I got into Dog Police a few years ago because of this video and genuinely found their music was great. Truly recommend listening to the rest of that album
I also take issue with the way he refers to the song in this video - It should always be introduced as "The song Dog Police, by the band Dog Police, off their only album; Dog Police".
I've been huge into Wall Of Voodoo for years and years, they're easily my favourite band. So, I thought it would be really interesting how you analyzed Mexican Radio! But I got far more than I bargained for. I almost died. Because of this video, I discovered "Dog Police." Because I discovered "Dog Police" while eating dinner, I went into a fit of laughter, and inhaled a piece of potato. My fiance had to give me back blows to dislodge it, and I was near to losing consciousness. I now have to go on living with the fact that I almost choked to death because of DOG POLICE.
Okay I think I finally know what this song is about. It's about his SONG being on a mexican radio. Not an illegal one, like an actual mexican radio in spanish. His bandmate went to mexico and heard them, and now he's desperately trying to find the radio station that played it. He's listening late at night, because he's apparently on the airwaves, and is calling all the mexican radios requesting his band, but he can't understand a thing they're saying in spanish. It gets to the point he even listens to talk radio, just in the mere hope of finding his song.
I lived in San Diego at the time, and I always understood the song as such. People who’ve never lived in Southern California, don’t realize there were both English and Spanish language radio and TV stations across the border in México, but even the channels further down the coast and inland had extra reach too. A certain percentage of content was in Spanish by law, often in the evening when listenership was low but and coverage was improved due to atmospheric conditions. I have fond memories of crappy 70’s shows like The Love Boat playing late at night dubbed in Spanish and all sorts of odd music and talk shows in Spanish, and at the time I didn’t understand most of it, but it was kinda mesmerizing.
I’m pretty sure you’re partly correct I think he’s talking about bootleg Mexican radio stations that were on the border of the US and had crazy high powered equipment and would just have a strong enough signal to hear across the border
This song is about picking up am radio frequencies from Mexico. Am broadcast reflects off the atmosphere and can travel very far distances. On clear nights you can pick up am radio stations from hundreds of kilometers away. He is listening to overlapping Mexican/US broadcasts, and he’s hearing something he’s never heard before as different songs overlap with each other. He also makes a reference to listening to am talk radio with mariachi playing over the top. The music is written to reflect the sound he is hearing. Whether or not the song is good, it’s incredibly brilliant.
Some of those stations broadcast at absurdly high wattage and were termed a "border blaster". XERA broadcast from Villa Acuña, which was just over the border from Del Rio, Texas, but could be heard from LA to New York and, under perfect conditions, all the way in Europe. It broadcast at something like 250,000 watts where as most modern FM stations broadcast at 100,000 watts.
As somebody from the future I can say that he still hasn't done Dog Police, sadly. That's probably more down to a lack of information about them--somebody mentioned in another comment thread that Dog Police doesn't even have a wikipedia article or Allmusic profile. That last isn't technically true--they have a profile, it just doesn't have anything on it. Maybe Todd could make some kind of anthology OHW episode, where he talks about a bunch of different bands that he'd tried to make videos about, but there just wasn't enough information
From what I recall at the time (Yes, I saw Dog Police on MTV when it was current) the song and video were entered as part of a contest called Basement Tapes. Bands would cut their own videos and send them in, MTV would play them opposite other entries and people could call in to vote for the best ones. Dog Police did not win. But I don't remember who actually did win whereas I've never forgotten the hook from Dog Police, largely because it's a reference to the old theme song they used to play on Electric Company when they'd do Spider Man sketches.
So, as someone who IS quite a fan of Wall Of Voodoo, I just felt like somethings have to be added here. First off, they released two albums and 1 EP before Stan quit, and the second was the one that contained "Mexican Radio". As someone who has listened to their entire discography, I can honestly say that "Mexican Radio" doesn't fit in that well with the rest of their work. You are very correct in that it does have ties to the whole guerrilla radio thing going on right across the border, which helped their first album even a little. Because, nothing on their first album ever had a chance at normal radio due to it's dark themes and sometimes foul language. Their first album, "Dark Continent" is incredibly dark, and the cover of "Ring of Fire" is NOT on it. What is on that album is a collection of depression, for all purposes. There's songs like "Tse Tse Fly" about getting human sleeping sickness, "Full Of Tension" about stress, "Two Minutes 'Till Lunch" which is a story of a man having a conversation with his SO on the telephone at work, only for the song to end in the sounds of explosions and sirens. Perhaps the most famous song on it is "Back In Flesh", which was featured in the New Wave/Punk Rock film "URGH! A Music War". The song quite literally sounds like a zombie blathering out things, specifically how much he hates going to work. The song ends with Stan screaming at his boss "YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO" and the boss yelling back "HEY, THEN FUCK YOU!" (This is true on the album cut, but it was changed to "HEY, SCREW YOU" in URGH!). Musically and lyrically, they still sound totally unique, a combo of western and new wave, just MUCH darker in both aspects then "Mexican Radio". The second album "Call Of The West" is nowhere near as dark. A VERY quick check on discogs can show that the song "Call of The West" was never released as the second single from the album, but "On Interstate 15" was. "On Interstate 15" is an instrumental, and I think it was released as the single because Stan didn't want any more commitment to the band and didn't want to risk the second single also being a hit. The title track "Call Of The West" was the B side to "On Interstate 15", although people probably thought it was a mistake and was meant to be the A side since it WASN'T the instrumental. Also, "Mexican Radio is still by far the chirpiest ditty on "Call Of The West", so if you buy either album with Stan Ridgeway on it, expect more mature themes and harsh tones, not more Mexican Radio. On that note, "Mexican Radio" may have gotten a better spot than 58 in all, it's not totally sure what it really charted. I.R.S. released three separate versions of "Mexican Radio" as a single at the same time, and I believe at least two of them were in the top 100 at the exact same time, but it's not entirely clear due to how dicey the records are in the early 80s. But if that is the case, the 58 position wouldn't be the greatest indicator of how much airplay it truly received. The second album includes quite a few longer narrative songs like Ridgeway became more popular for besides "Call Of The West", where the subjects vary from not having a job and drifting across the country to beating your wife because you're fed up with your factory job. I would say that these first two albums are the best of Wall Of Voodoo, although 2cd singer Andy Prieboy came up with some pretty cool stuff as a solo artist, including writing a song that would be covered by Concrete Blonde called "Tomorrow Wendy". If you want more, I suggest getting the Raven Records re-mastered "Wall Of Voodoo" set, which includes both of their first albums on one CD. It's fairly cheap on Amazon, but the single "Mexican Radio" doesn't do a very good job of showing what they normally sounded like. Get it because they sounded truly unique compared to any other New Wave act out there.
I think Call of the West is one of the most underrated albums of the entire New Wave era. Kinda feel like Todd sold the band short here, but maybe that's just my own taste talking -- to me their sense of irony isn't very far from Devo's.
Wall of Voodoo is so great. I saw Stan Ridgway live a few years back and he played "Look at Their Way" in exactly the same fashion as on COTW. The entire concert was outstanding.
the Stanard era WOV is some of the greatest most unique music ever made in my opinion. and the song call of the west i consider one of the most brilliant things ive ever heard. DARK CONTINENT would be one of my desert island discs.
@@JimmySteller I love how Sabaton cut obvious stuff out, keeping the rouge of legit song about this gentle giant type of guy who's pretty good at camouflage for as long as plausible. Making the listener feel rather strange things about "Oh, he was dead" part.
@@denisdrozdoff2926 I actually prefer the original version and wish Sabaton had left in the little monologue bit, but I never thought of it that way. It never ceases to amaze me how two people can experience the same thing in two different ways.
hi Todd, little chance you'll ever see this, but anyways, i caught this video a while back. and i became intrigued. i listened to the song on youtube... a lot, and i really dug it. a few weeks later i happened upon a cd of Wall of Voodoo in a weird small store for $3 and snatched it up, and it's amazing. i know it doesn't do much for you, but goddamn, it has the perfect amount of weirdness for me. i love the uniqueness of their sound. i've since been listening my way through Stan's solo material, and while they don't do much for you, thank you for introducing me to this band. i seriously enjoy this stuff immensely.
I don't know how you can't like this song. Even just a little bit. It's too weird to be taken seriously, and it's just catchy enough to remember. It's bold and creative and I kind of admire it for that.
@@josephhigares744 I think his instincts are usually on-target even though I disagree with him on this one, Toni Basil's "Mickey," and a few others. However, my taste in music is far more inclusive than his. He'd have no patience for some of the stuff I listen to. A couple years ago I even purchased a copy of Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" just cause of its reputation for being one of the most unlistenable things ever, but it turns out that it's been a big influence on various genres of music or at least anticipated them to some degree: punk, hip hop, electronica, avant garde, etc. My Bloody Valentine took the general idea behind that album and turned it into something people WOULD listen to, so there's that. One Hit Wonderland is a great series, but I'd love to see another one covering songs that deserved to be hits but didn't even come close to being heard by the masses, and I don't think Todd would be willing to dig that deep. So no "Egyptian Shumba" or "Tropical Hot Dog Night" or anything like that. There are artists from my hometown of Sacramento (other than Cake) who have recorded some awesome songs like Anton Barbeau, Agent Ribbons, Knock Knock, Dog Party, Baby Grand, Kepi Ghoulie, etc. It makes me wonder just how much great music is out there that we never get to hear cause the musicians responsible for them never got their big break. It's so frustrating to me that Rebecca Black's "Friday" has gotten millions of views on RUclips BECAUSE it sucks while Anton Barbeau's "Milk Churn in the Morning" is ignored despite being a significantly better pop song.
@@arturoregalado6127 CF is my fave band but I love both versions, I think their version is boosted by the originals existence and the vast changes they made like down to the chords and melodies being similar but not the same
He did do some voice acting. I think he did voices of the incidental characters in an episode of one of the Justice League animated series. He also did a (possibly a few?) album(s) for kids.
Raven Records did a remastered set of both "Dark Continent" and "Call Of The West" on one CD (their first two albums, and the only two full albums with Stan Ridgeway). It's fairly cheap on the interwebz. They also released the three Andy Prieboy albums on a 2 CD set.
fury Oh I see. I thought you were saying you were familiar with Dog Police but not Wall of Voodoo. Either way, you should check out Stan Ridgway's solo work in the 80s.
Wall Of Voodoo guitarist Marc Moreland was the subject of Concrete Blonde's lone Top 40 hit, "Joey." Quite possibly the saddest and most gut-wrenching hit song ever, and Marc passed away 12 years after the song was released (you know you have a drinking problem when a song about you drinking yourself to death comes out a decade before you actually died of an alcohol-related illness).
@@judgesaturn507 British new wave were BRitish... who'd a thought. New wave was not an exclusive genre to the British but yes, most of it was from the UK. But there were some American... like Talking Heads, Blondie, Devo, The Cars, B-52's, The Pretenders, to name a few.
@@MedalionDS9 The Pretenders formed in England, and while Chrissie Hynde was originally from Akron Ohio, she had been living and working in London since 1973 - to me their New Wave roots are British, unlike the others you mentioned.
@@kevintyerman1906British New Wave is British, and most likely came from them first but they didn't own the genre... there were american bands who played that style in their own way.
Just to add on when regarding Devo being mentioned in this video: Wall of Voodoo used to open for the band during their "Oh No, it's Devo!" tour. Jerry Casale decided to imitate Stan Ridgeway when singing on "Beautiful World" as form of tribute to him. The other two most notable occasions where the band used the Cowboy motif were the music video for "Come Back Jonee" and the song "Big Mess".
Fun fact: Wall of Voodoo actually opened for Devo on Halloween in 1982 when they did their glitch-ridden 3-DEVO broadcast. The Devo connection doesn't stop there, though. Both bands have a song inspired by John Hinckley Jr. ("Far Side of Crazy" and "I Desire") and Jerry Casale was supposedly affecting a bit of Stan Ridgway when he sang "Beautiful World" on the New Traditionalists album. Supposedly Bob Casale (rhythm guitarist/keyboardist for Devo) baked the dish of beans that Ridgway popped out of in the "Mexican Radio" video.
@@pigfish99 I've noticed one other layer to "Dare to be Stupid" recently. Even though the song is mostly in the vein of Oh, No! It's DEVO songs like "Big Mess", "Out of Sync", and "Deep Sleep", the main riff shares its first notes in common with a Frank Zappa song: it's in the Apostrophe medley where it segues into "Father O'Blivion". If you slow that guitar riff down, you have DTBS. 😝
I am in Australia, and it got airplay here, but I had no idea how lowly it charted. I love this song and "Far Side of Crazy" from the Prieboy era (as well as "Tomorrow Wendy" by Andy Prieboy / Concrete Blonde). Stan Ridgway's solo work never did it for me, but probably charted a bit better here than Wall of Voodoo.
Ok, the thing about Wall of Voodoo that you kind of referenced is that they are VERY Californian. Songs like Mexican Radio speak to us, especially us out in the Inland Empire and North County area of San Diego, on a very deep level. To this day the best terrestrial radio stations here are Mexican broadcast. I guess this proves very strongly that taste is both subjective and regional. On a side not the Swedish Power Metal band Sabatons new album has a fantastic cover of "Camouflage" on it. Love from a sun baked cookie cutter home wedged between The 215 and the The 15.
I always had the impression the song dealt with an American technician working at a border blaster station, getting high to deal with his boredom and loneliness.
It's been 6-7 years since I watched this and every now again, usually in the dead of night when I'm struggling to fall asleep, my brain randomly conjures up that small snippet of Dog Police by Dog Police. Todd, the absolute madman that he is, just played that in a completely unrelated video, implied his interest to do an episode on it and just never mentioned it again. I'm still waiting, Todd. 20 years from now, I'll still be waiting if I have to.
i love wall of voodoo. it’s a shame that Todd didn’t feel it imo. The dark continent is such a mint album. i have always actually liked Stan’s voice. He is a little like an American Frank Tovey imo.
You keep saying DEVO is the big American New Wave band but you keep forgetting TALKING HEADS! Probably one of the most successful New Wave bands of all time and they were from New York
That Ring of Fire cover, while still having Devo on the brain, very much reminds me of Devo's Satisfaction cover. As in it's a very unique take on a song which was very different before.
Both really influenced by the Residents, whom they both opened for. Ring of Fire and Satisfaction make even more sense when seen through the lens of the Residents’ cover of It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World
I was surprised by that myself. It's actually a good song and fits with Ridgeway's soundtrack work. Was it actually a hit? If so that might hurt the "one hit wonder" status as Ridgeway was Wall of Voodoo for many people. Also I like Camouflage.
Otaking Mikohani He had an entire great solo career, but given the only things you know about him are The Police and Spyro I’m guessing you aren’t into music enough to have heard it (it didn’t really ever take off outside of his already built demographic of Police diehards).
Came here just to mention this song, which is fantastic -- (promo video -- ruclips.net/video/8j6Tln0lN0c/видео.html ) (better sound/full song -- ruclips.net/video/6gJtG5NC9kU/видео.html ) Here also is an excellent example of Ridgway's storytelling style; great track -- ruclips.net/video/p7iARb-JpaY/видео.html
Stan Ridgway has been quite prolific over the decades. His song, "Talk Hard," which was featured in Pump Up The Volume in 1990, didn't see the light of day and a proper release until 2018! Great song, great songwriter; he DEFINITELY deserved better.
Marc Moreland was a very interesting guitarist. You can hear the surf/spy/spaghetti western influence in every thing he plays in addition to some really intersting, almost atonal chord work. He remains an inspiration to me to this day.
Ok I'm from Mexico and I didn't even know iguana meat is part of my culture. The irony of my ignorance is that iguana meat is a big deal in Jalisco -the state of Mexico I'm from.
Ya no se come abiertamente iguana debido que, al menos de la parte donde yo soy: costa del pacífico abajo de Jalisco, es una especie protegida; pero hace años era una comida muy común, dicen que sabe a pollo xD (Te iba a contestar en inglés pero dices que eres de México :D)
You got seriously over-analytical on this one, Todd. Early MTV needed stuff that was novel and catchy, and "Mexican Radio" fit the bill, period. It wasn't pop, it wasn't political, and it definitely wasn't "smug and annoying". Also, by showing only "Camouflage" in reference to Ridgway's solo output you give the impression that it's all rambling spaghetti western, which is wildly inaccurate.
@@longlivebeans Todd is almost always on target with his reviews. But he did drop the ball on this one. Oh, and Closing time...now THAT is a smarmy song.
I don't think this was a band that really wanted to be pop stars. They were a post punk band for college kids, hence their inclusion on "Urgh! A Music War!" alongside Pere Ubu, The Cramps and Klaus Nomi. There was no failed follow up because the first single was a total fluke.
What was even weirder about "Mexican Radio" is when proto death/black metal band Celtic Frost opened their Into the Pandemonium album with a cover version of it. That completely messed with underground metal fans. That's my go-to version of the song. I also found a CD of Dark Continent once at a used store. I then sold it online for something like $120 for a rather huge profit. Their fans are serious. And finally, Andy Prieboy has a couple pretty decent and slightly odd solo albums that I enjoy more than any version of Wall of Voodoo.
I’ve always been a big fan of Stan’s vocal style. Sure it’s, sorta silly, but it has this air of down to earth Americana that I’ve never heard anyone replicate. I think it’s unique in a good way, and it really lends to Stan’s storytelling, “rambly” as you put it, style. I definitely understand if you don’t like it, but maybe give it a bit more credit lol. Also I think you really dropped the ball on how you analyzed Mexican Radio, I’ll honestly admit it’s not even their best song, but it never struck me as “smarmy” or some sort of racist parody as you seem to imply, seems like you didn’t enjoy the song and tried to read too much into that.
This video makes me hope someone asks Todd to do "Walk The Dinosaur" so we can see him contend with the weirdness of the Was (Not Was) catalogue pre- and post- that song.
Hello Dad I'm in jail is the b side of Spy in the house of love. It was #1 on the dance charts and around 13 on hot 100. plus it charted internationally. So as you probably knew, they were not one hit wonders. Eclectic? Yes.
Always liked Mexican radio it was just god damn unique and catchy idc how weird it was gotta give them props for being so original we never got anything like it since
When a local radio station was changing format from an all 1980s station to a Mexican station, they played this song around 100 times in a row in some kind of petty childish protest. It is now burned into my skull....
I'm 35 years old, and I've never heard of the Dog Police before *in my life*. And I watch MTV Classic *all the time*. Never seen that "Dog Police" video *once*.
I've done some of my own research into Wall Of Voodoo and as a few other commenters have mentioned there's a lot more to them and their history. They played the US festival and it was amazing, but then Stan literally walked out on the band as soon as they got off stage. Andy (Stan's replacement) wrote a musical about Axl Rose that was featured on Conan O'Brien. The original bass player Bruce was in and out of the band due to drug and health problems. Bruce, Chas and Marc would continue to work together in another band, Nervous Gender (a queercore electro punk band). The soundtrack thing wasn't just Stan, they were all involved (the original line up). Bruce now has a band called Ravens Moreland which has released at least 7 albums (possibly more). He also mentioned that he has been working with Andy and Chas again on some new music, possibly for Andy's next solo project.
I was about to say, "Todd forgot Camouflage" but then he got it in there. For someone who was teenager in the UK in the early 80's, Mexican Radio was a cult thing but Camouflage was a mainstream novelty.
"Call of the West" haunts my nightmares. My best friend used to play it on repeat and wake me up during late-nights on a road trip we took across the country. He also loves Manos, Devo, and Cake. Everything makes sense now. Thank you, Todd.
There was a time when the only place you could hear underground music was on pirate a Mexican radio stations. It seems to me that Stan was literally referring to hearing himself on Mexican radio. I don’t hear the song as anything but a rip on US radio for its unwillingness to play new and, more importantly, local music.
I freaking love wall of voodoo and Todd was my introduction to them and I heard a lot more of their stuff and holy crap their amazing Stan ridgeway is a legend
weird he didn't mention the cars. I thought they were more of a famous new wave band than devo. both are good but cars are undeniably a lot more commercial.
CELTIC FROST COVERED THIS. I REPEAT, BLACK METAL GODS CELTIC FROST, KNOWN FOR THEIR SATANIC THEMES AND BRUTAL (for the time at least) MUSIC, COVERED THIS.
@@TheJollyMisanthrope yeah I looked up where they were from before commenting but thought Zurich was swedish for some reason. It's still an odd coincidence that two northern European metal bands made covers.
Stan Ridgeway collaborated with Stewart Copeland on an amazing song called "Don't Box Me In." It was featured in the movie Rumble Fish. It's an underrated classic. "Can't Make Love" from WOV's first EP is killer, too.
Whaaaaat. I was like, I know that guy's voice from somewhere, and then when you brought up "Camouflage" my mind was BLOWN. They still play that song on german radio at times, I'm pretty sure it was a hit here too. Full truth: I have it on my mp3 player and I fucking love it.
I heard of this song when a rapper I used to like as a kid, South Park Mexican, sampled the song's rhythm and chorus for his track also called "Mexican Radio." In hindsight, it sounds kind of obnoxiously obvious, but I remember liking it.
Back in the days of yore when I was a little kid in early 80's San Diego, we'd listen to the Mighty 690. It was broadcast out of Baja, I think. Mexican Radio was often on Mexican radio.
I watched a lot of MTV from the time we first got it in my city. Mexican Radio was always one of my favorite songs but I swear on all that is holy that I have never in my life seen "Dog Police." What I remember early MTV showing was a lot of weird videos from the 60s and 70s like "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
My Dad has this on a mix tape that he played a lot when we would drive hours to go camping. So I associate this song with the sweeping mountains and sparkling lakes of Glacier National Park. Other songs were "You've Got the Music In You" by New Radicals, the Bare Baked Ladies cover of, "Lovers in A Dangerous Time," "How Soon Is Now" and "Imitation of Life" by R.E.M. Thanks, Dad, for the good taste in music.
i personally enjoy all of wall of voodoo's discography. they really did deserve better. they had so much potential after the awesome set they had at the 1983 US festival, but then like half the band quit with stan, all bc their manager took the money and ran literally the day after.
I do not ever remember hearing dog police...strange enough to be on MTV but I don't remember it. Mexican Radio I do remember and it wasn't too bad. Good video.
say lead singer did movie soundtracks -> put up manos title card -> say he didn't actually do manos soundtrack. trolled me hard there todd. trolled me hard.
Just saying this before i watch the review. If the end card doesn't have Celtic Frost's cover of mexican radio playing over it i'm going to get your balls in a vice grip, Todd.
Please do a Dog Police OHW. I just found out that apparently that video spawned a TV pilot with Jeremy Piven and Adam Sandler, and the Dog Police are actually a front for an otherwise respectable jazz trio called The Tony Thomas Trio. That OHW episode would be fascinating.
"Mexican Radio" is a great 80s song. Back in a time when things weren't so serious and music was fun this song added to the vibe. Good stuff. Gonna add it to my playlist. Thanks for reminding me about it!
I've never heard of these guys before but I really like this song. I just like how the music sounds and I love the hook. And I cannot figure out why I really like his voice in the song......
I only watched MTV at that time and don't recall Dog Police. The obvious filles were Laurie Andersen and also Don't Pay the Ferryman. I do remember a lot of play for the Stan Ridgeway Stewart Copeland Song "Don't Box Me In"
"Mexican Radio" referred to a Tijuana post punk/new wave radio station that was broadcast into the San Diego area. I saw Stan Ridgeway several times and his solo record is a masterpiece of early 80's post punk.
I was a teenager in the 80s growing up in the UK, where I rarely saw any MTV and 'Mexican Radio' was definitely not a hit. But I briefly dated a girl who was into the band and while we were together I heard the song ... probably fewer than 10 times. I didn't love it, didn't hate it - but I've never forgotten it. And now, 36 years later I'm watching this and I am not at all surprised that this song still has its cult following. If you can write a song with a hook that sticks in a casual listener's head for almost four decades, then you are definitely onto something.
Its been 6 years and Todd STILL hasnt done Dog Police. Truly a fucked up world we live in
but when is pacman fever?
I got into Dog Police a few years ago because of this video and genuinely found their music was great. Truly recommend listening to the rest of that album
I also take issue with the way he refers to the song in this video - It should always be introduced as "The song Dog Police, by the band Dog Police, off their only album; Dog Police".
I've been huge into Wall Of Voodoo for years and years, they're easily my favourite band. So, I thought it would be really interesting how you analyzed Mexican Radio! But I got far more than I bargained for. I almost died.
Because of this video, I discovered "Dog Police." Because I discovered "Dog Police" while eating dinner, I went into a fit of laughter, and inhaled a piece of potato. My fiance had to give me back blows to dislodge it, and I was near to losing consciousness.
I now have to go on living with the fact that I almost choked to death because of DOG POLICE.
I heard the song in a craft store one day.
I honestly wasn’t sure it actually existed till then. I thought I imagined Todd talking about it.
You're better off than the Brit imn the 70s who laughed himself to death watching "The Goodies" on BBC
Oh, yeah, i beleive it, i beleive, everything you said.
Dog Police
ruclips.net/video/78Y-1plYJuQ/видео.html
You should copyright the details of your life story before Disney steals this.
Okay I think I finally know what this song is about. It's about his SONG being on a mexican radio. Not an illegal one, like an actual mexican radio in spanish. His bandmate went to mexico and heard them, and now he's desperately trying to find the radio station that played it. He's listening late at night, because he's apparently on the airwaves, and is calling all the mexican radios requesting his band, but he can't understand a thing they're saying in spanish. It gets to the point he even listens to talk radio, just in the mere hope of finding his song.
I have always been assuming that.
DOOOOOOG POLICE
ruff ruff ruff
I lived in San Diego at the time, and I always understood the song as such. People who’ve never lived in Southern California, don’t realize there were both English and Spanish language radio and TV stations across the border in México, but even the channels further down the coast and inland had extra reach too. A certain percentage of content was in Spanish by law, often in the evening when listenership was low but and coverage was improved due to atmospheric conditions. I have fond memories of crappy 70’s shows like The Love Boat playing late at night dubbed in Spanish and all sorts of odd music and talk shows in Spanish, and at the time I didn’t understand most of it, but it was kinda mesmerizing.
I’m pretty sure you’re partly correct I think he’s talking about bootleg Mexican radio stations that were on the border of the US and had crazy high powered equipment and would just have a strong enough signal to hear across the border
You cracked the code
This song is about picking up am radio frequencies from Mexico. Am broadcast reflects off the atmosphere and can travel very far distances. On clear nights you can pick up am radio stations from hundreds of kilometers away. He is listening to overlapping Mexican/US broadcasts, and he’s hearing something he’s never heard before as different songs overlap with each other. He also makes a reference to listening to am talk radio with mariachi playing over the top. The music is written to reflect the sound he is hearing. Whether or not the song is good, it’s incredibly brilliant.
Some of those stations broadcast at absurdly high wattage and were termed a "border blaster". XERA broadcast from Villa Acuña, which was just over the border from Del Rio, Texas, but could be heard from LA to New York and, under perfect conditions, all the way in Europe. It broadcast at something like 250,000 watts where as most modern FM stations broadcast at 100,000 watts.
Yeah that's where sat tv comes from
Can you please just donate to yourself and request Dog Police?
As somebody from the future I can say that he still hasn't done Dog Police, sadly. That's probably more down to a lack of information about them--somebody mentioned in another comment thread that Dog Police doesn't even have a wikipedia article or Allmusic profile. That last isn't technically true--they have a profile, it just doesn't have anything on it.
Maybe Todd could make some kind of anthology OHW episode, where he talks about a bunch of different bands that he'd tried to make videos about, but there just wasn't enough information
@@Flowtail I'd love Todd to cover Dog Police but it's hard if there's no info. Though Shazam did pick up on the song.
@@Flowtail "Dog Police/Nobody knows who you are" indeed
From what I recall at the time (Yes, I saw Dog Police on MTV when it was current) the song and video were entered as part of a contest called Basement Tapes. Bands would cut their own videos and send them in, MTV would play them opposite other entries and people could call in to vote for the best ones.
Dog Police did not win.
But I don't remember who actually did win whereas I've never forgotten the hook from Dog Police, largely because it's a reference to the old theme song they used to play on Electric Company when they'd do Spider Man sketches.
@@JesusKrispies I remember Dog Police and the Basement Tapes from when I was 11. Forgot all about it until now
So, as someone who IS quite a fan of Wall Of Voodoo, I just felt like somethings have to be added here. First off, they released two albums and 1 EP before Stan quit, and the second was the one that contained "Mexican Radio". As someone who has listened to their entire discography, I can honestly say that "Mexican Radio" doesn't fit in that well with the rest of their work. You are very correct in that it does have ties to the whole guerrilla radio thing going on right across the border, which helped their first album even a little. Because, nothing on their first album ever had a chance at normal radio due to it's dark themes and sometimes foul language.
Their first album, "Dark Continent" is incredibly dark, and the cover of "Ring of Fire" is NOT on it. What is on that album is a collection of depression, for all purposes. There's songs like "Tse Tse Fly" about getting human sleeping sickness, "Full Of Tension" about stress, "Two Minutes 'Till Lunch" which is a story of a man having a conversation with his SO on the telephone at work, only for the song to end in the sounds of explosions and sirens. Perhaps the most famous song on it is "Back In Flesh", which was featured in the New Wave/Punk Rock film "URGH! A Music War". The song quite literally sounds like a zombie blathering out things, specifically how much he hates going to work. The song ends with Stan screaming at his boss "YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO" and the boss yelling back "HEY, THEN FUCK YOU!" (This is true on the album cut, but it was changed to "HEY, SCREW YOU" in URGH!). Musically and lyrically, they still sound totally unique, a combo of western and new wave, just MUCH darker in both aspects then "Mexican Radio".
The second album "Call Of The West" is nowhere near as dark. A VERY quick check on discogs can show that the song "Call of The West" was never released as the second single from the album, but "On Interstate 15" was. "On Interstate 15" is an instrumental, and I think it was released as the single because Stan didn't want any more commitment to the band and didn't want to risk the second single also being a hit. The title track "Call Of The West" was the B side to "On Interstate 15", although people probably thought it was a mistake and was meant to be the A side since it WASN'T the instrumental. Also, "Mexican Radio is still by far the chirpiest ditty on "Call Of The West", so if you buy either album with Stan Ridgeway on it, expect more mature themes and harsh tones, not more Mexican Radio. On that note, "Mexican Radio" may have gotten a better spot than 58 in all, it's not totally sure what it really charted. I.R.S. released three separate versions of "Mexican Radio" as a single at the same time, and I believe at least two of them were in the top 100 at the exact same time, but it's not entirely clear due to how dicey the records are in the early 80s. But if that is the case, the 58 position wouldn't be the greatest indicator of how much airplay it truly received. The second album includes quite a few longer narrative songs like Ridgeway became more popular for besides "Call Of The West", where the subjects vary from not having a job and drifting across the country to beating your wife because you're fed up with your factory job. I would say that these first two albums are the best of Wall Of Voodoo, although 2cd singer Andy Prieboy came up with some pretty cool stuff as a solo artist, including writing a song that would be covered by Concrete Blonde called "Tomorrow Wendy". If you want more, I suggest getting the Raven Records re-mastered "Wall Of Voodoo" set, which includes both of their first albums on one CD. It's fairly cheap on Amazon, but the single "Mexican Radio" doesn't do a very good job of showing what they normally sounded like. Get it because they sounded truly unique compared to any other New Wave act out there.
Thank you, you stopped me from schooling this dude on Wall of Voodoo.
Also Mark Moorland is a under-rated guitar god.
I think Call of the West is one of the most underrated albums of the entire New Wave era. Kinda feel like Todd sold the band short here, but maybe that's just my own taste talking -- to me their sense of irony isn't very far from Devo's.
Wall of Voodoo is so great. I saw Stan Ridgway live a few years back and he played "Look at Their Way" in exactly the same fashion as on COTW. The entire concert was outstanding.
Devo's irony is very midwestern, they are from ohio, WOV is very much Cali band, they both look at the dark side of the American 80s.
the Stanard era WOV is some of the greatest most unique music ever made in my opinion. and the song call of the west i consider one of the most brilliant things ive ever heard. DARK CONTINENT would be one of my desert island discs.
Sabaton covered Camouflage. Never knew the original was... that.
Woah holy shit your right
@@JimmySteller I love how Sabaton cut obvious stuff out, keeping the rouge of legit song about this gentle giant type of guy who's pretty good at camouflage for as long as plausible. Making the listener feel rather strange things about "Oh, he was dead" part.
@@denisdrozdoff2926 I actually prefer the original version and wish Sabaton had left in the little monologue bit, but I never thought of it that way. It never ceases to amaze me how two people can experience the same thing in two different ways.
hi Todd, little chance you'll ever see this, but anyways, i caught this video a while back. and i became intrigued. i listened to the song on youtube... a lot, and i really dug it. a few weeks later i happened upon a cd of Wall of Voodoo in a weird small store for $3 and snatched it up, and it's amazing. i know it doesn't do much for you, but goddamn, it has the perfect amount of weirdness for me. i love the uniqueness of their sound. i've since been listening my way through Stan's solo material, and while they don't do much for you, thank you for introducing me to this band. i seriously enjoy this stuff immensely.
Wall of Voodoo is probably my favorite new wave band Thanks Todd!!!!
I don't know how you can't like this song. Even just a little bit.
It's too weird to be taken seriously, and it's just catchy enough to remember. It's bold and creative and I kind of admire it for that.
because despite how much i enjoy todd he really has the most boring music tastes.
Meh Celtic Frost version is way better
@@josephhigares744 I think his instincts are usually on-target even though I disagree with him on this one, Toni Basil's "Mickey," and a few others. However, my taste in music is far more inclusive than his. He'd have no patience for some of the stuff I listen to. A couple years ago I even purchased a copy of Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" just cause of its reputation for being one of the most unlistenable things ever, but it turns out that it's been a big influence on various genres of music or at least anticipated them to some degree: punk, hip hop, electronica, avant garde, etc. My Bloody Valentine took the general idea behind that album and turned it into something people WOULD listen to, so there's that. One Hit Wonderland is a great series, but I'd love to see another one covering songs that deserved to be hits but didn't even come close to being heard by the masses, and I don't think Todd would be willing to dig that deep. So no "Egyptian Shumba" or "Tropical Hot Dog Night" or anything like that. There are artists from my hometown of Sacramento (other than Cake) who have recorded some awesome songs like Anton Barbeau, Agent Ribbons, Knock Knock, Dog Party, Baby Grand, Kepi Ghoulie, etc. It makes me wonder just how much great music is out there that we never get to hear cause the musicians responsible for them never got their big break. It's so frustrating to me that Rebecca Black's "Friday" has gotten millions of views on RUclips BECAUSE it sucks while Anton Barbeau's "Milk Churn in the Morning" is ignored despite being a significantly better pop song.
Here have a listen to Anton. There's plenty more where this came from: ruclips.net/video/NDhW0uN8HDE/видео.html
@@arturoregalado6127 CF is my fave band but I love both versions, I think their version is boosted by the originals existence and the vast changes they made like down to the chords and melodies being similar but not the same
*smash cut to "Dog Police"*
First three seconds: ...
Next five minutes: *gutbusting laughter*
Todd, please review Dog Police.
Smash cut to Manos
Laughter for five more minutes.
It’s such a unique song that it never sounds dated. I love that song.
Stan seems like he should have also done some voice acting. Even if it was the only voice he had, seems like it would have worked somewhere.
He did do some voice acting. I think he did voices of the incidental characters in an episode of one of the Justice League animated series. He also did a (possibly a few?) album(s) for kids.
Dog police is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. I feel honoured to know of its existence.
In addition, wall of voodoo is something I would totally listen to, I'm going to check them out.
Raven Records did a remastered set of both "Dark Continent" and "Call Of The West" on one CD (their first two albums, and the only two full albums with Stan Ridgeway). It's fairly cheap on the interwebz. They also released the three Andy Prieboy albums on a 2 CD set.
How could you know Dog Police and not Wall of Voodoo. That doesn't make sense.
culwin I just learned about dog police from this video.
fury
Oh I see. I thought you were saying you were familiar with Dog Police but not Wall of Voodoo. Either way, you should check out Stan Ridgway's solo work in the 80s.
you HAVE to review dog police now
ha yes please, that's such an amazing song. They are actually not bad overall, like Devo only with a little less style and a little more anarchy.
oh and now todd is actually talking about Devo ^^
The guy has to make a living. Become a top patreon, and your dream might become true.
I don't know where you got the impression, but One Hit Wonderland does not entirely consist of Patreon requests.
MrsXanatrix lately it kind of does, doesn't it? I would love to see that request btw
Wall Of Voodoo guitarist Marc Moreland was the subject of Concrete Blonde's lone Top 40 hit, "Joey." Quite possibly the saddest and most gut-wrenching hit song ever, and Marc passed away 12 years after the song was released (you know you have a drinking problem when a song about you drinking yourself to death comes out a decade before you actually died of an alcohol-related illness).
Todd- “Most of the major new wave acts were British.”
The entire NYC CBGB scene- “Are we a joke to you?”
Most of the British new wave acts were British, though.
He said 'most'
@@judgesaturn507 British new wave were BRitish... who'd a thought. New wave was not an exclusive genre to the British but yes, most of it was from the UK. But there were some American... like Talking Heads, Blondie, Devo, The Cars, B-52's, The Pretenders, to name a few.
@@MedalionDS9 The Pretenders formed in England, and while Chrissie Hynde was originally from Akron Ohio, she had been living and working in London since 1973 - to me their New Wave roots are British, unlike the others you mentioned.
@@kevintyerman1906British New Wave is British, and most likely came from them first but they didn't own the genre... there were american bands who played that style in their own way.
Just to add on when regarding Devo being mentioned in this video:
Wall of Voodoo used to open for the band during their "Oh No, it's Devo!" tour.
Jerry Casale decided to imitate Stan Ridgeway when singing on "Beautiful World" as form of tribute to him.
The other two most notable occasions where the band used the Cowboy motif were the music video for "Come Back Jonee" and the song "Big Mess".
Bob Casale also claimed he baked the beans in the "Mexican Radio" video. XD
Nice name, nice pfp. You have good taste
Fun fact: Wall of Voodoo actually opened for Devo on Halloween in 1982 when they did their glitch-ridden 3-DEVO broadcast. The Devo connection doesn't stop there, though. Both bands have a song inspired by John Hinckley Jr. ("Far Side of Crazy" and "I Desire") and Jerry Casale was supposedly affecting a bit of Stan Ridgway when he sang "Beautiful World" on the New Traditionalists album. Supposedly Bob Casale (rhythm guitarist/keyboardist for Devo) baked the dish of beans that Ridgway popped out of in the "Mexican Radio" video.
And that beans thing gets referenced by weird al's "dare to be stupid"!
@@pigfish99 I've noticed one other layer to "Dare to be Stupid" recently. Even though the song is mostly in the vein of Oh, No! It's DEVO songs like "Big Mess", "Out of Sync", and "Deep Sleep", the main riff shares its first notes in common with a Frank Zappa song: it's in the Apostrophe medley where it segues into "Father O'Blivion". If you slow that guitar riff down, you have DTBS. 😝
Just Drive She Said got pretty good play on KROQ in L.A.
Back when they were a good station
Matt Colville...in this corner of the internet???
Um....hi! *waves in rpgs*
Ah, yeah, That was a good one.
My mom also really liked Camouflage when I introduced it to her.
For some it's a "one hit wonder", for others it's just a brilliant song for 40 years.
I am in Australia, and it got airplay here, but I had no idea how lowly it charted. I love this song and "Far Side of Crazy" from the Prieboy era (as well as "Tomorrow Wendy" by Andy Prieboy / Concrete Blonde). Stan Ridgway's solo work never did it for me, but probably charted a bit better here than Wall of Voodoo.
Ok, the thing about Wall of Voodoo that you kind of referenced is that they are VERY Californian. Songs like Mexican Radio speak to us, especially us out in the Inland Empire and North County area of San Diego, on a very deep level. To this day the best terrestrial radio stations here are Mexican broadcast. I guess this proves very strongly that taste is both subjective and regional. On a side not the Swedish Power Metal band Sabatons new album has a fantastic cover of "Camouflage" on it.
Love from a sun baked cookie cutter home wedged between The 215 and the The 15.
619 represent. I work in a day or weekend trip to TJ every time I go back home.
I kind of figured this song was basically one long regional inside joke.
Ah, yeah. Picking up 91X was awesome. Loved when they did the station ID in Espanol.
From further up the 215. Definitely a regional thing.
I always had the impression the song dealt with an American technician working at a border blaster station, getting high to deal with his boredom and loneliness.
That is... a really good interpretation! Putting that in my headcanon.
daemonofdecay that's actually dope :0 I never really read the song as smug, more just... weirdly jokey. That's a cool way to look at it
Cool theory, better than my "several different views" theory.
That fits in with another song on the album, "Factory."
It's been 6-7 years since I watched this and every now again, usually in the dead of night when I'm struggling to fall asleep, my brain randomly conjures up that small snippet of Dog Police by Dog Police. Todd, the absolute madman that he is, just played that in a completely unrelated video, implied his interest to do an episode on it and just never mentioned it again. I'm still waiting, Todd. 20 years from now, I'll still be waiting if I have to.
i love wall of voodoo. it’s a shame that Todd didn’t feel it imo. The dark continent is such a mint album. i have always actually liked Stan’s voice. He is a little like an American Frank Tovey imo.
Ooh, I’ve never made that comparison, but I love it!
Yeah, if would be nice to hear an analysis from someone who actually understands the music he's covering.
I love their cover of Ring of Fire
"The only big American new wave acts I can think of off the top of my head is Devo" what about flipping Blondie and Talking Heads?
Yeah and someone never heard of Oingo Boigo either.
Also The Cars.
He even mentions the B-52s in this very review!
I'm like: Dude! Todd! They're a U.S. band!
Never heard flipping blondie, what do they sing?
Talking Heads is English.
You keep saying DEVO is the big American New Wave band but you keep forgetting TALKING HEADS! Probably one of the most successful New Wave bands of all time and they were from New York
As far as I'm concerned Mexican Radio is in the top 20 best songs of all time. Something about it is just so cool
That Ring of Fire cover, while still having Devo on the brain, very much reminds me of Devo's Satisfaction cover. As in it's a very unique take on a song which was very different before.
Both really influenced by the Residents, whom they both opened for. Ring of Fire and Satisfaction make even more sense when seen through the lens of the Residents’ cover of It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World
The Cure - Foxy Lady
Oingo Boingo - You Really Got Me
SSQ - Fire
Soft Cell - Paranoid
X - Wild Thing
B-52s - Downtown
Lene Lovich - I Think We're Alone Now (Lene > Tiffany)
You can almost see Todd's face in this review.
I knew I was't going to be the only person thinking this.
For those who're curious, we've seen his full face in a Lindsay video anyway.
oh yeah, I know. I've seen the video before.
+Vic Viper what was the video?
Her vaction video at Disney world.
Todd missed a big one. Stan Ridgway also did "Don't Box Me in" with Stewart Copeland of The Police for the movie "Rumble Fish".
Yes! That's one of my favorite songs from the decade, incidentally.
I was surprised by that myself. It's actually a good song and fits with Ridgeway's soundtrack work. Was it actually a hit? If so that might hurt the "one hit wonder" status as Ridgeway was Wall of Voodoo for many people. Also I like Camouflage.
Stewart Copeland did something besides the original Spyro trilogy's soundtrack?
Otaking Mikohani He had an entire great solo career, but given the only things you know about him are The Police and Spyro I’m guessing you aren’t into music enough to have heard it (it didn’t really ever take off outside of his already built demographic of Police diehards).
Came here just to mention this song, which is fantastic -- (promo video -- ruclips.net/video/8j6Tln0lN0c/видео.html ) (better sound/full song -- ruclips.net/video/6gJtG5NC9kU/видео.html )
Here also is an excellent example of Ridgway's storytelling style; great track -- ruclips.net/video/p7iARb-JpaY/видео.html
Stan Ridgway has been quite prolific over the decades. His song, "Talk Hard," which was featured in Pump Up The Volume in 1990, didn't see the light of day and a proper release until 2018! Great song, great songwriter; he DEFINITELY deserved better.
Marc Moreland was a very interesting guitarist. You can hear the surf/spy/spaghetti western influence in every thing he plays in addition to some really intersting, almost atonal chord work. He remains an inspiration to me to this day.
Ok I'm from Mexico and I didn't even know iguana meat is part of my culture. The irony of my ignorance is that iguana meat is a big deal in Jalisco -the state of Mexico I'm from.
Ya no se come abiertamente iguana debido que, al menos de la parte donde yo soy: costa del pacífico abajo de Jalisco, es una especie protegida; pero hace años era una comida muy común, dicen que sabe a pollo xD
(Te iba a contestar en inglés pero dices que eres de México :D)
Well, I understood it, so clearly my long-forgotten Spanish isn't entirely forgotten. ¡Gracias!
Glad to know that my comment was useful in some way! :D
LuneaDark so basically it's an old delicacy that tasted like chicken.
At least from the part of Mexico I'm from, yes.
Only old people will tell you: "iguana tastes like chicken".
Early MTV (or even MTV up until 1996ish) was basically RUclips pre-2011. Total experimental wild frontier.
True. 120 minutes would have experimental stuff on it.
I grew up in the 80's and I never heard of Dog Police until now.
You got seriously over-analytical on this one, Todd. Early MTV needed stuff that was novel and catchy, and "Mexican Radio" fit the bill, period. It wasn't pop, it wasn't political, and it definitely wasn't "smug and annoying". Also, by showing only "Camouflage" in reference to Ridgway's solo output you give the impression that it's all rambling spaghetti western, which is wildly inaccurate.
Botwin66 Yeah, he definitely sold the solo stuff short. The Big Heat is an incredible album.
You came to a music critic’s channel & got mad he acted like a music critic lol idk what y’all want.
@@longlivebeans Todd is almost always on target with his reviews. But he did drop the ball on this one. Oh, and Closing time...now THAT is a smarmy song.
I don't think this was a band that really wanted to be pop stars. They were a post punk band for college kids, hence their inclusion on "Urgh! A Music War!" alongside Pere Ubu, The Cramps and Klaus Nomi. There was no failed follow up because the first single was a total fluke.
That sounds like a great compilation.
aw shit... it's the catchiest song I've ever heard. thanks... this'll be in my head for the rest of the day now.
casersatz this song has been in my head for 10 years
Heard it one time on VH1 Classic and had to write down the damn title because I knew it'd be stuck in my head forever. I kind of love this song.
My people!
Just a day? I'm surprised it hasn't been stuck in your head the entire 5 years since you originally wrote this comment, heh heh.
What was even weirder about "Mexican Radio" is when proto death/black metal band Celtic Frost opened their Into the Pandemonium album with a cover version of it. That completely messed with underground metal fans. That's my go-to version of the song.
I also found a CD of Dark Continent once at a used store. I then sold it online for something like $120 for a rather huge profit. Their fans are serious.
And finally, Andy Prieboy has a couple pretty decent and slightly odd solo albums that I enjoy more than any version of Wall of Voodoo.
Ooh, another cover to try! The one I know is by skate punk band Authority Zero, and it's a solid bop
No way the guys from fucking Hellhammer covered this song?
No cover will ever top the original.
@@MortanAMrk they did and it rips
I’ve always been a big fan of Stan’s vocal style. Sure it’s, sorta silly, but it has this air of down to earth Americana that I’ve never heard anyone replicate. I think it’s unique in a good way, and it really lends to Stan’s storytelling, “rambly” as you put it, style. I definitely understand if you don’t like it, but maybe give it a bit more credit lol.
Also I think you really dropped the ball on how you analyzed Mexican Radio, I’ll honestly admit it’s not even their best song, but it never struck me as “smarmy” or some sort of racist parody as you seem to imply, seems like you didn’t enjoy the song and tried to read too much into that.
This video makes me hope someone asks Todd to do "Walk The Dinosaur" so we can see him contend with the weirdness of the Was (Not Was) catalogue pre- and post- that song.
"Dog Police" takes precedence, of course.
"HELLO DAD....I'M IN JAIL!!!"
"Say hi to Mom... from jail!!!"
Hello Dad I'm in jail is the b side of Spy in the house of love. It was #1 on the dance charts and around 13 on hot 100. plus it charted internationally. So as you probably knew, they were not one hit wonders. Eclectic? Yes.
Spy in the house of love was also a hit.
Always liked Mexican radio it was just god damn unique and catchy idc how weird it was gotta give them props for being so original we never got anything like it since
Stan’s Mission in Life is one of my favorite songs of all time. He’s a brilliant songwriter/story teller.
Stan was an amazing storyteller. Todd dropped the ball on this video
He didn’t necessarily drop the ball, it’s still his opinion so he can not like songs that other people consider to be good
When a local radio station was changing format from an all 1980s station to a Mexican station, they played this song around 100 times in a row in some kind of petty childish protest.
It is now burned into my skull....
I'm 35 years old, and I've never heard of the Dog Police before *in my life*.
And I watch MTV Classic *all the time*. Never seen that "Dog Police" video *once*.
I've done some of my own research into Wall Of Voodoo and as a few other commenters have mentioned there's a lot more to them and their history. They played the US festival and it was amazing, but then Stan literally walked out on the band as soon as they got off stage. Andy (Stan's replacement) wrote a musical about Axl Rose that was featured on Conan O'Brien. The original bass player Bruce was in and out of the band due to drug and health problems. Bruce, Chas and Marc would continue to work together in another band, Nervous Gender (a queercore electro punk band). The soundtrack thing wasn't just Stan, they were all involved (the original line up). Bruce now has a band called Ravens Moreland which has released at least 7 albums (possibly more). He also mentioned that he has been working with Andy and Chas again on some new music, possibly for Andy's next solo project.
Fun fact: That solo song from Ridgway at the end, "Camouflage", was covered by Swedish metal band Sabaton. And it's actually quite good.
I honestly thought it was always a metal song. That really surprised me.
Also, cool to see another earlier Sabaton fan.
Camouflage went to the top 10 in the UK.
American radio, sadly, slept on Stan Ridgway's solo career.
What the fuck indeed
I was about to say, "Todd forgot Camouflage" but then he got it in there. For someone who was teenager in the UK in the early 80's, Mexican Radio was a cult thing but Camouflage was a mainstream novelty.
Camouflage wasn't by Wall of Voodoo though, just by Stan, althought technically that means that it's also eligible for this show!
"Call of the West" haunts my nightmares. My best friend used to play it on repeat and wake me up during late-nights on a road trip we took across the country.
He also loves Manos, Devo, and Cake. Everything makes sense now. Thank you, Todd.
There was a time when the only place you could hear underground music was on pirate a Mexican radio stations. It seems to me that Stan was literally referring to hearing himself on Mexican radio. I don’t hear the song as anything but a rip on US radio for its unwillingness to play new and, more importantly, local music.
I freaking love wall of voodoo and Todd was my introduction to them and I heard a lot more of their stuff and holy crap their amazing Stan ridgeway is a legend
Fuck yeah
Since my parents were huge into the newwave and altrock scene back in the day both Mexican radio and Camouflage are classics in my household.
I love Stan Ridgway. He is a fantastic artist and writer. Not really the best representation of him here, but his solo work is incredible.
I was in high school when "Mexican Radio" came out and loved it for its quirkiness. And "Far Side Of Crazy" is a great tune.
Anyone else catch where El-P got that sample for Cannibal Ox's 'Iron Galaxy'?
No other big American New Wave bands, huh Todd? What about Oingo Boingo?
THIS ! So Much This !
They aren't one hit wonders.
The Go-Go's could technically qualify as new wave.
What about Talking Heads as well? Remain in Light is probably the best new wave album of all time!
weird he didn't mention the cars. I thought they were more of a famous new wave band than devo. both are good but cars are undeniably a lot more commercial.
CELTIC FROST COVERED THIS. I REPEAT, BLACK METAL GODS CELTIC FROST, KNOWN FOR THEIR SATANIC THEMES AND BRUTAL (for the time at least) MUSIC, COVERED THIS.
Rip Martin
UGH! HEYYYYY!!!
So that's 2 significant swedish metal bands that have covered one of Stan's songs
@@TheJollyMisanthrope yeah I looked up where they were from before commenting but thought Zurich was swedish for some reason. It's still an odd coincidence that two northern European metal bands made covers.
Great cover
It doesn’t have to be a deep commentary on Mexican radio 📻, it is an ode to Mexican radio.
Stan Ridgeway collaborated with Stewart Copeland on an amazing song called "Don't Box Me In." It was featured in the movie Rumble Fish. It's an underrated classic. "Can't Make Love" from WOV's first EP is killer, too.
FULL 3 HOUR SPECIAL ON DOG POLICE PLS
reminds me of Les Claypool
When I first heard the song, I thought the same! It would fit if it really was Les Claypool, though
I was about 6-7 when MTV started and I can honestly say I've never, ever seen or heard of "Dog Police"
I know, I remember MTV on its first day and even remember Fish Heads, but not dog police, don't remember that at all.
How do you not appreciate this song's awesomeness?
Whaaaaat. I was like, I know that guy's voice from somewhere, and then when you brought up "Camouflage" my mind was BLOWN.
They still play that song on german radio at times, I'm pretty sure it was a hit here too.
Full truth: I have it on my mp3 player and I fucking love it.
I heard of this song when a rapper I used to like as a kid, South Park Mexican, sampled the song's rhythm and chorus for his track also called "Mexican Radio." In hindsight, it sounds kind of obnoxiously obvious, but I remember liking it.
Wall of Voodoo is a great band. And a classic song to boot. Members have gone on to play with another great California band, Concrete Blonde.
Back in the days of yore when I was a little kid in early 80's San Diego, we'd listen to the Mighty 690. It was broadcast out of Baja, I think. Mexican Radio was often on Mexican radio.
Wall Of Voodoo is way better than most bands you like.
o shit
Sadly, it's true...
Well now that's just pure wall of voodoo!
*The only thing on this God-forsaken mud ball we call Earth that I am 100% sure of is... that Love is a Fist.*
+FaceRip Eyyy. I see what you did there.
Aw, I was hoping you'd use the Celtic Frost cover of Mexican Radio for the end of the video bit.
Same
The Authority Zero cover isn't bad though. At least in so far as a new wave song being covered by a reggae punk band could be.
Authority Zero is one of my Favorite bands so
Such a great band.
Far side of crazy, is one of my favourite songs of the 80's , amazing lyrics in that track.
well, there's my childhood
thank you, Stan Ridgway, you... weird guy
Speaking of Devo...Mark Mothersbaugh mimicked Stan Ridgway's voice for Beautiful World
that was jerry casale singing not mark
@@bagman444 My bad! Appreciate the correction
My 7 year old daughter hates 99% of the music I listen to. I played Dog Police on Spotify and she completely fell in love with it.
I watched a lot of MTV from the time we first got it in my city. Mexican Radio was always one of my favorite songs but I swear on all that is holy that I have never in my life seen "Dog Police." What I remember early MTV showing was a lot of weird videos from the 60s and 70s like "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
MTV played music videos at one point?
MTV = "Music Television"? What did they mean by this...?
Legally its now "Media Television" or else they would have lost there broadcast licenses in Canada.
still not accurate enough
Moron TeleVision.
The irony when MTV is so old that the "Remember when MTV actually cared about music videos" complaint is actually over a decade going strong... Man.
Yeah... many bands have referenced this in there music, including Bowling For Soup, SR-71 & Marianas Trench.
Would hear the SPM version on the radio all day when I was working in a welding shop back in '01
Earthbjorn Nahkaimurrao Hell yeah it was 100% better
That version still slaps to this day!
Thanks for the reviews of some of my favorite & obscure one hit wonders!
My Dad has this on a mix tape that he played a lot when we would drive hours to go camping. So I associate this song with the sweeping mountains and sparkling lakes of Glacier National Park. Other songs were "You've Got the Music In You" by New Radicals, the Bare Baked Ladies cover of, "Lovers in A Dangerous Time," "How Soon Is Now" and "Imitation of Life" by R.E.M. Thanks, Dad, for the good taste in music.
I love this song! It still gets regular play on 91X in San Diego, a station that broadcasts from Tijuana........ Imagine that.
i personally enjoy all of wall of voodoo's discography. they really did deserve better. they had so much potential after the awesome set they had at the 1983 US festival, but then like half the band quit with stan, all bc their manager took the money and ran literally the day after.
I do not ever remember hearing dog police...strange enough to be on MTV but I don't remember it. Mexican Radio I do remember and it wasn't too bad. Good video.
say lead singer did movie soundtracks -> put up manos title card -> say he didn't actually do manos soundtrack.
trolled me hard there todd. trolled me hard.
Just saying this before i watch the review. If the end card doesn't have Celtic Frost's cover of mexican radio playing over it i'm going to get your balls in a vice grip, Todd.
U done fucked up boi
@@asdfjklow damn straight he screwed up!
Great song . Always a treat to hear it again .
I’m surprised by how many fans this band has. Where tf were y’all when they needed a second hit?
Dog police might be my new favorite thing ever.
Please do a Dog Police OHW. I just found out that apparently that video spawned a TV pilot with Jeremy Piven and Adam Sandler, and the Dog Police are actually a front for an otherwise respectable jazz trio called The Tony Thomas Trio. That OHW episode would be fascinating.
"Mexican Radio" is a great 80s song. Back in a time when things weren't so serious and music was fun this song added to the vibe. Good stuff.
Gonna add it to my playlist. Thanks for reminding me about it!
I'm genuinely glad this episode was made. I seriously love Wall of Voodoo and I would have never found them without you Todd.
I've never heard of these guys before but I really like this song. I just like how the music sounds and I love the hook. And I cannot figure out why I really like his voice in the song......
Their first two albums are masterpieces.
I only watched MTV at that time and don't recall Dog Police. The obvious filles were Laurie Andersen and also Don't Pay the Ferryman. I do remember a lot of play for the Stan Ridgeway Stewart Copeland Song "Don't Box Me In"
The Celtic Frost-cover of this is actually really good.
One of my favorite 80s songs!
Dark Continent is actually a pretty dope album tbh
"Mexican Radio" referred to a Tijuana post punk/new wave radio station that was broadcast into the San Diego area. I saw Stan Ridgeway several times and his solo record is a masterpiece of early 80's post punk.
I was a teenager in the 80s growing up in the UK, where I rarely saw any MTV and 'Mexican Radio' was definitely not a hit. But I briefly dated a girl who was into the band and while we were together I heard the song ... probably fewer than 10 times. I didn't love it, didn't hate it - but I've never forgotten it. And now, 36 years later I'm watching this and I am not at all surprised that this song still has its cult following. If you can write a song with a hook that sticks in a casual listener's head for almost four decades, then you are definitely onto something.
This is one I've wanted you to do since you started this series