Ah, love that song.
Also, the video is clearly the influence behind the 11th Doctor’s outfit.
I love every song on that album. It’s worth listening to the end of “Call of the West”.
Heck, it’s worth listening to all of them. The Charles Burns nightmare of “Factory”, the frenetic ode to procrastination “Tomorrow”, the kid in a fort fun of “Spy World”…
Thank you, I forgot how much I LOVE this song! Perfect for a “shirk work and smirk” Friday afternoon . . .
And for anyone who hadn’t figured it out yet (i.e., me, until my brother mentioned it to my disbelieving self a year or so ago), that was 30 years ago (had to do the math again to make sure).
BTW, Stan Ridgeways solo Album Mosquitoes is brilliant. lots of story telling songs with clever lyrics and catchy melodies. Check it out.
As is The Big Heat. The guy’s a genius. Also check out The Psycho Ex Game, a wonderful novel by Merrill Markoe & Andy Prieboy - the guy who took over as the singer of Wall of Voodoo when Stan left.
One of those songs I turn up to 11…
Great Song. Should get a weekly Spotify playlist or something similar for all to share.
Found this song due to the relatively recent cover by Authority Zero
I could be totally off base here, but it sounds like they’re aiming for something between Wall of Voodoo and Celtic Frost.
One of many Celtic Frost “covers” that sound almost nothing like the original. 
Just to prove my point, here’s their cover of David Bowie’s Heroes…
And this from the band that has probably one of the most covered Swedish metal tracks ever.
EDIT: s/ere/eir/
I think you must have found some of my old mix tapes, though not complete without some let’s active:
I gotta admit, even over on my side of the FM dial (more KNAC/KMET than KROQ), 1983 was a very good year for music.
This would have been an amazing show to attend, even though 13-year-old Donald wouldn’t have appreciated it as much as he would later in life:
And that made me need to pull out Ridgway’s live "Call of the West"s. BRRRR.
(Actually, just a whole bunch of live Ridgway at this point. I’m quite alright with that.)
“A Mission in Life” is one of my favorite songs, bar none. A near perfect piece. Back in 2010, he did a show here in Houston, and he closed his set with that. I was at a table about five feet from him, and there I am trying to not break down bawling.
(And that there’s never been a bidding war for the movie rights to “Peg and Pete and Me” still confounds me.)
Stan Ridgway, it must be noted, is a really, really nice guy.
There was a glorious moment after his show when I went to the merch table, and his swag-assistant saw my little satchel. “Is that an iPad?” (This was a few months after release, and they were STILL in somewhat short supply. It was in a skin, in a case. Maybe “magical” IS right - that’s some pervasive aura it’s got.) When I affirmed that it was, Bob the Swag-Master told me to show it to Stan - he’d been interested in the thing as a portable and was curious about it. I get up to the front and Bob says “Stan, Rick - check this out!” So I got to do an iPad demo and discussion with Stan for a few minutes, and talked a little bit about being in the Apple ecosystem. He asked what I had on my desk, and when I mentioned it was an Intel iMac, he mentioned that he was still on a dual G5 tower that was developing too many nervous ticks during recording, and was going to probably have to upgrade in the next year or so.
(He then related something a buddy of his by the name of Mark Mothersbaugh (!!!ELEVENTY-ONE!!!) said - “We’d be rich if it weren’t for all this FUCKING EQUIPMENT we have to buy!”)
We chatted a little bit more, and as I began to leave, he asked me my name, shook my hand firmly and said what a pleasure it was.
That I did not explode in fanboy squee all over the place is still beyond me.
(Also worth noting : one of The Spouse and my “our songs”? “Drive, She Said”. 'Cause it’s just that fab.)
OMG! I totally agree! (I live the pun “bar none” Such a perfect song. And Peg and Pete and me sounds like a bit like Body Heat.And it makes me wonder if the Mission in life guy and the Peg and Pete and Me guy are connected.
It probably t was used as an episode of some Law and Order franchise with no credit. And the Newspaper song too. Film noir all over it.
In fact that whole album is gold, not a stinker in the mix. I don’t know who you are or where you are bibulb, but I’ll bet if we met in real life we would be friends. And then Stan would write a song about our epic falling out…
P.S. I live in SF.
Glad to see Stan is still out and about. He’s a good guy. My one “brush with greatness” would be meeting him at an Xmas party in 82 I believe when I was in high school. Short story long, my best friend at the time, his sister was engaged to Stan. We all ended up going to Xmas mass together. He made us laugh and we got dirty looks. 
I later set his digital watch for him.
There’s always The Postman Always Rings Twice
‘Factory’ was my favorite on that album. I’ve never been able to look at a bandsaw without thinking of that it
