B-side "Call of the West" Recorded 1982 | Released 1983 Label IRS Records | |
Genre New wave, dark wave, post-punk, alternative rock Length 4:08 (album version)
3:56 (radio and music video version) | ||
"Mexican Radio" is a song written and performed by the band Wall of Voodoo, and produced by Richard Mazda. The track was initially made commercially available on their 1982 album Call of the West, and was released as a single in early 1983. In their native US, the song was a modest hit, peaking at no. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was a bigger hit in other parts of the world, peaking at no. 18 in Canada, no. 21 in New Zealand and no. 33 in Australia. It also reached no. 64 in the UK.
Contents
Background
Wall of Voodoo lead singer and player of organ, synthesizer and harmonica, Stan Ridgway and guitarist Marc Moreland traced the inspiration for the song to listening to high-wattage unregulated AM Mexican radio stations (among them XERF, XEG, and XERB).
Moreland was the first to begin writing the song, which 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". Moreland stated when he played it for his mother she hated it because of his repetitious lyrics. Ridgway co-wrote with Moreland to finish the song, and added all the verse's 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 years.
The 7" single mix differs in a few areas from the album cut:
It was rumored that Wall of Voodoo drummer Joe Nanini was very difficult to work with at times in the studio when the band were recording their 1982 album, Call of the West, on which "Mexican Radio" appeared. On "Mexican Radio" in particular, it has been said that Nanini was a little upset when Richard Mazda suggested a snare drum hit on the chorus of the song. Nanini ultimately refused to cooperate, leading Mazda to recording the snare part himself, and with the band's acceptance the snare appeared in the final mix of the song.
7" single
Side A
- "Mexican Radio" - 3:55
Side B
- "Call of the West" - 6:00
Two Songs by Wall of Voodoo 12" single
Side A
- "Mexican Radio" - 3:55
Side B
- "There's Nothing on This Side" - 10:08
1989 mini CD reissue
- "Mexican Radio" - 3:55
- "Tomorrow" - 2:43
- "Call of the West" - 5:35
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 named him to direct the video. The video's fast cutting, impressionistic dark images and faux documentary style in Mexico made it one of the most popular clips in MTV history to that point in time. Iconic images include a morbidly obese woman (Ann Marie Bates), uncovering a large bowl of baked beans from which the face of Stan Ridgway emerges. The Los Angeles studio photography which was done in one nearly 24 hour span 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 music video was in heavy rotation on MTV throughout 1983.
Cover versions
Arizona-based punk rock band Authority Zero featured a cover version on their 2004 album Andiamo with slightly modified lyrics; for instance, "They talk about the U.S. inflation" was replaced with "They talk about the Iraq invasion".
Kinky, a Mexican electronic/rock band from Monterrey Mexico has covered this song as well. They kept the upbeat rhythm of the song with their own electronic twist and added some lyrics in Spanish. This version is in their album Reina De Lujo, and their Sassy EP, and also is featured in Need for Speed Undercover.
Bruce Lash gave the song the bossa nova treatment on his 2004 album, "Prozak for Lovers II" which also includes easy-listening versions of Nirvana's "Lithium" and Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" among others.
Mike Keneally has played the song in live concerts with his band, Beer for Dolphins.
The intro synthesizer was sampled by the hip-hop group Cannibal Ox in the song "Iron Galaxy".
Atlanta-based band doubleDrive covered the song as a hidden track in their 1000 Yard Stare album.
Swiss metal band Celtic Frost have also covered the song. They put it as the first song on their third album Into the Pandemonium.
South Park Mexican has a somewhat different version of the song, keeping the chorus more or less intact, but writing a completely new set of verses.
The math rock band Polvo contributed a cover of the song to Tannis Root Presents: Freedom of Choice, a 1992 sampler to benefit Planned Parenthood.
A first-person rendition ("I'm a Mexican / On the radio") appears on the album Graciasland by El Vez, known as the "Mexican Elvis" or the "Thin Brown Duke".
French band Nouvelle Vague, who specialise in bossa nova covers of New Wave tracks, performed this song live in London on November 25, 2006.
Dutch band Gruppo Sportivo covered the song on their 1987 album Back to 19 Mistakes.
Austin, Texas band Vallejo covered the song on their album Stereo in 2002.