Richard Elfman founded the theatrical troupe The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. In 1978 the remnants of the Mystic Knights formed together under lead singer Danny Elfman as the band Oingo Boingo. The hyperkinetic New Wave band is characterized by their manic live performances and eclectic range of songs; Elfman and the band performed for a remarkable twenty years. The band from Los Angeles, California, USA, a pared-down version of the theatrical troupe The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, released eight major albums and two live compilations, each containing songs that varied from fast-paced ska to soulful jazz to emotional rock to off-kilter pop. Their style can best be defined as "undefinable." Starting in 1980, Oingo Boingo spent their first three albums establishing themselves as a band with quirky, bizarre, sarcastic, and anti-conformist vocals, lyrics, and instrumentation, among other things lambasting "normal" society and politics for their many hypocrisies and encouraging people to think for themselves. The band made a change toward a different sound when frontman Danny Elfman recorded So-lo in collaboration with the band and a new label, beginning a trio of "new wave"-ish albums containing ballads and songs about life and mortality, including the famous Dead Man's Party. The band went on to record Dark at the End of the Tunnel, a change toward a sort of Boingo-esqe "spirituality", and finally recorded their last album: dark, guitar-driven, hornless, influenced by Beatles and Pink Floyd, eponymous with the new band name Boingo. Now mostly known for their frequent contribution to movie soundtracks (including their most successful song "Weird Science"), Oingo Boingo formally broke up in 1995 after their last Halloween live concert, the reason being that 'it was time.' Since the band's dissolution, frontman Danny Elfman has continued to find success in his career writing film scores
1 | Cinderella Undercover | Boingo Alive (Disc 1) |
2 | Insects | Skeletons In The Closet (Best of Oingo Boingo) |
3 | Wake Up (It's 1984) | Skeletons In The Closet (Best of Oingo Boingo) |
4 | Islands | Nothing To Fear |
5 | Flesh 'n' Blood | Best O' Boingo |
6 | Private Life (edited) | Oingo Boingo, The Best Of |
7 | Goodbye-Goodbye | Best O' Boingo |
8 | Same Man I Was Before | Dead Man's Party |
9 | You Really Got Me | Only A Lad |
10 | Help Me | Dead Man's Party |
11 | What You See | Only A Lad |
12 | Heard Somebody Cry | Dead Man's Party |
13 | Reptiles And Samurai | Nothing To Fear |
14 | On The Outside | Only A Lad |
15 | Nothing To Fear (But Fear Itself) | Skeletons In The Closet (Best of Oingo Boingo) |
16 | Dead Or Alive | Boingo Alive (Disc 1) |
17 | Outrageous | Boi-ngo |
18 | Who Do You Want To Be | Best O' Boingo |
19 | Private Life (edited version) | Skeletons In The Closet (Best of Oingo Boingo) |
20 | Home Again | Boi-ngo |