  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 lead singer of the band wall of voodoo. ==wall of voodoo== the band was named wall of voodoo by ridgway before their first gig, in reference to a comment made by a friend of ridgway's while recording and overdubbing a kalamazoo rhythm ace drum machine. while listening to some of the music that created in the studio, ridgway jokingly compared the multiple-drum-machine- and farfisa-organ-laden recordings to phil spector's wall of sound, whereupon the friend commented it sounded more like a "wall of voodoo" and the name stuck. ridgway's wov music could fairly be described as a cross between early synthesizer pop and ennio morricone's soundtracks for italian director sergio leone's epic western films of the 1960s. adding to the music's distinctiveness was percussive and textural experimentation, i.e. mixing drum machines with unconventional instruments such as pots, pans and various kitchen utensils, raw electronics with interlocking melodic figures as well as twangy spaghetti-western guitar. on top of the mix was ridgway's unusual vocal style and highly stylized, cinematic narratives heavily influenced by science fiction and film noir, sung from the perspective of ordinary folks and characters wrestling with ironies inside the american dream. ==solo career== ridgway embarked on a solo career in 1983, shortly after wall of voodoo's appearance and break up at the us festival that same year. after collaborating on the song, "don't box me in" with stewart copeland from the police for the soundtrack to francis ford coppola's rumble fish starring mickey rourke, matt dillon and
1954_births American_banjoists American_experimental_guitarists American_film_score_composers American_keyboardists American_male_singers American_rock_guitarists American_rock_singer-songwriters I.R.S._Records_artists Living_people Rock_harmonica_players