The Ugly Americans in Australia

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The Ugly Americans in Australia
WallofVoodoo Americans.jpg
Live album by
Wall of Voodoo
Released1988
Recorded1987 in Melbourne, Australia and Bullhead City, AZ
GenreDark wave, post-punk
Length46:38
LabelIRS
ProducerWall of Voodoo and Barry Rudolph
Wall of Voodoo chronology
Happy Planet
(1987) 		The Ugly Americans in Australia
(1988) 		The Index Masters
(1991)

The Ugly Americans in Australia is a live album by American new wave band Wall of Voodoo, mostly recorded at The Palace in Melbourne during the group's Australian tour in August 1987.

Background[]

Bassist Bruce Moreland had departed the group again by this stage, and in order for Chas T. Gray to play bass in addition to his normal keyboard duties, the group took on guest keyboardist Roger Mason from popular Australian band The Models.

Two of the album's tracks, "Living in the Red" and "The Heart Never Can Tell", were recorded at Big Joe's Bar 'n' Grill in Bullhead City, Arizona. The CD issue included another two tracks from Bullhead: "The Grass is Greener" and an idiosyncratic cover of Woody Guthrie's "Pretty Boy Floyd."

The album was dedicated to renowned German producer Conny Plank, who had died in December 1987. Plank had not worked with Wall of Voodoo, but his productions for such German progressive/experimental bands as Kraftwerk, Neu!, Cluster, Harmonia and Guru Guru were an influence on the group's music.

The album title makes reference to the bestselling 1958 expose The Ugly American, by Eugene Burdick and William J. Lederer. The front cover painting was by iconic artist Robert Williams, featuring a vicious clown beating another with his fists while female conjoined twins in skimpy attire look on with astonished looks. The full title of Williams' painting is "An Allegory of Contradictions Revealing Serendipity Purveyors of Mirth Presenting a Tableau of Blood and Grease Paint in a Circusian Clash to the Death", while the colloquial title is "Duelling Bimbos."

This album completed the band's contract with IRS Records, and they disbanded by mid-1988.

Track listing[]

Original LP[]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Red Light"Stan Ridgway, Marc Moreland, Bruce Moreland, Joe Nanini, Charles Gray3:45
2."Crazy, Crazy Melbourne"Jim Field, Andy Prieboy0:53
3."Wrong Way to Hollywood"Gray, Field, Prieboy4:37
4."Living in the Red"Gray, Prieboy3:50
5."Blackboard Sky"Prieboy4:45
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Heart Can Never Tell"Gray, Neil Leukhardt, M. and B. Moreland4:35
2."Far Side of Crazy"Prieboy4:17
3."Ring of Fire"June Cash, Merle Kilgore5:47
4."Mexican Radio"Ridgway, M. Moreland, Nanini, Gray4:44

Original CD[]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Red Light"Stan Ridgway, Marc Moreland, Bruce Moreland, Joe Nanini, Charles Gray3:45
2."Crazy, Crazy Melbourne"Jim Field, Andy Prieboy0:53
3."Wrong Way to Hollywood"Gray, Field, Prieboy4:37
4."Living in the Red"Gray, Prieboy3:50
5."Blackboard Sky"Prieboy4:45
6."Pretty Boy Floyd"Woody Guthrie5:19
7."The Heart Can Never Tell"Gray, Neil Leukhardt, M. and B. Moreland4:35
8."Far Side of Crazy"Prieboy4:17
9."Ring of Fire"June Cash, Merle Kilgore5:47
10."Mexican Radio"Ridgway, M. Moreland, Nanini, Gray4:44
11."The Grass Is Greener"Gray, Leukhardt, M. and B. Moreland, Prieboy4:40

Personnel[]

Wall of Voodoo

  • Chas T. Gray - keyboards, backing vocals, bass guitar
  • Ned Leukhardt - drums, percussion
  • Marc Moreland - guitars
  • Andy Prieboy - vocals, keyboards

"With special guest appearance by":

References[]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-04-19. Retrieved 2012-11-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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