Background
Wall of Voodoo lead singer and player of organ, synthesizer and harmonica, Stan Ridgway and guitarist Marc Moreland traced the inspiration for the song to listening to high-wattage unregulated AM Mexican radio stations (among them XERF, XEG, and XERB).
Marc Moreland was the first to begin writing the song, which in a recorded interview in the '90s he stated, "It was basically just me singing 'I'm on a Mexican radio' over and over again". Moreland stated when he played it for his mother she hated it because of his repetitious lyrics. Stan Ridgway co-wrote with Moreland to finish the song, and added all the verse's lyrics to Moreland's chorus and guitar lick as well as the "mariachi" harmonica melody in the song's middle breakdown. When performing live with Wall Of Voodoo, Stan usually played the mariachi melody via an organ/synthesizer and Bill Noland used a synthesizer to play the melody when performing with Wall Of Voodoo in the 1982–1983 years.
The 7" single mix differs in a few areas from the album cut:
- Ridgway's vocals are mixed differently, with a more pronounced echo effect on certain lines.
- A loud Spanish-speaking DJ voice is present on both versions, but each version's voice is different and is saying different words.
- A significantly louder snare drum part is noticeable in the song's chorus.
- Ridgway chants "radio, radio, oleo, radio" at the song's end, rather than "radio, radio, radio, radio" as he does on the album version. Because of this, the single mix is sometimes called the "oleo" mix.
- A pulsing, mangled synth noise is heard at the end of the song on the album version, but not in the 7" mix. Instead, this sound is heard at the beginning of the track, as well as during the song's instrumental break.
It was rumored that Wall Of Voodoo drummer Joe Nanini was very difficult to work with at times in the studio when the group were recording their 1982 LP, Call Of The West, on which "Mexican Radio" appeared. On "Mexican Radio" in particular, it has been said that Joe was a little upset when Richard Mazda suggested a snare drum hit on the chorus of the song. Joe ultimately refused to cooperate, leading Mazda to recording the snare part himself, and with the band's acceptance the snare appeared in the final mix of the song.
Read more about this topic: Mexican Radio
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