Twisted (Stan Ridgway) (LP 3640)

Stan Ridgway  The Big Heat (Vinyl, IRS Records, 1986) ****  

Genre: Alt rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Camouflage

Gear costume: The Big Heat, Walkin' Home Alone

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: I'm a big fan of the Wall of Voodoo singles in my collection, and The Big Heat, Stan Ridgway's debut solo album, has been on my list for ages. I was thrilled to find a copy in Real Groovy's sale bins earlier this year.

Camouflage, of course, dominates the record. Stan is wise to position it last on side 2, but his vocal chops make anything he does, even if utilising synths and mid-eighties production tropes.

The rest of the album is soaked in Stan's love of noir and pulp fiction and is great without being as great as Vietnam centred Camouflage. Man, I love that shaggy dog song!

Where do they all belong? Always keen to find more of Stan's albums, including his work in Wall of Voodoo.

I cried for all those Beatle fans (Wall Of Voodoo) #422-423

Wall Of Voodoo Mexican Radio/ Call Of The West (Illegal Records, ES 855, 1982)
Wall Of Voodoo Far Side Of Crazy/ Business Of Love (Epic, ES 1098, 1985)

Wall Of Voodoo, who came raging out of Los Angeles with Mexican Radio, brought a fresh approach that was much needed in the early eighties. 

It doesn't sound like it now but in 1982 the quirkiness of Wall Of Voodoo was a stand out when I saw it on Radio With Pictures. 

In the early days the band featured Stan Ridgway (he of the weird nervy twitches in the Mexican Radio video). When he went off to have a solo career the band carried on for a few years with a new more mainstream sound and had the second hit with Far Side...

How could I not love this song with its sympathetic references to Lennon's death and the sadness of Beatle fans?

Hidden gems: The weird bass and drum patterns continue on Call Of The West - sounds like the theme to the weirdest Western never made. Business Of Love harks back a little to Stan's style and is never less than interesting.