Wall Of Voodoo - Mexican Radio

What this video is

Released in January 1983, 'Mexican Radio' arrived during the critical first eighteen months of MTV's existence, when the network's insatiable appetite for content gave low-budget independent videos a genuine shot at heavy rotation alongside major-label productions. Wall of Voodoo occupied a singular niche in the LA scene: rooted in the Hollywood punk underground around The Masque, yet formally experimental in ways…

Why it matters

A canonical example of early-MTV alternative new wave, 'Mexican Radio' demonstrated that unconventional, surrealist, low-budget videos could achieve mainstream chart penetration through television exposure alone. It helped establish the template for the 'quirky concept video' as a viable…

The director

Francis Delia (also credited as Frank Delia) was a filmmaker and former frontman of the band the Bruthers. 'Mexican Radio' was his first music video. His distinctive low-budget surrealist approach drew industry attention, leading the Ramones to hire him to…