Andy Prieboy (born April 17, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and author. He was lead singer of the band

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single " Mexican Radio" became a hit on MTV ...

from 1983 to 1988. He went on to record solo albums, musicals and wrote a novel.

Life and career

Prieboy was born in Los Angeles and raised in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...

. Early in his career, he was in the San Francisco art band Eye Protection, which had one track on the compilation ''Rising Stars of San Francisco'': "Take Her Where The Boys Are". They also recorded a 7-inch single called "Elroy Jetson" with a

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of "Go Go Girl" on Eleph Records. In 1983, he replaced

Stan Ridgway Stanard "Stan" Ridgway (born April 5, 1954) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and film and television composer known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums. He was the original le ...

as lead vocalist of

. '' Seven Days in Sammystown'' was the first Wall of Voodoo album to feature Prieboy, which was followed by ''

Happy Planet Happy Planet is a private company in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, known for making organic juices and smoothies. The company was started in 1994 by Randal Ius and Gregor Robertson. They originally started out with one farm producing car ...

'', and finally '' The Ugly Americans in Australia'' (a live album recorded to fulfill their recording obligations to

IRS Records I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wav ...

). His first Wall of Voodoo single " Far Side of Crazy" is featured in the film ''

Head Office Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

''. His demo for the song "Man Talk", which would finally appear on the album '' ...Upon My Wicked Son'', was featured in the early

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

film ''

Cutting Class ''Cutting Class'' is a 1989 American black comedy slasher film directed by Rospo Pallenberg in his directorial debut, written by Steve Slavkin, and starring Donovan Leitch, Jill Schoelen, Brad Pitt, Roddy McDowall, and Martin Mull. It was Pit ...

'' as well as other unreleased Wall of Voodoo demos. These same demos appeared in the film '' C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.''. He also appears in the film ''Blood and Concrete'' along with a few of his original songs (in that movie,

Jennifer Beals Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and former teen model. She made her film debut in '' My Bodyguard'' (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her role in '' Flashdance'' (1983), for which she won NAACP Image ...

sings his song, "One Girl in a Million"). After leaving Wall of Voodoo, Prieboy signed with MCA Music Publishing as a songwriter and went to work on new material for his first solo record '' ...Upon My Wicked Son'', which featured the song " Tomorrow Wendy," about a woman dying of AIDS. The song featured a duet with

Johnette Napolitano Johnette Napolitano (born Jonette L. Napolitano; September 22, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and bassist for the alternative rock group Concrete Blonde. Early life Johnette Nap ...

, whose band

Concrete Blonde Concrete Blonde was an American alternative rock band from Hollywood, California. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and reunited twice: first from 2001 to 2004, and again from 2010 to 2012. They were best known for their album ''Bloo ...

also recorded the song and released it on their album ''

Bloodletting Bloodletting (or blood-letting) is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily flu ...

'' the same year. The music video was directed by

Thomas Mignone Thomas Mignone is an American feature film, streaming media, commercial, and music video director, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing and writing the dark drama ''On the Doll'' and ''The Latin From Manhattan'' and for directing co ...

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

initially rejected the song's lyrical content and tone but Prieboy and Mignone decided to feature the decaying cities of Hammond and Gary in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

as the "Wendy" character and the video received Buzz Bin status at MTV. The song was also covered by the industrial project System Syn in early 2000s.

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

and

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, includin ...

covered his song "Loving the Highway Man" from the same album. Prieboy then released an EP called '' Montezuma Was a Man of Faith'' which featured a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

rendition of "

Whole Lotta Love "Whole Lotta Love" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band's second album, ''Led Zeppelin II'', and was released as a single in 1969 in several countries; as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no single was ...

" by

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are c ...

, featuring an uncredited Johnette Napolitano from Concrete Blonde. Prieboy's second solo album was entitled ''

Sins of Our Fathers ''Sins of Our Fathers'' is the second album by the American musician Andy Prieboy, released in 1995. The album cover graphic is by Josh Agle and is based on ''Hougoumont'' by Robert Gibb. The cover art depicts the repelling of Jerome's noon assau ...

''. In the mid-to-late '90s, Prieboy played shows at the Los Angeles club Largo with Rita D'Albert where they worked on an ongoing musical, ''White Trash Wins Lotto''; a

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which '' H.M.S. ...

-esque treatment of the rise and fall of an

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its ince ...

-like character. It was also performed at

the Roxy Theatre The Roxy Theatre (often just the Roxy) is a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, owned by Lou Adler and his son, Nic. History The Roxy was opened on September 23, 1973, by Elmer Valentine and Lou Adler, along wit ...

on the

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...

for three sold out weekend-long engagements as well as two sold out weekends at New York City's PS 122. Prieboy and crew also performed a medley from ''White Trash'' on the

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' ( ...

show. Prieboy is also the co-author with

Merrill Markoe Merrill Markoe (born August 13, 1948) is an American author, television writer, and occasional standup comedian. Early life Markoe was born in New York City. Her family moved several times including stays in Miami, Florida and San Francisco, ...

of the novel ''The Psycho Ex Game'', based on his song "Psycho Ex". Markoe and Prieboy have lived together since 2004. He released several songs via his website for online purchase. In 2012 Prieboy released the four-song downloadable EP ''Every Lady Gets A Song'', featuring accompaniment by former

Dils The Dils were an American punk rock band formed 1976 and active until 1980, originally from Carlsbad, California, and fronted by the brothers Chip Kinman and Tony Kinman. They appeared as the second act in the "battle of the bands" sequence in ...

bassist Tony Kinman and

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau ...

drummer

David Kendrick David Kendrick (born March 23, 1955) is an American musician who is currently a member of the experimental pop band Xiu Xiu. A former member of Gleaming Spires and Devo, he has recorded and toured with Sparks, Andy Prieboy and Revolushn. He is ...

. On December 20, 2016, he released his lost album ''Virtue Triumphs''. The album was left unfinished and abandoned in 1992; it was meant to be the follow-up to his first solo work, ''...Upon My Wicked Son''. A corporate regime change ultimately swept him out, and the album stayed behind. This was his first body of work that was not beholden to Wall of Voodoo.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

References

External links

The Psycho Ex Game

Andy Prieboy's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prieboy, Andy Living people American male singer-songwriters American rock singers Songwriters from Indiana People from East Chicago, Indiana 1955 births Wall of Voodoo members