Oingo Boingo

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Oingo Boingo was an American rock band, founded in 1979 by songwriter Danny Elfman. The group grew out of a surrealist music theatre company, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, for which Elfman had earlier written and which he had led. The band lasted seventeen years, with changing line-ups. For most of its history the regular members were Elfman, Leon Schneiderman, Dale Turner, Sam Phipps, Steve Bartek and John Vatos Hernandez.

Music and breakthrough

Oingo Boingo began as an octet with a new wave influenced by ska and punk, and became popular in Southern California with it. The band was known for its energetic concerts and experimental music, in which new wave, art, punk, ska, pop, jazz and world music come together. The first albums were Only a Lad in 1981 and Nothing to Fear in 1982, followed by Good for Your Soul in 1983 and Dead Man's Party in 1985. Well-known songs are Only a Lad, Little Girls, Dead Man's Party and Weird Science, the highest-charting song, at number 45 on the American Billboard Hot 100. In the mid-1980s the band chose a more pop-oriented style, before moving further towards rock in 1994. The name was then shortened to Boingo, with the keyboard and horn sections dropped. On Halloween 1995 the group gave a farewell concert, under the old name and with horns again.

Influence

Oingo Boingo shows how theatrical, absurd pop music could reach a large audience. Danny Elfman later became a much-in-demand film composer, and in the energy of the band you can already hear the exaggeration and playfulness that characterise his film work.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1981Only a Lad
• 1982Nothing to Fear
• 1983Forbidden Zone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
• 1983Good for Your Soul
• 1985Dead Man’s Party
• 1987BOI-NGO
• 1990Dark at the End of the Tunnel
• 1994Boingo

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• The Dream Factory: Film Reel 7^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Superheroes and franchise sound GenreDanny Elfman, singer of the band Oingo Boingo, wrote a dark, gothic march theme for Tim Burton's Batman (1989).

See also

• Dead Man’s Party
• BOI-NGO
• Superheroes and franchise sound