English Pop: Wall of Voodoo's The Index Masters

Analogy time.

“Safety Dance” : Men Without Hats :: “Mexican Radio” : Wall of Voodoo

Folk of the 80’s (Part III) : Men Without Hats :: The Index Masters : Wall of Voodoo

When I heard Folk of the 80’s back in the 80’s, it mean realizing that Men Without Hats was more than a one-hit wonder. There was vision, substance, style, and growing body of work. Pop radio would never acknowledge that it went beyond “Safety Dance,” but let the record show—Men Without Hats was not a single single band.

While Wall of Voodoo may end up in the video cycle on VH1’s One-Hit Wonders/Where Are They Now?/Totally 80’s show, they were never a single single band either. Stan Ridgway and his crew crafted quirky, synth-bounced, odd vision music which shares much of that fat keys sound of Men Without Hats. While I pursued the albums behind “Safety Dance,” when it came to Wall of Voodoo, I never really looked to see that there was more than iguanas and Tijuana.

Now with Rykodisc’s reissue of The Index Masters, you can begin your research. The album collects the early recordings of Wall of Voodoo including early studio work and live recordings from a 1979 concert. This is before “Mexican Radio,” and it shows that Ridgway and Wall of Voodoo are on par with David Byrne and the Talking Heads’ angular punk that blasts out tunes from a place of make believe reflecting reality. There are strange characters and unsettling sounds—such as “Grandma’s House” with horror film-like keyboards and a constantly ringing telephone.

The album includes Wall of Voodoo’s incredible interpretation of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” with a New Wave keys vamp, plucked Western electric guitar, and Ridgway’s mainly spoken vocal. With the live tracks, you can almost imagine that you’re there pogoing, overjoyed to be a part of their strange world.

For the comparison with Men Without Hats, Wall of Voodoo lands with them in the English Pop category—encompassing that Eurorock quality.

Thanks to Stan Ridgway and Rykodisc for the review copy.