Stan Ridgway, real name Stanard Ridgway, is an American singer-songwriter whose particularity, apart from his distinctive voice, is to have been the singer of the group 'Wall Of Voodoo'.
A group that he will leave from 1983 to launch a solo career that he started alongside a former member of the group 'Police', namely Stewart Copeland, on the title "Don't box in me".
The real solo takeoff will take place 3 years later with the release of his first album "The big heat", an album with global success and which will give him the biggest success of his entire career in terms of Singles with the enormous title "Camouflage".
A huge success that he will not succeed in repeating later when his new opus "Mosquitos" is released three years later in 1989. Album that will come out in extremis with the production of a big-caliber title called "Calling out to Carol".
Other albums and other Singles will be released later but without managing to know the same level of success as their predecessors.
We will also find him from the mid-90s in a trio called 'Drywall', in the company of his own wife Pietra Wexstun and Ivan Knight.
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others...) :
80s Decade :
Don’t box me in 1983
The big heat 1985
Salesman 1985
Drive she shaid 1985
Camouflage 1986
Walkin' home alone 1986
End of the line 1987
Goin’ southbound 1989
Calling out to Carol 1989
Lonely town 1989
90s Decade :
I wanna be a boss 1991
Snaketrain 1991
Right trough you 1991
Big dumb town 1996
Knife and fork 1996
Gone the distance 1996
What a beautiful morning 1998
My way 1998
Deep blue polka dot 1999
Train of thought 1999
2000s Decade :
Mission bell 2000
The cloven bunny 2003
Baptism of Jajo 2003
Blood suit in four movements 2003
Into the sun 2004
Our Manhattan moment 2004
Monsters of the Id 2004
Mr. Moon man 2009
Wondered what'd it be like 2009
Mountain top 2009
2010s Decade :
Behind the mask 2010
This town called fate 2010
Wandering star 2010
Across the border 2012
We never close 2012
The drowning man 2012
Priestess of the promised land 2016
Blue oceans at dusk 2016
Pirates 2016
Wall Of Voodoo adventure :
Tracks :
1983...the Wall Of Voodoo adventure is over, here he is now in solo mode, at least not quite yet since we find him here in the company of Stewart Copeland on this title...
1985... the real solo start here it is. A new adventure opens for the singer and he intends to show that he can absolutely exist on his own...
1985...it comes from a good feeling but for the moment the big take-off has still not happened. So he will have to work again and again to get there...
1985...he's working on it anyway, it must be said. He still manages to glean a few minor successes here and there, which is already something...
1986...and the big take-off, here it finally is. It took him a while to get it but it's now done with this title that will offer him on a platter the long-awaited global consecration. HU-GE !
1986...a big take-off followed by a near landing in the wake of this new title which will go almost unnoticed...
1987...a dizzying fall that is confirmed title after title. We didn't think he would come back down the mountain so quickly...
1989...it will take him 2 years to more or less regain his senses. Here he is back in any case in a form that we will call certain...
1989...certain since he will get here a new top hit worldwide. New top hit that no one expected but he got there in any case...
1989...unfortunately the return to grace was short-lived with a new title that went unnoticed to say the least. Hard law of the trade...
1991...a new drop that doesn't stop him from trying to move on to the next decade. And he's right to do so since he's going to succeed in ranking this new title...
1991...that's the good news. Because there will also be some bad news since it will be the last title he will manage to classify...
1991...this title will not even be released as a Single but it would have been a shame to hide it as they say. Here it is brought back into the spotlight as it should be...
1996...this time he will disappear from the radar for almost 5 years before returning in the middle of the decade in a form that we will describe as relative...
1996...not enough in any case to hope to catch up with the pack. The best years are well and truly behind him and nothing, and no one, can change that...
1996...he in any case continues to believe in it and it doesn't matter that success is no longer necessarily there. As long as there is life there is hope as they say...
1998... that's what he tells himself every day and he considers in any case that the adventure is worth continuing. It's not the basic fans who are going to complain...
1998...a version that is at least original of the ultra-famous 'My way'. Nothing extraordinary but a cover that is a little out of the ordinary...
2000...he decides to move on to the next decade to see if the grass is greener elsewhere. It comes from a good feeling but it won't change much...
2000... he will have at least tried and who could blame him ? Because we know well, in music, everything is always possible...
2000...especially since what he continues to deliver is far from being unworthy, that's clear. So he might as well go as far as possible under these conditions, he says to himself...
2003...here he is now with his wife, just to see if the adventure wouldn't be even better as a couple...
2003...a new musical adventure that has little to do with what he did solo, to say the least...
2003...an original adventure whatever one may think and which takes him above all on paths that he is not really used to frequenting...
2004...here he is back solo. He will not give up until the end and will try all possible projects whether they are done alone or with 2...
2004...so we're certainly not done with him. It's clear that as long as he enjoys what he does there's no reason for him to throw in the towel prematurely...
2004...nothing and no one can stop him anyway. He goes through fashions and decades as he pleases and the lack of success doesn't matter...
2009...as long as the core fans continue to follow him he feels he has a duty to continue the adventure as far as possible...
2009...here he is again in gallant company once again. A multifaceted artist who will amaze us until the end with his ability to go into projects that are, to say the least, original...
2009...but coming from him, nothing surprising. He will never have done anything like everyone else and it is not now that he is going to change...
2010...and another decade, one ! A career that began a hell of a lot of years ago and that still hasn't come to an end at first glance...
2010...with each new title we say to ourselves that it may be the last but he always comes back again and again. A desire to never give up that undeniably commands respect...
2010...for how much longer, good question. In any case for the moment he absolutely does not seem to have decided to hang up his gloves for good...
2012...the proof with this new opus. He still has things to tell at first sight and especially to make listen to and this for the greatest happiness of his basic fans...
2012... on the other hand it is clear that he does not really stick to the latest musical trends of the moment and this has not been the case for a lot of years. Not easy in these conditions to attract a new audience...
2012...so it's a fairly solitary journey that he's been on for some time and it looks set to continue like this for a few more years at first glance...
2016...one shot alone, one shot for two. An original way to avoid routine and share pleasant moments in good company...
2016...especially since he dares to do things as a couple that he wouldn't dare to do alone and that also allows him to last over time, what more could you ask for...
2016...normally the next project should be solo. Now it remains to be seen how soon he plans to tackle it...
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Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :
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