Meaning of “Mexican Radio” by Wall of Voodoo
As the title implies, this Wall of Voodoo song serves as an ode to “Mexican radio”. The singer, Stan Ridgway, presents himself as someone who is infatuated by radio stations from this Latin American country, as in being a regular listener – even leaving them on while he sleeps – despite the fact that he can barely make out what they are saying. Indeed he first conceptualized the song due to an affinity he and Wall of Voodoo apparently developed for such media stations being broadcast from Tijuana, a major Mexican city which shares its border with California.
The lyrics of this song are rather easy to follow. They basically feature the singer expressing a love for radio being emitted “from south of the border”, i.e. Mexico, despite him admitting that he “can’t understand” what is being said. So in that regard, we can say this song is actually based on a typical American, as in someone who doesn’t comprehend Spanish, enjoying “Mexican radio”. Moreover he expresses a desire to actually be “in Tijuana” and while there “eating barbecued iguana”. While this may sound comical, it should be noted that iguana meat is actually enjoyed by some in that part of world.
So ultimately we can conclude that this song, in a roundabout way, is actually a shoutout to Mexico.
Who wrote “Mexican Radio”?
It was written by Wall of Voodoo frontman Stan Ridgway, and its producer is Richard Mazda.
Commercial Success
“Mexican Radio” peaked at number 58 on America’s Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 64 in Britain (the UK Singles Chart). The song also made an appearance on the music charts in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, where for the most part it performed better than in either Wall of Voodoo’s native US or the UK.
Like many hit songs from the early 1980’s, “Mexican Radio” can attribute its success to its video getting ample airplay on MTV. In fact Stan Ridgway recounts that radio stations were even reluctant to play the song before it blew up on MTV.
Release Date of “Mexican Radio”
“Mexican Radio” was released as the second single from the Call of the West album in January of 1983. Call of the West was Wall of Voodoo’s second album.
Since then, it has appeared on a number of compilation albums celebrating the 1980’s or new wave music.
Two Versions of “Mexican Radio”
There are two different versions of this song – one for the album and another for its single release. Both feature samples which were recorded directly from actual Mexican radio stations.
