Oingo Boingo

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"Come on board on the Oingo Boingo spaceship, through time and space, to the Boingo galaxy!"

In 1972, a young Californian visionary named Rick Elfman decided to form a circus band. The lineup soon consisted of over a dozen people, including his wife Marie-Pascale, his best friend Matthew Bright (who would go on to direct Freeway), a young Steve Bartek, and Rick's little brother Danny Elfman, who had just returned from traveling Africa and Europe.

With Danny as a frontman, and using his skills on the violin, xylophone, trombone and Balinese dance to give the band its unique sound, The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo were formed. Their fans included a young "Weird Al" Yankovic, an up-and-coming Paul Reubens, and a very young Tim Burton, who was attending CalArts at the time. They made a number of short films and also appeared as contestants on The Gong Show (they won).

At the end of the 1970's, the band sold everything they had to create the no-budget sci-fi cult classic Forbidden Zone. Having no money to hire a proper crew, Danny decided to score the film himself, and realized he enjoyed being a film composer.

By the time the film hit midnight theatres, Danny had taken over and re-formed the band to incorporate his new symphonic sound into their music, and the group very quickly took off in the direction of New Wave Ska. The new band, called just Oingo Boingo, was formed in 1979.

The band became known for its quirky sound and its high-energy Halloween concerts. By 1985, they were scoring hits including "Dead Man's Party" and "Weird Science," and Tim Burton and Paul Reubens (both fans of Forbidden Zone, by coincidence) had given Danny his first real job as a film composer. Many, many others soon followed.

In 1994, Danny Elfman suffered a breakdown and (temporarily) broke off all ties with Tim Burton. Because Danny wanted to go in a different direction, the band reshuffled its lineup, rechristened themselves Boingo, and recorded a Self-Titled Album which focused most on the rock and orchestral influences of the band's sound. It was partly inspired by Danny Elfman listening to his daughter's album collection, which included The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Their new sound alienated many old fans and gave them plenty of new ones. But by that time, and particularly after a truly terrible gig at the KROQ Weenie Roast, the group realized that their time together was over.

The band retired after a farewell concert on Halloween 1995, having reverted to the name Oingo Boingo for the concert. Bassist John Avila went on to produce Reel Big Fish and is currently playing with The Mutaytor. Keyboardist Richard Gibbs got hired to score Battlestar Galactica. Drummer Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez continued playing in various bands and had a cameo in From Dusk till Dawn. Guitarist Warren Fitzgerald joined The Vandals. Richard Elfman and Matthew Bright created half a dozen film projects together. And Danny Elfman became a fulltime film composer, with Steve Bartek as his arranger.

Oingo Boingo provides examples of the following tropes:

You're always puttin' the make on my friends always giving them eyes and the dirty lies 'bout me and you well I'm through it's the end of the line for you babe here's a ticket one way Cincinnati I'm sendin' you home to your ma and your daddy so don't try to call me you'll only be wastin' your tiiiime!

Raised by pedestrian wolves, out in the forest
Raised by suburban lions, out in the jungle

It’s not his fault that he can’t behave
Society’s made him go astray
Perhaps if we’re nice he’ll go away!

I'd love to hear you laugh tonight
I'd love to hear you weep
I'd love to listen to you
while you're screaming in your sleep

  • Subliminal Seduction: "Cry of the Vatos" which features heavy drums, frantic screaming, and full-volume backmasked lyrics... which when played in reverse, says things like "Accept Jesus into your heart and you will be saved. You will receive everlasting life."
  • Take That
    • The song "Capitalism" is a Take That inspired by the Left-leaning Punk Rock bands at the time. It includes the immortal tirade:

You're just a middle class socialist brat
From a suburban family and you never really had to work
And you tell me that you've got to get back
To the struggling masses, whoever they are
You talk, talk, talk about the suffering and pain
Your mouth is bigger than your entire brain
What the hell do you know about suffering and pain?
You dumb fuck.

    • Consequently, "Insanity" is a Take That towards the Christian Right:

Let's talk of family values while we sit and watch the slaughter.
Hypothetical abortions on imaginary daughters.
The white folks think they're at the top, ask any proud white male.
A million years of evolution, and we get Danny Quayle.

You're just a critic, we know why you drink so much
Jealousy slowly consuming your gut

  • That Poor Cat: "The Cat is Dead", from the "Mystic Knights" period:

The cat is dead, the cat is dead.
I went to pat him on the head.
He didn't purr, he didn't meow,
He didn't wink or sniff.
He seemed to have a funny smile,
It made me laugh but all the while
The tail that used the flip and flop
Got awful cold and stiff.
We chopped him into little bits
And seasoned him with apple pips.
And with some dust we made a crust
And put him in a pie.
Into the oven he did slip
Until the crust was nice and crisp.
I'll love that little kitty 'til I die.

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