OINGO BOINGO
SO YOU CAME FOR THE PARTY?
Oingo Boingo (formerly known as the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo) is one of those rare genuinely cult bands from the USA, but mainly unknown to other countries. Maybe the name of their songwriter / guitarist / vocalist will shine a light : he is indeed Danny Elfman, the famous multi-awarded film score composer and Tim Burton's musical alter-ego. Younger brother of director Richard Elfman, Danny founded Oingo Boingo as a comedy troup in Southern France, gaining popularity when the band scored (and appeared into) Richard's first and never matched ultra-cult-movie Forbidden Zone. Coming back to the US, the band shortened its name to merely Oingo Boingo, and dropped some of the most theatrical-based gimmicks in favour of a blend of pop, punk and ska. Heavily based on synthesizers, goofy horn section and the one-of-its-kind weird guitar playing by Steve Bartek, Boingo released 4 albums in 5 years, becoming more and more pop, but without losing the quirkiness of Elfman's vocals.
They soon became one of US hidden treasures. Supported by a faithful audience, increasing popularity with their annual Halloween show, Boingo was also featured as a background or foreground soundtrack for many movies. Their 1985 album "Dead man's party", while disappointing some early fans for being a bit too mainstream, proved that Elfman was a hell of a great hit-maker. They conquered success with the soundtrack (very sadly not included here) from John Hughes's movie "Weird science" (later known as the series Codename Lisa), and Tobe Hooper used No-One Lives Forever as the beating track for the now famous bridge sequence opening Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
Elfman then became what he's mainly known for these days : a great "classical" composer, sailing between blockbusters (Darkman and Spiderman for his friend Sam Raimi) and more intimate movies (Dolores Claiborne, Nightbreed, Article 99), always teaming with genius Steve Bartek (now his official arranger) and never losing touch - if only once - with his longtime partner Tim Burton. But he didn't give up the Boingo at once : he gave birth to three more albums - the latter, being called just "Boingo", was a complete alien in the 1994 musical landscape, feeding from grunge and Elfman's orchestral works. Boingo also released in 1988 a double-"live in the studio" album, "Boingo alive", which is one of the very best records ever made that way. In 1995, partly because of the beginning of hearing loss after all these years of loud music, Elfman gave a farewell concert on the night of Halloween, ending Boingo's career on the highest note one could have dreamed of.
They soon became one of US hidden treasures. Supported by a faithful audience, increasing popularity with their annual Halloween show, Boingo was also featured as a background or foreground soundtrack for many movies. Their 1985 album "Dead man's party", while disappointing some early fans for being a bit too mainstream, proved that Elfman was a hell of a great hit-maker. They conquered success with the soundtrack (very sadly not included here) from John Hughes's movie "Weird science" (later known as the series Codename Lisa), and Tobe Hooper used No-One Lives Forever as the beating track for the now famous bridge sequence opening Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
Elfman then became what he's mainly known for these days : a great "classical" composer, sailing between blockbusters (Darkman and Spiderman for his friend Sam Raimi) and more intimate movies (Dolores Claiborne, Nightbreed, Article 99), always teaming with genius Steve Bartek (now his official arranger) and never losing touch - if only once - with his longtime partner Tim Burton. But he didn't give up the Boingo at once : he gave birth to three more albums - the latter, being called just "Boingo", was a complete alien in the 1994 musical landscape, feeding from grunge and Elfman's orchestral works. Boingo also released in 1988 a double-"live in the studio" album, "Boingo alive", which is one of the very best records ever made that way. In 1995, partly because of the beginning of hearing loss after all these years of loud music, Elfman gave a farewell concert on the night of Halloween, ending Boingo's career on the highest note one could have dreamed of.
My BOINGO Top 3
1) Good for Your Soul (1983)
2) Boingo (1994)
3) Dead Man's Party (1985)
(...not counting Boingo Alive)
My BOINGO Bottom 3
1) Forbidden Zone (1980)
2) Dark at the End of the Tunnel (1990)
3) Oingo Boingo (1987)
(Thanks to Baker for the great "baistophe"!)
1 comment:
Argh! I've been trying, unsuccessfully, for the past three days to pull this down from Megaupload, but it always times out. I haven't had any trouble with other files on Megaupload, so I suspect it's probably on a tied-up server. Any chance of getting it on another file server? Thanks guys!
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