left.

  • stan is the man. A better question: who the f--- are you?

  • i used to crus the old army road between mahukona and kapaa with my fiendish friend stalk of wheat and he just never got it back and forth forth and back i finally had to leave for the west but never got there

  • Just asw Stan Ridgway last Mon night in Mpls MN and he f-cking rocked! WOV was incredible this video proves it. WAY underrated band.....

  • Stan Ridgeway is an asshole.

  • This is just flat out a great song! WOV rock on!

  • Perhaps the most criminally underrated band ever. Nobody wrote a better soundtrack to the dark side of the American Dream.

  • souvenirs souvenirs, un grand merci!!!!!!

  • That is such an incredibly awesome song. It really captures the feel of living out West, in that space between the big cities.

  • yea, back in 1895

  • Saw them on this tour in Denver and they were AMAZING! This clip really captures the magic they had that night. Sadly we'll NEVER see anything like this again!

  • I actually DID see this show. . live.. at Club 688 that night. And, the next night too. I lived right down the street and walked to the show with my gf. 688 was a legendary showplace. . .for a hole-in-the-wall. Literally sitting on Spring St. REM made their career there. So did the B 52s. Anybody who was on the way up in the '80s played 688. But none better than Wall of Voo Doo. THE best show I ever saw there.

  • B-52's never played 688. I used to work there. I did see the WOV show.

  • Tell me stories....good shit man.

  • fantastic great

  • Could really be the greatest American Pop/Rock vid ever made. Really.

  • Looked at it a couple weeks regularly-biweeks for coffee-wrkin'- lamebranes -lookin' for tip-to -get enm-to the Kennedy Grad School,,,AND I DEDUCED I'M RIGHT....along with Soni Bono. He said: "What's the argument, they're ILLEGAL

  • sounds like snakes and arrows from the lyrxt's perspective

  • harshly awakened by the sound of six rounds of light

    caliber rifle fire followed minutes later by the booming of nine rounds

    from a heavier rifle, but you can't close off the wilderness. he heard

    the snick of a rifle bolt and found himself staring down the muzzle of a

    weapon held by a drunken liquor store owner. "there's a conflict," he

    said. BRILLIANCE!

  • Outstanding, I played this LP till the grooves no longer existed. Have to agree with JustAnotherPunk, Call of the West is the strongest track.

  • One of the Greatest Perfomances I have Ever Seen here on youtube. MM sounds and looks like the Gibson Flying V was invented for him. Not enough can be said about Ridgway (no e, huh?) and this band. Hoolywierd ate this band up and desrves all the punishment coming to it.

  • What atruly great artist this guy was, his group, everything about them, and how absolutlely they got quashed by the Powers That Be in the flurry. Truly one of the great American losses. 2 guys died on top of it.