''Call of the West'' is the second studio album by

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single " Mexican Radio" became a hit on MTV and ...

, released in September 1982. The album contains "

Mexican Radio "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 S ...

", the group's most well-known song, which was released as a single and whose video received moderate airplay on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Critical reception

In a 1982 ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' review, Jon Young said, " ey're dealing in pure hokum, for sure, but Wall of Voodoo has become very good at it. Atmosphere is all in these muttered tales of desperation and weirdness, suggesting Devo on a bad trip of no return. But ''Call of the West'' doesn't repel; it's spooky halloweenish fun."

Track listing

All music composed by Wall of Voodoo. All lyrics composed by

Stan Ridgway Stanard "Stan" Ridgway (born April 5, 1954) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and film and television composer known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums. He was the original le ...

. ;Side one # "Tomorrow" – 3:03 # "Lost Weekend" – 4:59 # "Factory" – 5:33 # "Look at Their Way" – 3:18 # "Hands of Love" – 3:54 ;Side two # "

" – 4:11 # "Spy World" – 2:41 # "They Don't Want Me" – 4:31 # "On Interstate 15" – 2:44 # "Call of the West" – 5:59 *The original cassette release of the album features a bonus track called "Exercise" at the end of side one, following "Hands of Love". *In 2009, Australian label

Raven Records Raven Records was an Australian record label that specialised in retrospectives and reissues or recordings by American, British and Australian artists. Raven Records was established in 1979 by Glenn A. Baker, Kevin Mueller and Peter Shillito ...

reissued ''Call of the West'' and the first Wall of Voodoo album, '' Dark Continent'', together on one CD, featuring a full color booklet with liner notes by

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

. Both albums were digitally remastered.

Personnel

Wall of Voodoo *

Joe Nanini Oliver Joseph Nanini (1955 – December 4, 2000) was an American rock drummer, most famous for being the percussionist and a founding member of new wave group Wall of Voodoo during their heyday in the 1980s. He was known for playing with pots, ...

– percussion, drums, voice * Stanard Ridgway – vocals, words, harmonica, keyboards *Chas T. Gray – synthesizer, bass, backing vocals *

Marc Moreland Marc Moreland (January 8, 1958 – March 13, 2002) was an American rock musician. He was the former guitarist for rock band Wall of Voodoo, punk band The Skulls, and rock bands Pretty and Twisted and Department of Crooks. He also released a solo ...

– 6- and 12-string guitars Additional musicians *Louie Rivera – percussion *

Richard Mazda Richard Mazda (born 5 May 1955) is a record producer, writer, musician, actor and director. Music career Mazda was one of the co-founders of Poole punk/mod band Tours, singing and playing lead guitar. They signed to Virgin Records in 1979 afte ...

– rhythm machine programming, bass guitars Technical *Richard Mazda – producer *Jess Sutcliffe – engineer, mixing *Robert Battaglia – mixing *Avi Kipper – mixing *Frank De Luna – mastering *Stanard Ridgway – cover concept, design *Scott Lindgren – cover concept * Francis Delia – design, photography *Paul Peterson – production design *

Stephen Sayadian Stephen Sayadian, also known as Rinse Dream, is a multi-talented artist who was active in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the advertising creative director for Larry Flynt Publications and an acclaimed art director & production designer responsible f ...

, Genny Schorr – styling *Carl Grasso – art direction, layout *Marc Moreland – printing

Charts

Album Singles

References

External links

Raven Records page for ''Dark Continent''/''Call of the West''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Call Of The West Wall of Voodoo albums 1982 albums I.R.S. Records albums Illegal Records albums Albums produced by Richard Mazda