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Wall of Voodoo returns

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Aloha all

If there are any Wall of Voodoo fans lurking around here you might be interested to know they are performing, or at least what’s left of them.
7 p.m. July 18, at the Pacific Amphitheatre' in Orange County, I think its part of the fairgrounds there but don’t quote me.

Any band that used Tikis as stage props in the late 70’s can’t be all bad!

Bosko

Stan Ridgeway WOV or Andy Prieboy WOV?

either way....Marc Moreland RIP--actually the drummer too Joe P

hmmmm--it COULD be OK

TM

Great band!

I like their "ring of fire" even better then JC's..

H

On 2006-07-11 13:52, bb moondog wrote:
Stan Ridgeway WOV or Andy Prieboy WOV?

Stan Ridgeway.

M

*Any band that used Tikis as stage props in the late 70’s can’t be all bad!
*

Wall of Voodooo? Only the best band, sort of, ever!

A precondition to me marrying is that at the ceremony, the room goes black, a small red spotlight hits stage front, and WOV's "Ring of Fire" is played, at like "11". It's non-negotiable. I love Moreland's guitar in that one. Needless to say, I remain a swinging bachelor, sort of.

I thought about flying to So Cal to see this show, but it's too much nostalgia, too far gone, too many down.

Stan Ridgeway is a songwriting genius, though. He's a tiki fiend, too.

Can't Make Love,
midnite

WOW---that is kinda interesting---reviving the Voodoo stuff instead of the solo career--hmmmmm

where is Prieboy? Happy Planet is kinda the apex of his WOV stint--but he was always kinda a Ridgeway clone
albeit with heavy metal hair

T

What the??????? Can anyone give me more info on this?

Opening for Cyndi Lauper?

http://www.ocfair.com/ocf/AboutUs/PressRelease/ViewPressRelease.asp?PRelId=89

[ Edited by: King Bushwich the 33rd 2006-07-12 08:44 ]

T

OK - I got very excited when I read this, but it seems that it is only Stan Ridgway... and paired with Cyndi Lauper! Huh????

I found this:
http://www.wallofvoodoo.com/NewForum/read.php?2,99

but haven't the time to do any more research. Anyone else know if the few other surviving members are in the line up? Spermy, I'm looking at you!

:music: :music: Here I am in
Tijuana
Eating barbecued Iguana
I'm on a Mexican
Radiooo :music: :music:

MT

On 2006-07-11 20:21, midnite_tiki wrote:
I thought about flying to So Cal to see this show, but it's too much nostalgia, too far gone, too many down.

And it's also more than two miles from the midnite_tiki cave on curvy Lombard St. Farther even than Alameda!

T

I hope they come up here someday soon! I saw them open for the Psychedelic Furs at the Whiskey-a-Go-Go in 1980. It was a great show on a Friday so we went back on Saturday and saw it again.

Later I saw them at the Adams Avenue Theatre in San Diego. I was chatting with the band after the show and they told me they had to drive all the way to Phoenix that night. So I gave them some "candy" to keep them awake!

Stan Ridgway is turning out to be one of the great American songwriters far as I'm concerned. I've seen him and his band about ten times in the last couple of years--his wife Petra's stuff is great too and they work tremendously well together.

His recent album "Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads and Fugitive Songs" is perfect brilliance. To me he's getting right up there with Dylan, Cash and Guthrie, and it annoys me rather than he's still not reaching as wide of a fan base. Mostly I'm annoyed on his behalf, though, 'cause it's nice to still be able to walk up and chat with him after a show. :wink: Apparently he still digs tiki stuff, btw. He may EVEN lurk around here--who knows? :lol:

Anyway--I'm sorry I had to miss the WAV show...maybe some other time?...

And, for those of you who dig all things PIRATICAL, note that Ridgway's gonna be on a new CD of old pirate songs and sea shanties, co-produced by Johnny Depp. It's called "Rogue's Gallery"--"Rogue's Gallery official press release now available!
Epitaph / Anti Records: http://www.anti.com/news.php?id=184

Wednesday July 21, 2006

GORE VERBINSKI, JOHNNY DEPP AND HAL WILLNER
JOIN FORCES WITH ANTI RECORDS FOR THE AUGUST 22 RELEASE:
"ROGUE'S GALLERY: PIRATE BALLADS, SEA SONGS & CHANTEYS"

BONO, STING, LOU REED, BRYAN FERRY, JOHN C. REILLY, RICHARD THOMPSON, LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III, STAN RIDGWAY, LUCINDA WILLIAMS ARE AMONG THE DIVERSE ARTISTS ON THIS TRULY EXTRAORDINARY COLLECTION

"The ocean. It's all about the vast blue that engulfs two thirds of the planet. The human being cast against that abyss creates an interesting bit of perspective. I think the sailors of the time were dancing with death, and these were their tunes. They resonate with people on some internal level that is not immediately obvious because it's not in our memory, it's in our blood. It operates on a cellular level. It's what makes us feel so alone."
--Gore Verbinski

Film director GORE VERBINSKI, actor JOHNNY DEPP and music producer HAL WILLNER have joined forces with ANTI RECORDS for the truly extraordinary two-CD set ROGUE'S GALLERY: PIRATE BALLADS, SEA SONGS & CHANTEYS. Due out August 22, the collection is filled with contemporary reinterpretations of songs from a genre of music that has all but disappeared. BONO, STING, NICK CAVE, BRYAN FERRY, LOU REED, LUCINDA WILLIAMS, LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III, RICHARD THOMPSON, STAN RIDGWAY, GAVIN FRIDAY, VAN DYKE PARKS, ANDREA CORR and RUFUS WAINWRIGHT are only a few of the distinguished artists who turn in uncompromising and honest performances that illuminate the power of traditional sea songs.

The idea for ROGUE'S GALLERY originated when Verbinski and Depp were working on their second film together, the upcoming Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. "I slowly became fascinated by the idea of a contemporary reinterpretation of the sea chantey," explains Verbinski. "I imagined the artists that I listen to and respect doing their take on this age-old music: the song of the sea."

Verbinski then "described the project in detail to my old friend Brett Gurewitz (owner of Epitaph and Anti) who immediately understood its wondrous and strange potential. I also asked Johnny Depp if it might be something that he would like to be involved with. He has a great musical aesthetic, and as my partner in the films, his opinion is one I value. I've always believed Johnny is a musician first and the actor thing is just his day job. We met with Brett and put together a list of artists that we intended to go after, but were immediately confounded with the question: who would produce? Who would be mad enough to take this on?"

The project took shape when Hal Willner became "the captain of this vessel," says Verbinski. "From that germinating withering pubic hair of an idea, Hal set sail and returned with what you hear today. He did everything." Willner brought his knack for matching maverick musicians with extraordinary material to the project, as shown on his best-selling Disney tribute album Stay Awake and his acclaimed tributes to Kurt Weill, Charles Mingus, Nino Rota and others.

"When I was asked to do the album, I went into a world I didn't know--which is what appealed to me," says Willner. Immersing himself in antique bookstores, eBay, old record stores, and the Internet for hours and hours, Willner collected some 600 songs and then went about narrowing the song selection down for the album. In March 2006, the recordings began--and the process was joyously freewheeling.

"We were just crawling around, just seeing who was around," he explains. "The Akron/Family was rehearsing, so we recorded them. And then we found Baby Gramps. And that's kind of how we worked all over. We'd go up to London or Dublin or to New York and L.A., with just a sketch and one or two things planned. And then we got on the phone. Most of the time people just came into the studio. We picked a song, and they went for it. Basically there were a number of house bands: one in London, one in Dublin, one in New York, two separate ones in L.A., one in Seattle. We would camp and people would come in and leave or join in for the whole day. One day we did eight songs with eight different artists. Two of those artists didn't know they were going to be in the studio that day. I just loved working this way because you wouldn't do that with an artist normally."

Asked about the Sting contribution "Blood Red Roses," Willner says, "He was totally natural for this subject. He comes from Newcastle. He grew up hearing these things--it's interesting how you hear a lot of little Beatles melodies in these songs. You know, Liverpool was a big port, and Australia and Maui and Cape Cod. Sting grew up with a lot of these songs, as did John C. Reilly. So he just came over to the studio, I gave him some songs and he just jumped into the process."

60 songs were recorded for ROGUE'S GALLERY; 43 appear on the album. "Hopefully, there will be a volume two. I have half of it recorded already." Willner says: "I came to age in the late sixties and early seventies of variety shows and concept records. I look at these records like you're eating a full meal. There's always your entrée, your vegetable that you don't like but it's good for you. And you want to cover it all. You need to establish the unknown, the famous, the obscure. Usually in the past I've always found that the secret weapons on these records are any new artists because you're coming at it without expectations. And there's other people that you've heard for years--but on that side it goes to another level."

Willner is now anxious for others to discover the enchanting mystery of ROGUE'S GALLERY. "Obviously I want people to love it the way I do," he says. "I would hope that it works on a level where they just want to go and close their eyes and have an experience--and come out of it the same way I came out of it, wanting to hear more. Put this record in your collection as a classic--that was Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp's idea."

Proud of what all of the artists have brought to the album, Verbinski says that the "recordings are vibrant, inspired, rough hewn, and imperfect in that way that only perfection achieves."

ROGUE'S GALLERY has a perfect home on Anti, the Epitaph Record-affiliated label known for releasing albums by classic renegade artists like Merle Haggard, Tom Waits and Nick Cave. Says Willner: "I think this was the original punk music in an odd way. You can hear it in songs like 'Bully in the Alley' and 'A Drop of Nelson's Blood.' It's there."

The complete ROGUE'S GALLERY track listing is as follows:

CD 1

  1. Cape Cod Girls - Baby Gramps
  2. Mingulay Boat Song - Richard Thompson
  3. My Son John - John C. Reilly
  4. Fire Down Below - Nick Cave
  5. Turkish Revelry - Loudon Wainwright III
  6. Bully In The Alley - Three Pruned Men
  7. The Cruel Ship's Captain - Bryan Ferry
  8. Dead Horse - Robin Holcomb
  9. Spanish Ladies - Bill Frisell
  10. High Barbary - Joseph Arthur
  11. Haul Away Joe - Mark Anthony Thompson
  12. Dan Dan - David Thomas
  13. Blood Red Roses - Sting
  14. Sally Brown - Teddy Thompson
  15. Lowlands Away - Rufus Wainwright & Kate McGarrigle
  16. Baltimore Whores - Gavin Friday
  17. Rolling Sea - Eliza Carthy
  18. The Mermaid - Martin Carthy & the UK Group
  19. Haul On The Bowline - Bob Neuwirth
  20. Dying Sailor to His Shipmates - Bono
  21. Bonnie Portmore - Lucinda Williams
  22. Shenandoah - Richard Greene & Jack Shit
  23. The Cry Of Man - Mary Margaret O'Hara

CD 2

  1. Boney - Jack Shit
  2. Good Ship Venus - Loudon Wainwright III
  3. Long Time Ago - White Magic
  4. Pinery Boy - Nick Cave
  5. Lowlands Low - Bryan Ferry w/Antony
  6. One Spring Morning - Akron/Family
  7. Hog Eye Man - Martin Carthy & family
  8. The Fiddler/A Drop of Nelson's Blood - Ricky Jay & Richard Greene
  9. Caroline and Her Young Sailor Bold - Andrea Corr
  10. Fathom The Bowl - John C. Reilly
  11. Drunken Sailor - David Thomas
  12. Farewell Nancy - Ed Harcourt
  13. Hanging Johnny - Stan Ridgway
  14. Old Man of The Sea - Baby Gramps
  15. Greenland Whale Fisheries - Van Dyke Parks
  16. Shallow Brown - Sting
  17. The Grey Funnel Line - Jolie Holland
  18. A Drop of Nelson's Blood - Jarvis Cocker
  19. Leave Her Johnny - Lou Reed
  20. Little Boy Billy - Ralph Steadman"

Yum. Barbecued iguana.

--tikivixen

T

Wall of Voodoo!
December 2nd., 2006
Slim's
San Francisco
tickets go on sale starting Sunday, August 20th.!

On 2006-07-12 12:52, Jungle Trader wrote:

:music: :music: Here I am in
Tijuana
Eating barbecued Iguana
I'm on a Mexican
Radiooo :music: :music:

JT, how'd you know that's my fave Wall of Voodoo song (Ring Of Fire off an earlier EP running close 2nd). I went to see them in 1980 at a downtown bar here called the Zebra Club. It was a good show. A freind of mine I went with (Terry Marine) hated them and dubbed the band "Ball of DooDoo"! I thought that was a little harsh.

I saw them ( or part of a show) at the Cuckoo's Nest a while back. What I remember, they didn't fit in to well at that venue. Something about a car and a 2 story drop?

But that was then and this is now. Missed them at the Fair but saw Rollins and X.

On 2006-08-12 16:34, Shipwreckjoey wrote:

On 2006-07-12 12:52, Jungle Trader wrote:

:music: :music: Here I am in
Tijuana
Eating barbecued Iguana
I'm on a Mexican
Radiooo :music: :music:

JT, how'd you know that's my fave Wall of Voodoo song (Ring Of Fire off an earlier EP running close 2nd). I went to see them in 1980 at a downtown bar here called the Zebra Club. It was a good show. A freind of mine I went with (Terry Marine) hated them and dubbed the band "Ball of DooDoo"! I thought that was a little harsh.

Cuz I just knew it Wreck. It's actually,
"Wish I was in
Tiajuana" but who cares. OH AND, while lip synching this song, you must turn your mouth sideways, (to the side of your face). Yeah, now try it in the mirror.
I would love to see these guys in S.F. Somebody remind me or just buy me 2 tickets please. Jab?

[ Edited by: Jungle Trader 2006-08-13 19:16 ]

T

On 2006-08-12 16:34, Shipwreckjoey wrote:

A freind of mine I went with (Terry Marine) hated them and dubbed the band "Ball of DooDoo"! I thought that was a little harsh.

That describes Terry Marine in those days perfectly: little and harsh! Until he became a nice guy and put out the zine "Be My Friend" anyway.

The Jab is buying tickets to the S.F. show. If you want to go with us, send him or me a PM.

T

On 2006-08-18 07:56, Jungle Trader wrote:
The Jab is buying tickets to the S.F. show. If you want to go with us, send him or me a PM.

You can buy tickets at virtuous.com for a $3 fee for each ticket, or the way I do it is go to Slim's web site and print out their fax order from (PDF file) and fax in a credit card order for a $2 fee for each ticket.

http://slims-sf.com

Oh, so there's just general seating. No assigned seats? Cool, then that means it must be a smaller more intimate venue.

T

On 2006-08-18 13:39, Jungle Trader wrote:
Oh, so there's just general seating. No assigned seats? Cool, then that means it must be a smaller more intimate venue.

No seats, period. But it's fairly easy to get close to the stage.

T

You realize this is Stan Ridgway with his backup band, calling himself "Wall of Voodoo", right? I love Stans solo stuff, but I think it's a bit disingenuous to claim himself and non-WOV musicians as WOV. There are at least 2 original members still living, and a few others from the post Stan era - I think it would be a bit more honest to call this "Stan Ridgway performs the songs of WOV"...

Just my two cents!

T

On 2006-08-21 07:06, Tangaroa wrote:
You realize this is Stan Ridgway with his backup band, calling himself "Wall of Voodoo", right? I love Stans solo stuff, but I think it's a bit disingenuous to claim himself and non-WOV musicians as WOV. There are at least 2 original members still living, and a few others from the post Stan era - I think it would be a bit more honest to call this "Stan Ridgway performs the songs of WOV"...

I did not know that and just assumed it was a reunion. I must admit I'm disappointed. According to the WOV myspace page the surviving members were asked to participate but I'm skeptical and wonder why none of them agreed to it. In any case, I'm still looking forward to hearing a Wall of Voodoo set by his current band, but it's not going to be like a real reunion, like the amazing recent shows by the Weirdos, Mission of Burma, and DEVO.

T

Now I'm pissed off! Slim's calendar is showing it as Stan Ridgeway, not as Wall of Voodoo. I mean I like Stan Ridgeway and would go to see him but I paid $25 expecting a Wall of Voodoo reunion show!

Maybe Stan was getting a bunch of gruf from disgruntled fans when they found out it wasn't going to be a real WOV reunion show, so he changed the booking.

see ya New Years Jabster.
Jeff(bigtikidude)

T

For sale: two tickets to Stan Ridgeway show at Slim's in San Francisco, this Saturday, Dec. 2nd. The tickets cost me $27 each including service charges. Make me an offer for one or both.

I have will-call tickets so I can't send the ticket to you - you will have to meet me at the venue on Saturday night.

Send me a PM if you want them.

[ Edited by: thejab 2006-11-27 16:06 ]

I'm on a Mexican radio...ooh ooh...Mexican radio.....love WOV, glad to hear they are in action again. :)

Jab, were you able to turn those tickets around?

Jab and I went. The tickets said WOV w/Stan Ridgway. We stayed for maybe 4 songs then decided to go see The Plimsouls. Much better, more energy.

Can we get a report from freelance writer midnite?
What did we miss?

Pages: 1 30 replies