America really slept on this one. It's not as quirky as "Mexican Radio," but "Far Side of Crazy" is quite possibly one of the best songs of the 80's and deserved lots of love (as did Sammystown, for that matter).
"I once hid my lust for stardom, like a filthy magazine, I stroked the shaft of my guitar, and watched you on the screen." wonderfully good and creepy lyric!
@@trollfinger I love his work with wall of voodoo seven days in sammytown and happy planet are good albums and.have a very different sound than the stan Ridgeway way stuff but definitely well worth exploring
Unlike a lot of commenters on here, I think this album was just as good as those from the Stan Ridgway period. I love Stan's solo and WoV work, but it shouldn't detract from the work on this album. Perhaps if they had used another name, instead of Wall of Voodoo, people might take the album on its own merits, instead of whining that "it isn't Stan Ridgway." I thought Andy Prieboy did an amazing job as the new front man, and am sorry that so many just couldn't accept the absence of Stan. They should go listen to "The Big Heat" instead of slagging off on what was a very good album by a good group.
Having loved their early records and hearing this... I'd like to try their later records with Andy Prieboy but this song just doesnt seem to do it for me. Starts off well but it sounds a bit like trying to match their earlier guitar sound with a generic mid 80s pop and the sentiment of the song is a bit, well... phoney. It's not a bad song, just doesnt quite have the unique feel of the original Wall of Voodoo for me
This album is indeed great. However, I have the feeling most of the songs were already written in the SR days. On some of the tracks he's really trying to sound like SR. The fact that the following album was totally different only proofs (in my opinion) that SDIS was, for a large part, the final WoV record from that era.
As an Aussie, over the years I've seen all of the incarnations of inxs. Was Hutchence the best? Were other incarnations as good or better? Equally love This song and Ridgeway.
Stan Ridgeway was really more the “When Ennio Morricone goes New Wave.” Andy was really more Glam/Deathrock, and had a very DIFFERENT direction and influences than did Stan. Being a contemporary of both (I made the boots Andy is wearing, just as an example) the distinction between the different eras of WoV was one that at the time not really considered too much. That period was something that will never again see the like of (not unless we see a total collapse of Civilization). Technically, ALL of the Musical Genres, Countercultures and Subcultures of the 20th Century are alike in that respect. They were innovations that built upon past “giants,” where we eventually reached what no appears to have been the “peak” of Musical and Cultural Creativity in terms of Popular Music, at least (Popular Music being a “Category” of Music, which happens to include “Pop Music,” which is a different thing). Now... It seems that most new Musicians are looking back to that century trying to “re-create” something that cannot be created again (looking at Music Sales on iTunes, or Amazon reveals that the teen to 30s Demographic is still buying music from the era of 1970 to 1990 more than any other era or genre). We don’t seem, as a Culture, to be looking for new means of Creativity...
What does that mean? I ask, not to cause an argument. I would really like to know what you mean by both versions of Wall of Voodoo. I don't know anything about the band, except one song I enjoyed, and now, one song I .... well .... can partially concur with and find appealing in some way. LOL
@@arlettasloan6453 The original fronted by Stan Ridgway (which did Mexican Radio, the cover of Ring Of Fire, etc.), and this version which was fronted by Andy Prieboy.
I'm Pilate and Jesus And I wept when Lennon died Yet I envied his assailant When I visited the shrine I cried for all those Beatle fans So old so quick they grow I follow the example to destroy What I love most And I remain on the far side of crazy I remain the mortal enemy of man No hundred dollar cure will save me Can't stay a boy in no man's land I once hid my lust for stardom Like a filthy magazine I stroked the shaft on my guitar And watched you on the screen I've become now what I wanted To be all along A psychopathic poet The Devil's bastard son And I remain on the far side of crazy I remain the mortal enemy of man No hundred dollar cure will save me Can't stay a boy in no man's land I shot an actor for an actress But he lived to make a joke Shot two other men who could have been The body's of my folks I stagger toward the future I stagger day to day Plot revenge inside of darkness I am withering in pain And I remain on the far side of crazy I remain the mortal enemy of man No hundred dollar cure will save me Can't stay a boy in no man's I remain on the far side of crazy I remain the mortal enemy of man No hundred dollar cure will save me Can't stay a boy in no man's land facebook.com/lvngubrthlss
Wow, this song just popped up in my head this morning, and I haven't thought about it in years. I remember it when it first came out, and I loved the guitar sound, it's still sounding great btw.
Heard a grab of the rif of this song in an add last week, found the single in my old vinal collection.. Played it on 11... Such a cool song.. Ahhh the 80's..
I only knew mexican radio for the longest time and thought it was a 90s track. But to learn they were contemporaries to DEVO makes so much more sense. Love the spaghetti western sounds.
Personally, I really like Stan Ridgeway, and Wall of Voodoo was better with him at the forefront, but I will say this. "Far Side of Crazy" is a great song, easily one of WoV's best ever songs.
what a track what a song in this band everything is absolutely wonderful their sound their look their extravagance they deserve the greatest respect they have been able to create music that goes straight to the heart they are absolutely brilliant wonderful they have their own style this is absolutely fantastic music that always i will forever listen to this track and pure musical orgasm fuck it fills my heart with happiness i want to cry from emotion music is what unites us great wall of voodoo i love you very much hello to all wall of voodoo fans all around the world from me here from northern italy !!!!! music is life and the greatest therapy of happiness wall of voodoo in my opinion are good for what they have musically created this song to something magical the more you listen the more you want to listen to it endlessly forever music is the best therapy for happiness precisely because it makes you feel good of course it can also do the opposite not to transmit anything to you in fact each of us experiences different sensations in listening to certain musical genres as far as I am concerned the walls of voodoo are all really great their four albums are absolutely amazing great rest in peace dear (Marc Moreland) and dear (Joe Nanini) a big hello to all wall of voodoo fans around the world from northern italy i will listen to wall of voodoo music as long as i live because it is inside of me in the depths of my soul
@@marksumner9948 hello unfortunately I do not understand everything you wrote to me the google translate does not always work perfectly I hope you understand
Privileged to experience Wall of Voodoo in Selina's Coogee Bay Hotel, Sydney, I think winter of 87? Cowpunk what a show, as I was mesmerised by the talcum powder flying off everywhere under the strobe lights.
They were like 30 years ahead in terms of their style and perhaps even the sound. Kind of weird today seeing people dress like that as the norm,loses its meaning. People we're very straight laced not rock and roll people back then
I agree with you and that is the reason that they did not become more popular back in the 1980's . Their music and style sounds totally contemporary to me , Best band I have ever seen live in nearly 50 years of gig going and I saw them numerous times in England in the 1980's.
Always loved this song. Video was filmed in some places I remember- Vasquez Rocks from all the old westerns (and a Flintstones movie, and Captain Kirk's fight with the lizard guy), that mural on Hollywood Blvd and Old Trapper's Lodge behind the Burbank airport, a run down motel that was like a psychotic Knott's Berry Farm with creepy old west sculptures built by the owner. And I've always thought Andy Prieboy's Wall of Voodoo was every bit as good as Stan Ridgeway's, if less Devo-y sounding...
22 year old here, remember being 4,5,6 years old. Heading to Mount arapalies, with my old man for a rock climbing trip.8 hour trip With one cassette in the car.... best of stanridgeway. Drive she said, piledriver, the big heat....my all time favourite as a kid "camouflage". Can memerise every lyric to Every song till this day i reckon. Really Inspired my musical choices today. Shout out to dad for growing me up on stan ridgeway, rage against the machine. And Rob zombie, we might not always get along but one thing that we will always have In common - music
I must thank RU-vid for re-introducing me to Wall of Voodoo...I owned Call of the West, and loved it, but IMO, Prieboy's Voodoo really fleshed out and matured the whole Western Wave/Cowboy Goth idiom the band was working in...Fantastic stuff! :)
This song just crossed my mind, and i just gave it a shout out.I forgot Wall of Voodoo did this.It was a long time ago.Excellent song.God bless my memory!
I prefer Andi Prieboy over Stan Ridgeway for Wall of Voodoo. Andi's singing & lyrics are so much deeper & darker then Stan's. To me Stan comes off like a folk version of Weird Al Yankovic. Another great song off this album is Blackboard Sky.
The worst thing that happened to this band was Mexican Radio because it hid their best stuff. This whole album is a classic....I burned through so many cassette tapes, making my mix of these guys and several others.
@@bigpun7916 It's really about Hinckley (first person). Hinckley is supposedly the one in the song that's referencing his feelings about what Chapman did.
@@bigpun7916 "I shot an actor (Reagan was a B-movie actor before going into politics) for an actress (Jodie Foster), but he lived to make a joke" "But I envied his assailant (Chapman) when I visited the shrine". Chapman killed Lennon nearly 4 months before Hinckley tried to kill Ronald Reagan, and the song proposes the idea that Lennon's murder gave him greater confidence to carry it out.
@@ComaDave There is also the line about "shot two other men who could have been/ the bodies of my folks", which is almost certainly referring to Press Secretary James Brady and a DC police officer who were hit by Hinckley's bullets and shown in newspaper photos lying on the ground. A third man, a Secret Service agent named McCarthy, was also shot, but didn't appear in the photos or news coverage nearly as much and I assume was omitted from reference either because WoV didn't know or the lyric didn't flow right.
This kicks my ass this song. Why do people worry about Stan and the group ? Both are good anyway. We have seen this also with DLR and Van Halen and others too. If a band is good and a singer is good why argue ? I don't get it ! WOV is good with and without Stan. Stan is good solo as well as with the group. Same as the ELO and Jeff Lynne thing. Its all good music anyway. Come on people. Yeah we all have different opinions and tastes. This is how wars are started. Life is too short man !
I recall that actions by some, towards others, at my former first, Secondary (High) School, between 1983 & 1985, saw me leave there age 15 in 1985, the school was toxic. When I first heard this song in 1986 here in Australia, it immediately resonated with me, I liked it then, and still like it now
Their version of Do it again is another winner too. I too like Stan Ridgeway an awful lot. However WOV were and are a classic American band no it's and buts........
Kept thinking of this song singing the words. I have spinal bone pain like a MOTHER!! but singing these words provided-gave me a special new energy and got my mind off the pain and nice and juiced up with a GREAT feeling!!!! Thanks Wall of Voodoo!! I am 55 years young and love the 80's and 90's, never anything like it never will be!!!!! THE BEST MY MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I plan on spending thousands and getting a kick ass stereo system and jamming this mother endlessly!!!! -Your man Mike in Houston. WOO-Stone Texas baby-nothing but kick ass shout-outs, love, great energy, and respect. KEEP rockin this mother til the wheels fall off.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I saw that line up at Radio City in New York. Two of my favorite artists of the time. The Vive La Rock tour! I still listen to both of those artists today! Wall of Voodoo is one of my favorite bands. Seeing Stan Ridgway live is an amazing treat. If you get a chance to catch him live, by all means do it. I've seen live several times and he is a treasure.
@@SeanGrantstormpinball I missed that tour as a junior in high school at 17. Was grounded. I felt less crappy when I noticed many WOV setlists that omitted "Mona". Like the best song on the record. Ant's space glam motif looked rather enticing even if it was one less drummer.
@@deathmetaldouglas69 It was the Vive La Rock tour. I still have the program. Mona is one of my favorite WoV songs too! The set was very similar to the set on the Ugly Americans live album. They did "Crazy New York" instead of "Crazy Melbourne" in order to ingratiate themselves with the crowd. :). I'm going to do a Wall of Voodoo ? Stan Ridgway top 25 list on my channel soon. One of my favorite bands of all time. I'm doing my Devo Top 100 first.
SEVEN DAYS IN SAMMYSTOWN.Way underrated as an album,Wall Of Voodoo way underrated as a band.Listening to this makes me miss all the music from that strange period from the late mid-80's to the early 1990's before anyone really knew what was going on in music and that obnoxious pimping of music by the media started up again in earnest.If Rolling Stone had left grunge the fuck alone,I'm not saying Kurt Cobain might still be alive,but he might have felt less exploited.
I'm a big Stan fan, no doubt about, but this is a beautiful, new incarnation and I'm still loving this album. This is one crazy, danceable and rocking song. Just as pertinent as Mexican Radio in my eyes, but opinions are always a cent per dime.
Carl Jenson Stan R is a great vocalist and word smith. But he did not compose the the tracks on the first two albums . The Morelands and Chas Gray did.. That came from them by the way and I have not heard anything from anybody else for me to question that view. Preferred what WOV did after SR left to Stan's more poppy commercial sound
Love Stan Ridgway. (Big Heat is one of my favorite albums of the 80's.) However, that has no bearing whatsoever on the fact that Sammystown was an utterly fantastic album.
Somebody brought up the lyrics to "Pumped Up Kicks" and my mind went to this song as a frame of reference for how to do "crazy killer" songs *well*. It's all about tone and a sense of musical painting. While "Pumped Up Kicks" just sounds like a normal dance song that happens to have sinister lyrics, "Far Side of Crazy" is an example of the song matching the mood perfectly. The way Andy and the band builds up to "can't stay a boy in no man's land!" is almost a Broadway musical moment.
Any idea who plays the clown in this? He looks like he might be familiar without the makeup, and gives a better performance than some walk-on schlub would.
This is when the band 'Jumped the Shark'. They lose Stan Ridgway who actually formed the band, and then they hire a model to sing so they would sound more like every other band in the 1980s. Stan Ridgway, blames drugs. However, this songs reeks of IRS mismanagement and probably paid Ridgway to leave. It's no wonder they only had one hit when Stan was the lead and wrote the songs I remember at the time thinking this is a parody of Wall of Voodoo.
It's 2020 and this is still one of my favorite songs of all time. But then again 7 Days in Sammystown is my fav. album of all time. Music will never be like this again.
I wouldn't mind owning this on CD for when I rock out painting or something. Funny there big hit "Mexican Radio" popped up automatically after listening to some Belinda Carliale classic on facebook live. I've lived in the same apt. for 18 years now....I remember when I first moved in here I recorded "Mexican Radio" on a mix tape. I still have that tape. The thing about time is its circular......it comes back at you when your ready. Sometime its in a weeks time sometimes its 18 years but I'm confident that there is something greater than myself that intended it that way. I have to believe that.
Why over think and over analyze? Fact is, only "We of GenX" were lucky enough to experience WoV, Billy Idol, Psychedelic Furs, The Cure, Agent Orange, and so many more. The new wave and hair bands defined the 80's AND our teen years. 1985 and 16 yrs old. Skate by week day, surf all weekend. What a time to live. Life was never better than in the 80s.
Only "we of Gen X" were lucky enough? So those that were before Gen X were shuffling around in slippers and a dressing gown? Screw you and your conceited attitude.
They should have changed the band name. I liked Andy Prieboy, but this was a new band. Chas T. Gray and Marc Moreland were holdovers, and Bruce Moreland was in and out. Different sound though.
I think this song might have been an inspiration for Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy". It's obviously musically much different, but they both have a spaghetti western theme in the music and the lyrics of both songs compare singing in a band to being crazy.
Wow! Not a bad song ... 40 years ago, as a die-hard WOV fan, I was so disappointed by this (in a record store, no less) that I couldn't listen to it again. Time heals I guess
