Andy Prieboy at the Getty

When I was in high school, my Aunt gave me an EP that her boyfriend had recommended called "Wall of Voodoo" that he had told her was selling really well at the record store he worked at. I liked it-it was kind of dark and spooky, as the name "Wall of Voodoo" would imply. The version of "Ring of Fire" was pretty cool, but I was more partial to the song, "Can't Make Love." Either way, I played it often, and even ventured to the Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood in '80 or '81, and Johnny Thunders came on for an encore of "Johnny B. Goode."

At about the same time, a compilation album called "The Rising Stars of San Francisco" came out, and featured a song from a band called Eye Protection. They did a catchy, new wavish number called "Take Her Where The Boys Are," and I liked it a lot as well. Other than both bands being keyboard driven, I wouldn't say that they had much in common.

I saw Wall of Voodoo several times after, including the days following the their first LP, "Dark Continent," when I took my girlfriend to a late show at the Roxy that maybe 60 people were at, and the opening acts were a band so bad that I don't remember what they were called, and some sort of cross-dressing opera singer. "Me and My Dad," was my favorite song off of that one.

The next album (Call of the West) unleashed "Mexican Radio,"which got a great video on MTV, and made Wall of Voodoo relatively big stars. I saw the Stan Ridgeway led Voodoo for the last time at the Country Club in Reseda, in '82 or '83, in a room that was packed, leading Ridgeway to make some snarky comments about where were we all when their last album tanked. I shouted back that "I was there!"

Then Ridgeway and drummer Joe Nanini left, which I thought would kill the band. Ridgeway and Nanini seemed to have all the personality of the band, talking to each other and the audience all throughout the sets. They were fun to watch-the other guys seemed to just stand there.

While I was attending UCLA, in I think '85, Voodoo played the on-campus non-bar (UCLA was a 'dry' campus, which I remember thinking was kind of lame, since I had just turned 21), and Andy Prieboy had joined the band. Voodoo also had a new drummer, Ned Leukhardt, who played a conventional drum kit, which I didn't care for. Nanini had been more of a percussionist, playing wood blocks, trash can lids and other percussion-type items, with the rhythm coming from cheap drum machines. Still, they sounded good. Prieboy looked like a long-haired western dandy, but he had a deep, rich voice unlike Ridgeway's whine, and I remember thinking that some of the new songs were pretty catchy, especially "Far Side of Crazy."

Wall of Voodoo always had a bit of a western feel-not Nashville, but more like Ennio Morricone western soundscapes, but with Ridgeway, Voodoo sounded a bit sinister. Prieboy rocked 'em up a bit. I bought the first Prieboy led Voodoo album, "Seven Days in Sammystown," and thought the Prieboy penned songs were the standouts. This Prieboy led version of Voodoo soldiered on for a few more years, but I never purchased their final two albums.

In 1990, Tomorrow Wendy dropped on KROQ, and I thought it was a great song, in a style that I don't usually listen to. A piano based ballad, which interestingly references Kennedy the same way "Far Side of Crazy" referenced John Lennon, the song was about a prostitute dying of AIDS, still a new disease at the time. Johnette Napolitano sang back-up, and Concrete Blonde also released a version, but I don't think I ever heard it at the time. I bought the album, "...upon my wicked son," and found that all the songs appealed to me, though I think the word play of "Maybe That's Not Her Head" is what I really enjoyed. (Did I just see her nod her head/Is that not her head?/Did she nod her head?/It could be someone else instead/Maybe that's not her head! I thought I'd know her anywhere/Those beautiful eyes and flaxen hair/That must be her, I could swear/But maybe that's not her head).

"Maybe That's Not Her Head" was indicative of the style that Prieboy would begin to pursue. It's a mini-opera of sorts, a music hall song which conjures up images of performers on a tiny stage working Shakespearean type word-play to get laughs and keep the show moving.

I saw Prieboy doing a solo show at Bogarts, a small club in Long Beach. For reasons lost in the mists of time, I didn't bring the girlfriend I had at the time, but instead brought her cousin's Hungarian girlfriend, who was staying with me before I drove her to Berkeley to stay with her boyfriend. English was actually her third language, but she enjoyed Prieboy's mostly piano based performance. Prieboy was entertaining, singing songs and telling humorous stories, blasting a heckler who wanted to hear a Ridgeway-era Wall of Voodoo song and generally having a good time on stage.

Rita D'Albert

In '95, after his second album, "Sins of our Fathers," I went to see him again, playing with Rita D'Albert, who played the flute and occasionally the bass. Prieboy was dressed like a steam punk dandy, while D'Albert was in a sexy 50's pin-up fashion dress. (Different girlfriend this time, one who's grandfather played the flute in church. "Grandpa would like the flautist." Her grandfather was an 80 something retired elementary school principal, and I didn't see her being the old man's type. Her response, "He likes a pretty girl"). Prieboy had a way of working the stage, and though I didn't know it at the time, he was working on the musical, White Trash Wins Lotto. I have to admit that I spent a great deal of time staring at D'Albert, wondering how she could breath into the flute in a dress as tight and short as the one she was wearing, and how she could maneuver without giving us a different type of show.

About this time, from what I can figure, his record label, Dr. Dream Records, went belly-up, being sold to Polygram, and Prieboy seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle.

And I moved away from LA to Ventura, so though Prieboy would pop up in LA, I was busy doing other things. I did read The Psycho Ex Game, a novel he cowrote with former David Letterman writer and girlfriend, Merrill Markoe, which seems to be about the start of their relationship. According to the internet, Markoe and Prieboy live together someplace in LA.

Since I follow Prieboy on Facebook, I was alerted to the Getty show, and since I missed his summer shows, I figured free was a good price, and the Getty seems like it'd be fun. I burned an MP3 to listen to on the way down, and so my wife would have some idea as to what she was going to hear. I found my black, artsy clothes, and wrote all of the above in advance.

Prieboy

Now, I'm back from the Getty show. It was fancy schmancy, too, a great auditorium for a free show, and I'd happily go see anything that's taking place in that room. A few notes about Saturday Night at the Getty. First, and most important, the shows are free! You can reserve tickets in advance, but seats are first come first serve on the night of the show. I reserved my tickets two nights ago, arrived on this rainy Saturday evening at about 6:30 and checked in at the theatre. The lady found my name on her print out, and then asked, "Would you like good seats?" I briefly entertained the idea of asking for the worst seats in the house, something behind a pillar in the next room if possible, and then said, "Yes."

She handed me two tickets on the aisle in the second row. If I had to pick seats out for myself, these are the two that I would have picked without hesitation. The seats were situated in such a way that I looked straight at the stage, without having to look around anyone's head. They were awesome.

Since I didn't have to pay for tickets, I opted to take the wife to the Getty Restaurant, where we had some appetizers. Here's the thing-I don't go to nice restaurants all that often, and really can't think of the last time I've been to one. I knew that everything was pricey, but we were both hungry, so I figured something from the appetizer menu would tide us over, and we could eat after. I ordered the Grilled Squid and the Cheese Board, along with two sodas, which came out to $40. It was good-small portions, of course, but tasty. The room itself was very nice, darkly lit with art on the walls and a view of the city. I'd never take the kids there, but I'd like to arrive earlier and try a meal.

We finished and walked across the campus just in time, taking a program. The title of this show was Andy Prieboy-A Thousand Gorgeous Lies: A Musical Dissertation on the Inevitable Collision Course of Rock and Romance. I checked Andy's band, and it featured Tony Kinman who I saw when he was in Rank and File back in '84, and David Kendrick, Alan Myers's replacement in Devo. That seemed like a pretty solid backing band.

The program even had the set list for the show! I recognized all the songs, and noticed a couple of my Prieboy favorites, "Psycho Ex", and "Can Not Not-The Stalker Song."

Prieboy hit the stage, hamming it up for an audience of obvious fans-the auditorium was packed! Dressed in a dark, double breasted 8 button coat and amazingly skinny trousers, Prieboy had the look of a 19th Century Mad Professor. His band set up, and for the opener, a song that I hadn't heard before but seemed a great introduction-"The Same Great Guy With A Great New Look."

Playing for about 90 minutes, Prieboy told stories between songs, showed artwork from Judith Schaechter, and seemed to be enjoying himself, which is an interesting contrast to the somewhat dour nature of his songs. He also added three songs not on the set list for an encore-the big hit, "Tomorrow Wendy," and "Build a Better Garden" and a sing along version of "Joliet."

As an aside, there's a lot of Catholic imagery in Prieboy's songs, and he alluded to a Romanian Grandmother. Romanians tend to be Eastern Orthodox, which seems like Catholicism on steroids.

I was trying to figure out what appealed to me so much, because Prieboy's music is unlike what I normally listen to. After seeing him, I think it might be that though the songs are a bit down, he himself seems pretty happy. That seems to reflect my personality a bit too-generally happy with a negative side. Also, I like the style of drumming Kendricks was using, which is light on the snare and cymbals, but heavy on the tom-toms and high hat, jazzy in it's way. I know that I appreciate a good double-meaning, which seems to be in a lot of Prieboy's lyrics. And he's always been responsive to an audience-something I remember from when I first saw him 30 years ago.

Snuck this pic at the beginning of the show

Again, a solid show, and I'd go see Prieboy again, even if I have to pay money. If your a Prieboy fan, his shows are always good. If your not a fan, at least he's entertaining and not too loud.

I took the one picture that I labeled. The other two concert shots were pulled from Facebook, one with the Andy Prieboy in stained glass, and the other from up high, during the song "Build a Better Garden", which he played during the encore. I'm not sure why, but Blogger won't separate the those two pics and the one of Prieboy with glasses, so I left them where they are.

Oh, and one other quick note-This is my 100th blog post! If I were a TV show, I'd now have enough to syndicate! Thanks for reading, and respond if you find something interesting!