So Who Is Andy Prieboy, Anyway?

Okay, I've been writing about him all week, so here's his rough biographical sketch: Andy Prieboy was born in California, raised in Indiana, and became part of the San Francisco punk scene in the late 1970s. He toiled on the fringes of the music business until he was hired to replace Stan Ridgeway as lead singer of Wall Of Voodoo, in 1985. Wall Of Voodoo had one hit while Ridgeway was the lead singer ("Mexican Radio") but were not expected to survive his exit. Oddly enough, both Ridgeway and Wall Of Voodoo went on to make better music apart than they did together.

Around 1990, Wall Of Voodoo split, and Prieboy recorded "Upon My Wicked Son," a brilliant solo debut that showed more diversity and brilliance than even his impressive work with Wall Of Voodoo had. Two songs from that album have been recorded by other artists, with great success. "Tomorrow Wendy," a song about an AIDS victim, was the only hit for Concrete Blonde, while "Loving The Highway Man" was recorded by Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. You can hear Prieboy's original versions by clicking on the song titles.

In the late 1990s, after contributing a few songs to the "Mr Potato Head" children's puppet show, Prieboy took up residence at a Los Angeles nightclub and developed his "Gilbert and Hooligan" style with "White Trash Wins Lotto," a musical about Guns N Roses. "White Trash" became a hit, and productions have been mounted in Los Angeles, Toronto, and New York. Thus far, it has not been recorded or released officially. He's been working on it for eight years now, taking time out to co-author "The Psycho Ex Game" with Merril Markoe.

I'm a huge fan of his work, and thought maybe some of my readers might get a kick out of him, too. He's one of those rare birds, a songwriter of substance and humor, whose music actually means something. Andy Prieboy, go listen to his music.