DANNY ELFMAN SOLO ALBUM:
DANNY ELFMAN - So-Lo (1984)Genre:
Electronic
Style:
Synth-pop
Credits:
Bass - Kerry Hatch
Drums, Percussion - Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez
Guitar, Programmed By, Arranged By - Steve Bartek
Saxophone [Baritone] - Leon Schneiderman
Saxophone [Tenor] - Sam Phipps
Synthesizer - Paul Fox
Synthesizer, Programmed By [Dx-7] - Richard Gibbs
Trumpet, Trombone - Dale Turner
Vocals, Percussion, Programmed By, Arranged By, Written-By - Danny Elfman
Engineer - Paul Ratajczak/ Engineer [Assistant] - Spozzi The "Spazz"
Mastered By - Greg Fulginiti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Fulginiti and http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:kcdBpVScG9oJ:www.linkedin.com/pub/gregory-fulginiti/a/4a8/902+Greg+Fulginiti+music&cd=2&hl=hu&ct=clnk&gl=hu)
Producer - Danny Elfman , Paul Ratajczak (http://www.mercurysoundstudios.com/mixers_staff.html), Steve Bartek
Producer [Assistant] - Laura Engel
VIDEO:
"Go Away" (hey folks! It is really like Thompson Twins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJWxTmdi2uw
Tracklist:
01 Gratitude (Short Version) 5:14
02 Cool City 3:28
03 Go Away 4:02
04 Sucker For Mystery 5:19
05 It Only Makes Me Laugh 4:05
06 The Last Time 4:12
07 Tough As Nails 4:38
08 Lightning 3:45
09 Everybody Needs 3:50
Bonus:
10 Gratitude (version from Bevery Hills soundtrack)
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/372059815/deso.rar
A dispute with A&M led to Danny cutting a “solo” record in 1984 for MCA – in fact, it was a group effort released under the name “Danny Elfman” simply to circumvent a clause in Oingo Boingo’s A&M contract. (Eventually, the band was allowed to record under their own name again for MCA.)
Danny Elfman:
"Its general tone is much more laid-back than an Oingo Boingo album," said the redheaded singer and songwriter, taking shelter from a rainy afternoon in a home studio cluttered with African and Balinese percussion instruments.
I knew a lot of Oingo Boingo fans wouldn't like the album because of that. But it was fun to do some ballads and try to snap out of that image that a lot of people have of me just writing real fast, fast, fast, fast tunes."
"So-lo" is clearly not the typical case of an ensemble-bound performer struck by cabin fever and blowing off a little steam on his own. Elfman handled much of the instrumentation through synthesizer programming, but when it came time to employ actual musicians to play on the sessions, he enlisted the current lineup of Oingo Boingo in its entirety. Likewise, he says, he's sharing his royalty points from the album with the band."
"This album was not made out of frustration," emphasized Elman, 29.
Elfman is even considering alternating group albums with solo efforts. The reasons: It will provide him with an outlet for material that may not fit into Oingo Boingo's frantic format and enable him to release two albums a year in an industry that's tied to the concept of "everything works in year cycles."
(http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-03/entertainment/ca-11341_1_oingo-boingo-album)
"Elfman retains a strong allegiance to Oingo Boingo, although he released a solo album last year. "My desire to do it was not financial- or career-motivated - it was just a chance to record a backlog of tunes I'd written that I liked; a chance to experiment with slower tempos," he explained. "But I designed it so that there was no solo career - there was no tour, and I divided up the songwriting royalties among the band so that if it was a big hit, they'd all participate.""
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Denver86.htm)
REVIEWS:
"Oingo Boingo fans take note; this is really a lost Oingo Boingo album, and an excellent one. This is not Danny's classical style soundtrack stuff; here he sounds just like when with Boingo, dark, punchy and rhythmic. This is Goth music to a rocking dance beat. Elfman was once a true original; there never has be
en another band like Boingo, then or now. If you like your music lively and your lyrics wry and twisted just push that buy button, you will not be disappointed. All tracks are excellent, especially `Gratitude', `Cool City' and `Sucker For Mystery'."
"This album is perhaps a more concentrated dose of the Oingo Boingo sound than any other I can think of - it's, for lack of a better word, weirder than most of their albums... which is not to say that Oingo Boingo usually sound "normal", but just to say that people who don't like Oingo Boingo REALLY don't like this album. People who are into that catchy, frenetic kind of edgy 80s pop (myself included), on the other hand, will absolutely adore this album. It's an incredible piece of work, with no particularly weak tracks and several standouts. I only refrain from giving it 5 stars because that perfect rating is deserved ever so slightly more by other albums in the Boingo canon such as the eponymous Boingo or Dead Man's Party"
"While a must for the Boingo fan -- posterity and all -- there's a reason why most of the music here wasn't released under the Oingo Boingo banner (despite the fact the entire band is present). Most of the songs sound quickly spun-off, highly synthesized (in the early eighties way), and are, frankly, unmemorable. "Gratitude" is the only real standout, although there are some "catchy" bits later in the album (if catchy is all you care about)."
"Oingo Boingo, tired of their label, IRS, wanted to go to MCA, but they were contractually obligated to do any new "Oingo Boingo" albums on IRS. So they used a loophole and came out with a "solo" Danny Elfman album. This was pretty thinly veiled and IRS cut them loose and they signed with MCA. But as much as it got them free, this really is the "forgotten" Oingo Boingo album since it was seen as a Danny Elfman side project.
As Oingo Boingo was compiled into greatest hits, a few of these tracks were included because everyone understood that these weren't really solo. "Gratitude" is a classic Oingo Boingo track and "Only Makes Me Laugh" was later redone on Boingo Alive.
So if you don't have it and are an Oingo Boingo fan, what are you waiting for??? I am particularly fond of "Cool City", and the version of "Only Makes Me Laugh" is interesting to hear after all the years of Boingo Alive."
More reviews:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050511172857/www.mahatmarandy.com/rb/rb0105.htm
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/danny_elfman/so_lo/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So-Lo
http://www.lovelyburger.com/?p=76
http://www.epinions.com/review/musc_mu-99794/content_475696762500
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fifwxqt5ldde
http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/2173253/2325666/
LIVE AT MESA AMPITHEATRE, MESA, ARIZONA (14.11.1985)
Tracklist:
01 Dead Man's Party
02 Dead Or Alive
03 What You See
04 Just Another Day
05 Who Do You Want To Love
06 Nothing Bad Ever Happens
07 Sweat
08 Grey Matter
09 Insects
10 No One Lives Forever
11 Stay
12 Fools Paradise
13 Help
14 Wild Sex
15 Nothing To Fear
16 Whole Day Off
17 Little Girls
18 Outside
19 Weird Science
20 Goodbye
21 No Spill Blood
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370057276/oinmesa85.rar
LIVE AT THE RITZ, NEW YORK (20.12.1985)
VIDEO:
"Dead Man's Party"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnjDuqOYPlw
Tracklist:
01 Intro
02 Who Do You Want To Love
03 Just Another Day
04 Gratitude
05 Stay
06 Weird Science
07 Private Life
08 Whole Day Off
09 Wild Sex
10 Nothing To Fear
11 Only A Lad
12 Ain't This The Life
13 You Really Got Me
14 Little Girls
15 Afterword
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370056752/oinritz85.rar
Some more on Ritz:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritz_(rock_club)
DEAD MAN'S PARTY (1985)
"I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go
Walkin' with a dead man over my shoulder
Waiting for an invitation to arrive
Goin' to a party where no one's still alive...
...Everybody's comin', leave your body at the door
Leave your body and soul at the door . . .
(Don't run away it's only me)"
(Dead Man’s Party)
Credits:
Vocals, Guitar [Rhythm], Lyrics By, Music By - Danny Elfman
Bass, Vocals - John Avila
Drums, Percussion - John Hernandez*
Guitar - Steve Bartek
Keyboards - Mike Bacich
Saxophone [Baritone], Saxophone [Alto] - Leon Schneiderman
Saxophone [Tenor], Saxophone [Soprano] - Sam Phipps
Trumpet, Trombone - Dale Turner
The "Super Novi" String Ensemble
Sweet Tones - Sundray Tucker and Linda Lawrence Tucker (both were in The Supremes, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundray_Tucker and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynda_Laurence)
Trombones - Bruce Fowler, George Bohanon (http://www.georgebohanon.com/)
Recorded By - Bill Jackson (http://web.me.com/jacksonland/Jacksonland/Home.html) (tracks: 1 to 8)
Recorded By, Mixed By - David Leonard (track 09)
Mastered By - Wally Traugott (http://www.backtothesugarcamp.com/T.htm)
Mixed By - Michael Frondelli (http://www.shure.com/Artists/engineer_content_Mike_Frondell) (tracks: 1 to 8)
Engineer [Mix Second Engineer] - Charlie Pakkari (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Paakkari), Judy Clapp (http://www.studioexpresso.com/profiles/JudyClapp.htm)
Remix - Joseph Watt (track 23)
Engineer [Remix] - Dave Concors/Remix - Arthur Barrow (http://home.netcom.com/~bigear/) (track 22)
Edited By - Latin Rascals, The Remix - Jay Burnett (http://www.beastiemania.com/whois/burzootie/), Mark Kamins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kamins and http://www.myspace.com/markkamins) (track 18)
Edited By - Latin Rascals (http://www.myspace.com/latinrascals), The Remix - Mark Kamins (track 20)
Edited By - Judy Clapp (track 21)
Engineer [Recording Second Engineer] - Mike Kloster , Paul Levy (http://www.advancedaudiorentals.com/ and http://www.studioexpresso.com/Newsletters/may03.htm), Stuart Farusho
Producer - Danny Elfman , Steve Bartek
Producer [Assistant] - Laura Engel (http://www.womeninmusic.com/WOMEN.html and http://www.soundtrack.net/representation/database/?id=28)
VIDEO:
"Weird Science"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDe5Ckt4joQ
Tracklist:
01 Just Another Day
02 Dead Man's Party
03 Heard Somebody Cry general public/inxs
04 No One Lives Forever
05 Stay squeeze 85, xtc 86
06 Fool's Paradise
07 Help Me spandau 86
08 Same Man I Was Before
09 Weird Science
Bonus:
OUTTAKES
10 Elementray Physics
11 I Stand Defeated
12 Dead Man's Party (rough version)
13 Take Your Medicine (studio rough)
14 Heard Somebody Cry (demo)
15 Just Another Day (demo)
JUST ANOTHER DAY (12") (1985)
16 Just Another Day (Long Version)
17 Just Another Day (Short Version)
WEIRD SCIENCE (12") (1985)
18 Weird Science (Extended Dance Version)
19 Weird Science (Short Version)
20 Weird Science (Weird Dub Bonus Beats)
21 Weird Science (Boingo Dance Version)
STAY/ DEAD MAN'S PARTY (12") (1986)
Notes
From The Motion Picture Soundtrack Album "Back To School"
22 Stay (Stay Late Mix)
23 Dead Man's Party (Party 'Til You're Dead Mix)
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370409207/oin85.rar
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man%27s_Party_(album)
"The fact that Oingo took a hiatus from touring in 1984 and Elfman recorded his first solo album, SoLo (including "Gratitude"), issued in 1985, caused rumors that the band had broken up. But this was quickly disproved by a late 1985 album Dead Man's Party, on a new label, MCA. The band's move to critical "respectability" was indicated by favorable comments from most critics. The Los Angeles Times reviewer commented on the alternately "mature and morbid concerns of the manic band's...release [which] is actually a goofy wake in which Elfman largely deals (in various degrees of seriousness) with the art of becoming aware of one's mortality...The horn-driven, hyperpercussive sound of one of L.A.'s most distinctive and talented bands had been smoothed out a bit, though it's only a tad less frantic".
"During the mid-1980's, the group became popular with movie exectutives as a soundtrack contributor. It placed numbers on such soundtracks as Last American Virgin, Fast Times at Ridgmont High, and Bachelor Party. The year 1985 was particuarly productive for Elfman and his band. The group was represented on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack with the song "Gratitude" and also had the theme for the film Weird Science. The single "Weird Science" became the band's first top 40 success, aided by a widely telecast video. Elfman, besides working on those projects, wrote and supervised recording of the score for the comic film Pee-wee's Big Adventure plus music for the TV series "Amazing Stories".
"Oingo Boingo's commercial fortunes have brightened lately. The group finally cracked the Top 40 charts with the theme from the movie "Weird Science," which has helped modify its maverick status in the music industry.
"We've always been good at self-propelling ourselves without the monster hit, so it was just another step in breaking down a few more doors," Elfman said.
While Oingo Boingo has toured in the South and made a few excursions to the East Coast, the band has never preformed in the Midwest. They're performing in Colorado for the first time tonight behind "Dead Man's Party," their latest LP. Elfman described the band's current live shows as "energetic - we don't believe in using those heavy-metal stage props. When I see a 'rock 'n' roll production,' it's like watching a Las Vegas show. Part of the reason we switched to being a band is because we wanted to do music that didn't need theatrics to support it."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Denver86.htm)
Meanwhile, the bands reputation increased markedly with disc jockeys and fans. Was this primarily because of the soundtrack work? Elfman told Blenn: "Gee, I don't really know if it's a key. A soundtrack song is really a very different thing. Its fate is directly tied to the success of the movie. We really haven't done anything major on a hit, but I guess it's helped."
As to why Elfman and the band were offered so much film work, he said, "I think Oingo's music is good for the audience for those films; the people will relate to it. They were youthful, energetic films and so was the music, so I guess it succeeded in that aspect."
Elfman agreed the new LP was more melodic than earlier albums and had less obivious ethnic influences. He told Lawrence Henry: "We already established ourselves with the ability to play pounding, driving rhythms, eighth notes as fast as anybody. We feel like the first two albums got plenty of that out. There hasn't been a conscious effort—'Okay, we're going to be more melodic now'--but I think it's more a direction that songs have been taking.
"In my own writing, I've been going back to my roots more. I know that sounds funny, because you don't hear any ethnic stuff on the album. The only music I've actually studied is African and Indonesian music. The root of that music, to me, is a certain kind of melody. When I think of the year that I spent in West Africa, what I think of is not big tribal, driving stuff. Most of the music I heard in Africa was played by small ensembles, sometimes just two or three, or even one person with a stringed instrument singing beautiful, strange little patterns. I started doing that more on the solo album, where melodies were in my head from a decade ago."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/EncycPop89.htm)
Lyrics of Take Your Medicine
"Walk with my eyes closed
I bump my head
Look at the stars falling on the ground
Saw someone crawling underneath my bed
Looked in the mirror caught my reflection, said oh...
Just take your medicine
Just take your medicine
And don't complain if it don't taste good
Just take your medicine
Just take your medicine
If it don't do the trick then I know what will
Open the paper
Eat ham and eggs
Java in a cup
Middle of the front page
I saw a man with a gun
Pointing at his head
Eyes in the camera
I can almost hear him say, oh...
Just take your medicine
Just take your medicine
And don't complain if it don't taste good
Just take your medicine
Just take your medicine
If it don't kill ya first then I know what will
I met an angel
Come from above
I buy her everything
Could this be love?
She gives me sweet dreams and nightmares too
Early in the morning she whispers in my ear, oh...
(chorus)"
REVIEWS
"Oingo Boingo is a band for all the eccentric, dramatic people out there. Dead Man's Party is their most accessible and least "bizarre" album---its tunes are quirky, energetic and incredibly fun. Even those who avoid pop music, and especially idiosyncratic 80's pop music, can find something to like. The songs range from wacky soundtrack themes ("Weird Science") to unusual "alienation" songs ("Heard Somebody Cry") to songs that are the core of the group's attitude---delectable macabre-fests like "No One Lives Forever" and unique "Dead Man's Party." Elfman's voice is original and a trip to listen to, Steve Bartek's guitar work and orchestration are flawless, and none of the songs are truly w
eak. If you take joy in the strange, darker things in life but like living it anyway, DMP is your album."
"Returning after a two-year recording hiatus (during which bandleader Danny Elfman recorded a solo album), Oingo Boingo forsook the excesses of smart-aleck humor and quirky production that had led critics almost universally to dismiss the band's first four albums. The sound is still maybe just a bit too uptight and over-determined, but the horn charts are more focused and sophisticated, and Elfman has matured considerably as a lyricist. Alongside such typically oddball fare as the title track and a surprise hit song called "Weird Science" are the faintly paranoid "Just Another Day" and the frankly romantic "Stay," as well as a glorious Motown tribute called "Help Me." But "Weird Science" is what really brings things to a close with a bang — though it reverts somewhat to the band's earlier indulgence in wacka-wacka sound effects and willfully crazy production technique, it's also one of Boingo's most satisfying pop songs ever. Overall, this is perhaps the first Oingo Boingo album to hang together really well as a whole. Recommended."
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w9fpxqe5ld0e)
"Dead Man's Party is indeed their finest hour, too bad it comes in rather short. Even the non-album B-side 'Mama' should be sought after. DMP boasts a wild and frenetic energy notably lacking most of today's music. Elfman who was always a undiscovered gem until his soundtracks took off (except to us So Cal die hards) really shows off his composition talents to make no mention of the fact that he is an awesome singer, capable of a wide range of vocalizations. One of the superb facets of Oingo songs was Elfman was always able to incorporate every element of the band and let them shine. All members really get their chance here: Steve Bartek's distorted feedback riffs infiltrate every song, Avila's bass is a lovely gem buried in the mix too (see the track 'Help') and the horn section also gets their kicks in almost every track. What your left with is an intelligent, intriguing, edgy and very fun album with never a dull moment.
Bottom line for the uninitiated: start here and work your way backwards through the Oingo Boingo discogprahy. The three previous albums deserve much more notice for their influence and originality."
"Yes, Oingo Boingo, one of 2 of my favorite bands. (the other being They Might Be Giants) I guess I should start off by saying that this is not my favorite Oingo Boingo CD. I like this one very much, but It can't beat earliar Oingo Boingo. This CD was most likely the most famous of all Oingo's CD's, I mean, it had Dead Man's Party, (I guess a lot of people heard it in the movie "Back To School," which I saw on Comdey Central.) and the great song "Weird Science," which I have heard all my life. (I used to watch the show on USA, but I can't remember if it has the original song) I thank the song Weird Science everyday because if it wasn't for that song, I would have never discovered Oingo Boingo. Well, anyways this CD holds great music and great lyrics as well. The only song I don't like is the opened "Just Another Day," I just don't care for Oingo Boingo slow songs, I love the ones with hyper energy. But if you enjoy Oingo Boingo, or you love 80's music, then try this CD out. It has no disappointments on it, and it really shows the genious that is Danny Elfman."
"This album got me hooked on Boingo, period. They use the best balance of horns, keyboards, and guitars out of all their albums. Every song is upbeat, creative, and very addictive. Elfman showcases some of his best songwriting skills."
"This CD, and the others from Oingo that followed, were "producer's records" - much like the Doors' "Soft Parade", or the Tubes' "Remote Control". It is the sound of a band that has given it's best shot creatively, and is now ready to concentrate their efforts to "make a hit record".
That said, this record was successful in that attempt - the sound and melodies are fully accessible mainstream pop, and yet the substance is fully recognisable as "Oingo Boingo" (crystalizing in the title track, and "Wierd Science"). That's a rare achievement, and deserves kudos.
But, as indicated earlier, the band was having more fun when putting together the earlier releases, and even a casual listen to their first few albums will confirm that.
Fans of XTC, Thomas Dolby, or Devo will probably like this album more than Oingo's other records. People who appreciate this band's first album ("Only a Lad") will probably feel slightly betrayed when listening to this one. Caveat emptor.
It defines the age in which it was produced, but earlier Oingo albums defined the band."
"Oingo Boingo's party album wins in all categories. Lyrics, fun and dangerous (The first track being very sad at times, leaves you with a craving for a real sick party, you get it! Oh boy do you get it!)
Danny Elfman's finest pop songs bursting with freaky fantastic energy up to the very last second of the final track.
Every collection deserves this album, and if you're a real 80's freak, if you don't already have it (did you forget?) GET IT!
Everybody buy buy BUY!"
"`Dead Man's Party' is Boingo's masterpiece, a perfect album, and not simply because of the seminal nature of the title track, which is their signature song. Lively, percussive and eminently danceable, Boingo were kings of the LA new wave scene, setting a high standard that few bands of the time could messure up to. Similar in style and tone to Adam and the Ants and the Hoodoo Gurus there really is no band quite like them. Danny Elfman's inexplicable obsessions with death and his devotion to musical intensity were unique, and no one could or would imitate them. No rock band has ever used brass so well, check out "The Same Man I Was Before". With the release of `Dead Man's Party' the band really reached it's peak, both in terms of artistry and popularity, eventually Elfman would jettison the band in favor of his far less interesting (but more lucrative) career as a maker of movie scores, but oh how his fans miss him. Included here are many of the bands finest tracks including the title track, `No One Lives Forever' and their single greatest track `Stay'. It also includes the well known `Weird Science' and all the tracks are standouts. If you've never heard of them, I garentee that you've never heard anything like them, Boingo is a worthy addition to any collection. This is the place to start, but every album is worth owning (except the bizarre un-Boingo album Boingo). Just buy it."
"This probably one of my favorite mid 80's albums. Perhaps a close second to Peter Gabriel's So album in 86.
To me, Oingo Boingo is a weird / funny name. In fact I think there was a pair of jeans of the same name in the 80's.
Arguably, this is one of their best. In fact, I believe there may be some kind of underlying theme here. I think this is more of a focused / concept type of album (though only Danny Elfman probably knows what the specifics are to this theme). Many of the tracks don't necessarily deal with a dead man's party, but they do include mentions of ghosts, souls, and death. The lyrics are morbid / mordant. Songs like the title track, "no one lives forever", "same man i was before", and "heard somebody cry" all deal with similar anthems. Not that this initially would seem like fun material, but lead singer Elfman seems to poke fun at himself in the process, which lightens the sometimes errie tones.
If Oingo's morbid lyrics aren't appealing though, DMP keeps itself interesting for a plethora of other reasons. Sounds of trumpets, bells, xylophones, and synthesizers create a noisy and strange atmosphere, yet they're set with ingenious juxtapositions with some funky rythyms. It's a driving album and perhaps Oingo did accomplish more with Only a Lad, but from a commercial perspective, this was the peak of their success."
More reviews:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050511172446/www.mahatmarandy.com/rb/rb0104.htm
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/oingo_boingo/dead_mans_party/
http://starling.rinet.ru/music/oingo.htm#Lad
http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/2173253/2325666/
http://www.ed-wood.net/dead_man2.htm (french)
LIVE AT BEVERLY THEATER, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (1986)
VIDEO:
"Weird Scene"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_O5jbJreXg
Tracklist:
01 Dead Man's Party
02 Grey Matter
03 Help Me
04 Home Again
05 Just Another Day
06 Not My Slave
07 Pain
08 Stay
09 Weird Science
10 Who Do You Want To Be
11 Wild Sex
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370051292/oinbev.rar
Some about Beverly Theater:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Beverly_Cinema
Oingo Boingo To Energize Meadows live interview:
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-10-31/entertainment/ca-8327_1_oingo-boingo-lead
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-11-03/entertainment/ca-14830_1
SDSU opean air article:
http://graveyard-duck.com/pages/boingo86.html
LIVE AT GREEK THEATRE, LA (30.07.1987)
Tracklist:
01 Dead Mans Party
02 Home Again
03 Dead Or Alive
04 Who Do You Want To Be
05 Private Life
06 Help Me
07 We Close Our Eyes
08 My Life
09 Sweat
10 Grey Matter
11 Where Do All My Friends Go
12 Pain
13 Stay
14 No One Lives Forever
15 Elevator Man
16 Just Another Day
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370050962/oingreek.rar
Some about Greek Theater:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Theatre_(Los_Angeles)
Q:
Everything i read about you says- and you just said yourself -that the goal is not to be commercial and that you don't go out of your way to be accessilble. But you want your albums bought...
Danny Elfman:
"It is definetly a game. There is success and there is Success. There are teo kinds. One is you
r simply write a stupid hit song that is instantly played on every radio station throughout the country.
It's the fashionable style and you makes tons of money, you live in a nice house and you can say: "I am successful". Well, to me that isn't success. You're a rich, but you're a failure if that's what happens.
The other kind of success is where what you do seems to be catching on a certain level, but is a little too strange or alien for the mass tastes, untill slowly they start to accept what you've been doing all along as commercial. Then if you have a hit record, you held out for what you know is truly your own style and your own attitude and your own point of view, but it is reaching a mass level. That is success.
It's playing the game but doing it by your own rules instead of just tossing in the towel and getting cynical like so many pop writers are- "Oh, i'll just write the stuff i know they'll love.".They think of their audience as being pretty stupid anyhow. I don't want to develop that kind of cynicism as a writer, and the band doesen't want to adopt that cynical attitude towards their audience. We do what we do."
BOI-NGO (1987)
"I looked Death in the face last night
I saw him in a mirror And he simply smiled
He told me not to worry
He told me just to take my time"
(We Closed Eyes)
Credits:
Vocals, Guitar [Rhythm], Lyrics By, Music By - Danny Elfman
Bass, Vocals - John Avila
Drums, Percussion - Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez
Guitar - Steve Bartek
Keyboards - Mike Bacich
Saxophone [Baritone] - Leon Schneiderman
Saxophone [Tenor] - Sam Phipps
Trombone - Bruce Fowler
Michael Vlatkovitch (http://www.liraproductions.com/Michael_Vlatkovich.html)
Trumpet - Dale Turner
Carmen Twillie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Twillie_(actress)) and Maxine Waters (http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Waters.html) - Background Vocals (track 09)
Mastered By - Wally Traugott (see 1985 album)
Mixed By - Bill Jackson (see 1985 album)(tracks: 02, 03, 06, 08) , Humberto Gatica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humberto_Gatica) (tracks: 05, 07) , Michael Frondelli (see 1985 album)(tracks: 01, 04, 09)
Producer - Danny Elfman , Steve Bartek
Recorded By - Bill Jackson (see 1985 album)
Engineer [Mixing Second Engineer] - Karen Siegal
Engineer [Recording Second Engineer] - David Knight
Engineer [Recording Second Engineer], Engineer [Mixing Second Engineer] - Jimmy Presiozi (http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/credits/jim-preziosi/630931)
Credits for "Pain" (12"):
Engineer - Bill Jackson (track 12)
Engineer [Remix] - Keith Cohen (http://hitmixers.com/Keith.html)
Producer - Danny Elfman , Steve Bartek
Remix - Steve Beltran
Credits for "Not My Slave"(12"):
Engineer [Remix] - Paul Brown (http://www.smoothviews.com/interviews/brown0805.htm)
Mastered By - Wally*
Producer - Danny Elfman , Steve Bartek
Programmed By [Synclavier Programmer] - Steve Croes (http://berklee.edu/bt/142/faculty_profile.html)
Remix, Producer [Additional Production] - Boris Granich (http://www.spoke.com/info/p3GokVW/BorisGranich), Christer Modig
Written-By - Danny Elfman
VIDEO:
"Not My Slave"-Oingo Boingo video on Solid Gold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYyLB_lO9gE
Tracklist:
01 Home Again
02 Where Do All My Friends Go
03 Elevator Man
04 New Generation
05 We Close Our Eyes
06 Not My Slave
07 My Life
08 Outrageous
09 Pain
Bonus:
10 Happy (from soundtrack "Summer School" 1987)
PAIN (12") (1986)
11 Pain (Extended Dance Mix)
12 Pain (Dub Mix)
13 Pain (A Cappella Version)
NOT MY SLAVE (12")
14 Not My Slave (Club Dub Mix)
15 Not My Slave (Extended Remix)
OUTTAKES
16 Find You
17 Inside
18 Mama (Original)
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370408609/oin87.rar
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boi-ngo
The band's Music now varies more sometimes jittery and complicated, but also smooth and relatively simple.
Currently,Oingo Boingo is finishing its next album, titled simply "Boingo".
"Our progress has been very gratifying for us", said Elfman. "There's not a lot of motivation for an eightpiece band to stay together if they don't make it big right away. But we stuck with it, doing the music our own way, insisting on success only on our own terms.
We've made our own market, created our own sound. And now every step,every success is very meaningful for us"
(http://graveyard-duck.com/pages/boingo86.html)
Lyrics of New Generation
"People raise your voices, don't get caught in that mess
Like a fly in a spider's web, is it true more is less
Herded like a happy flock to the big T.V. slaughter
"Why don't you break that leash," said the heifer to the sheep
It's a new generation
It's a hallucination
It's a mystic vibration
It's just intimidation
It's the will of the people
It's the church with the steeple
It's the sacred devotion
To an unhealthy notion
People raise your voices, don't get into that trap
If your friends and your neighbors push
Why don't you push them back
Don't you think the time has come
To stand up and be heard
Ain't no use to try and wait
For the magic word
It's a new generation
It's an infatuation
It's a beautiful body
Both erotic and deadly
It's the fear of the future
It's just surgeons and sutures
It's a spandex obsession
It's a lasting impression
Do you feel the power
Do you feel the power
Baptized in electronic water
Prodigal sons and beautiful daughters
With smiles and bows and rosy cheeks
And the righteous bath
Death to the freaks
Do you feel the power
Do you feel the power
From the man whose voice sounds reassuring
Completely firm and so alluring, Like's he's lived a thousand times before
And seen the world from shore to shore
With the calmness and tranquility that oozes credibility
With the wisdom and the confidence that seem to scream out common sense
And it makes you feel just like a babe
Daddy holding you tight and safe
Hush babe everything's all right, Daddy's gonna stay with you tonight
Now he's got you by the balls, he can sell you anything at all
From morality to diamond rings to genocide to magazines
From religion to cosmology to the end of a democracy
It's a new generation
It's a divine inspiration
Always ready to follow
Ever willing to swallow
All the doctor's prescriptions
All the mystic inscriptions
It's the spandex obsession
It's a lasting impression
It's the calm meditation
Of a tranquilized nation
It's a hallucination
It's a new generation"
"Just look out for Oingo Boingo this year," Elfman declares. "We're going to really break through some new barriers—although I'm not sure what they'll be!"
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/seventeen87.htm)
REVIEWS
"Oingo Boingo have shortened their name to the more direct "Boingo," but their music hasn't changed. It remains the warped, party-friendly dance music that it always has been, only with fewer memorable meloidies, jokes, or hooks. Boingo will satisfy some devoted fans, but most will want to stick with the greatest hits collection."
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfyxqr5ldte)
""Boi-Ngo" was the second album of Oingo Boingo material I bought. The first was the compilation album "Skeletons in the Closet," which can give one a very specific idea of what Boingo's style is. But when I saw this album in stores and bought it without even thinking about it, I was completely enthralled by how much ground Danny Elfman had covered in style. So my ideas of Boingo are based on this album and "Skeletons in the Closet" mostly, because they were the first ones I ever heard. And the first Boingo song I heard was "We Close Our Eyes" which is Track 5 on this album. It hooked me in the first place, so I have a natural affinity for this particular album. However, of all of Boingo's stuff, this is the "sweetest" sounding, if that makes sense enough. The messages are no heavier or lighter than any of Elfman's earlier songs, like "Grey Matter" or "Only a Lad," but they resonate with more of a charm to them. It's unfortunate that present styles of punk and ska and all that has turned people against the cliche 80s sound that Boingo was one of the manufacturerers of.
Track 7 "My Life" is the sweet part of this deal. It really is one of those songs that yanks my heart strings.
Dance-friendly and usually catchy (although "New Generation" isn't really all that catchy), "Boi-Ngo" offers a very specific sound and feeling that you can't get anywhere else. One of my all-time favorites of Boingo, "Elevator Man" is featured Track 3. Listen if you want to enjoy yourself in this life! And might I suggest you really examine the lyrics and see if you can find the hidden meanings I did.
Last of all, Track 9 "Pain" is probably the most musically appealing on this album, very much the familiar sardonic rock from earlier Boingo, but with a matured style. And a great ending to the album!"
"Many will find this album to be disappointing when compared to Oingo Boingo's last album, Dead Man's Party.
Upon deeper inspection they were still very much the same in sound although lyrically, they may be slightly less jokey. From my perspective, this is where Oingo Boingo grew into a less commercialized band who desired more of a limited audience. This may be due to their shortened name which some may have mistaken for an entirely different band.
The songs are less memerable than their previous stuff but they kept some good material.
We Close Our Eyes sounds surprising like the Moody Blues.
Pain sounds like something Depeche Mode used for their song Personal Jesus with the sawing / breathing effect.
Home Again is an uplifting and gradually expansive synthesized feast.
The rest of the album may not appeal as much to some but it's nice to see someone other than U2 was creating great music back in 87."
"Oingo Boingo has done it again with another album that focuses on a completely different aspect of music. Their last album, "Dead Man's Party" had mixtures of synthetic synthesizer effects interlaced with 80's rock elements. Now, the majority of this album is on dance aspects with pounding bass lines, ryhthmic horn melodies and excelent drum beats (by no other then johnny of course). Once again Oingo Boingo, has done it again."
"This is one of my all-time favorite albums, which is filled with genius masquerading as an '80's punk band. "We Close Our Eyes" is a beautiful lyrical masterpiece of pop music. Elfman's genius, like Shakespeare or Poe, is the ability to plumb the darkened soul and express it as poetry. His songs are upbeat explorations of moribundity. "Elevator Man" and "Pain" are brilliant celebrations of characters who thrive on the negative feelings we try in vain to cast off. Every song on this CD, with the possible exception of the relatively weak "Outrageous," is a gem that I constantly revisit."
More reviews:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050511172446/www.mahatmarandy.com/rb/rb0104.htm
http://www.boingo.org/articles/StereoReview.html
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/oingo_boingo/boi_ngo/
http://starling.rinet.ru/music/oingo.htm#Lad
http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/2173253/2325666/
LIVE AT IRVINE MEADOWS THEATER, IRVING, TEXAS (1988)
Tracklist:
01 Dead Man's Party
02 Home Again
03 Gratitude
04 Dead Or ALive
05 Private Life
06 Help Me
07 My Life
08 Cinderella Undercover
09 Winning Side
10 Sweat
11 We Close Our Eyes
12 Grey Matter
13 Pain
14 No One Lives Forever
15 It Only Makes Me Laugh
16 Just Anothet Day
17 Not My Slave
18 Stay
19 Elevator Man
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370058929/oinirv88.rar
Halooween live (Irvine Meadows) articles 1988:
http://articles.latimes.com/1988-10-31/entertainment/ca-395_1_oingo-boingo
http://articles.latimes.com/1988-10-31/entertainment/ca-497_1_oingo-boingo-is-catchy
http://articles.latimes.com/1988-11-19/entertainment/ca-635_1_band-oingo-boingo-s-halloween-concert-catchy
LIVE IN CHICAGO (11-09-1988)
Tracklist:
01 Dead Man's Party
02 Gratitude
03 Dead Or Alive
04 Help Me
05 Private Life
06 New Generation
07 Winning Side
08 Cinderella Undercover
09 Sweat
10 We Close Our Eyes
11 Grey Matter
12 Pain
13 No One Lives Forever
14 Only Makes Me Laugh
15 Just Another Day
16 Not My Slave
17 Stay
18 Elevator Man
19 Who Do You Want To Be
20 Wild Sex
21 Nothing To Fear
22 On The Outside
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370060150/oinchic88.rar
BOINGO ALIVE: A CELEBRATION OF A DECADE 1979-1988 (1988)
Credits:
Vocals, Guitar [Rhythm], Music By, Lyrics By [Words] - Danny Elfman
Bass, Vocals - John Avila
Drums, Percussion - Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez
Guitar - Steve Bartek
Keyboards, Vocals - Carl Graves
Saxophone [Baritone] - Leon Schneiderman
Saxophone [Tenor And Alto] - Sam Phipps
Trombone - Bruce Fowler*
Trumpet, Trombone - Dale Turner
Vocals, Guitar [Rhythm] - Danny Elfman
Artwork By [Cover Illustration] - Georgeanne Deen
Artwork By [Design] - DZN, The Design Group (http://ecat.dcccafe.com/corpprofile.php?vendor_id=5001877)
Photography [Group Photo] - John Scarpati (http://www.scarpati.com/)
Artwork By [Direction] - Vartan (http://www.vartanart.com/)
Artwork By [Illustration] - Gary Panter (http://www.garypanter.com/)
Mastered By - Stephen Marcussen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Marcussen and http://www.marcussenmastering.com/)
Mixed By [Additional] - Jim Scott (http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec99/articles/jim.htm)
Other [Monitors] - Greg Stevenson
Producer - Danny Elfman , John Avila , Steve Bartek
Recorded By [Additional] - Dean Burt , Jim Scott
Recorded By, Mixed By - Bill Jackson
Engineer [Assistant] - Charlie Brocco (http://www.myspace.com/knowyourha) , David Roberts, Jeff DeMorris (http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Artist/Jeff-DeMorris/c/119156) , Robert Hart
Notes:
Recorded "live" at The Power Plant Rehearsal Studio, North Hollywood, CA.
Audio Recording by Le Mobile
Mixed at Village Recorders: W. Los Angeles, CA
Mastered at Precision Lacquer, Hollywood, CA
CD 1.
01 Dead Man's Party
02 Dead Or Alive
03 No Spill Blood
04 Stay
05 Cinderella Undercover
06 Home Again
07 Help Me
08 Just Another Day
09 It Only Makes Me Laugh
10 My Life
11 Nothing To Fear (But Fear Itself)
12 Not My Slave
13 We Close Our Eyes
14 Elevator Man
15 Return Of The Dead Man
CD 2.
01 Winning Side
02 Wild Sex (In The Working Class)
03 Grey Matter
04 Private Life
05 Gratitude
06 No One Lives Forever
07 Mama
08 Capitalism
09 Who Do You Want To Be
10 Sweat
11 Violent Love
12 On The Outside
13 Only A Lad
14 Goodbye-Goodbye
15 Country Sweat
16 Return Of The Dead Man 2
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/367353642/boali1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/367357010/boali2.rar
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boingo_Alive
"Not quite a greatest-hits album and not quite a live album, Oingo Boingo celebrates not quite a decade of existence with the peculiar doubl
e album Boingo Alive. Elfman and bandmates re-record two dozen tracks from Boingo's prodigious canon in no particular order, and sweeten the deal by tossing in a few freshly penned numbers. The thrust of the package, as is hinted in the title, is to show off the L.A. band's sharpened agility as a live act, but eschewing the live setting. Each song was meticulously rehearsed and finally recorded "live" in-studio. Thanks to some subtle post-production, however, the final product's sound quality bears striking resemblance to that of the band's previous few studio records, leaving the band's feat, and a large point of the package, audibly undetectable. A few songs show inspired reinterpretations.
The Alive recording of "Dead Man's Party" would become the new single version of the song, and rightfully so. The Willie Dixon cover "Violent Love" and "Goodbye Goodbye" were always fan favorites, but never worked their way onto an album. Here, Elfman and company rework the tempos and beef up the horn arrangements, actually improving upon the originals measurably. Tunes from their earlier era don't benefit from this revisionist tinkering, sadly. What made the original recordings of songs like "Only a Lad" and "Grey Matter" so unique and catchy are largely lost.
The new wave effervescence is gone. The band's hyper-kinesis, the alien synth riffs, and Elfman's manic yelp have been smoothed over, erasing much of the songs' quirky appeal. Ultimately, Boingo Alive will please established fans of the group, even though they undoubtedly have the original versions of the majority of these songs. New material like "Cinderella Undercover" and "Mama" stacks up favorably against the recognized tunes, and there's nothing anywhere not to like, really. Newbies are better advised to check out Anthology or either of the two single-disc compilations."
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w9foxqe5ldke)
"Alive was my first real approach to Oingo Boingo. And I think it was a bad move. See, the idea of re-recording songs in a "live" context but in a studio and without a crowd should sound stupid, especially for the songs that were part of last year's album.
But the fact is, those re-recordings are incredible. They sound killer, some are a bit uptempo without sounding forced or "thrown away", guitar solos are even more insane, and these are many songs on this collection that could be considered an improvement from the originals... which is already saying much, as Boingo albums were great in the first place.
If you're a fan but are frightened by the "re-recording for money and that's ol' useless stuff", do yourself a favor, try it. But if you're novice, I suggest that you first buy Dead Man's Party or Good For Your Soul, then noodle around with other records, and then discover this definite pre-1990 best-of."
"Every review says it and its true, this is the best Oingo Boingo collection. It improves on the studio arrangements by infusing a live vibe, while not actually being a live album (in fact, they toured to promote this so-called live album.) However, this is just the best way to hear this band. Each song is not only note perfect and frenetic as a spastic cat, but has the added benefit of elusively evading the worst of the late 80s production "values" (read "follies") of the time."
"Bar none, this is the GREATEST collection of Boingo music available. Though technically not a live album (no crowd -- trust me, you won't miss 'em -- just the band on a soundstage), this set captures the energy, power and keen songwriting abilities of Boingo at their peak. The set includes old favorites and a couple new (at least at the time) tunes that'll keep ya hummin' and serves as witness to the dynamic, vital sound created by Oingo Boingo in the early '80's."
"This album is weird in that the songs are done live but are better than the original album versions. These guys are so tight! How can they play such complex music better live than in the studio! But check this out, the spirit, the enthusiasm is far above their studio efforts. It's actually one of my favorites of all time, and it has lasting power, unlike so many of my CD's. Bands come and go, but the original and unique (crazy?) Danny Elfman sound is not held to any time period. Check out Cinderalla Undercover, it's not on any other CD and is definitely OB's best song of all time! "Cartoon animals on Old McDonald's farm, are nodding off in hotel rooms with needles in their arms!" LOL! You can see the Elfman that went on to such fame writing themes for the Simpsons, Batman, and other Tim Burton movies!"
More reviews:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050511172446/www.mahatmarandy.com/rb/rb0104.htm
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/oingo_boingo/boingo_alive/
Halooween live (Irvine Meadows) articles 1989:
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-10-30/entertainment/ca-225_1_oingo-boingo-concert
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-10-26/entertainment/ca-1086_1_oingo-boingo
http://www.ed-wood.net/boingo_alive2.htm (french)
LIVE IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA (25.10.1989)
Tracklist:
01 Dead Man's Party
02 When The Light Goes Out
03 Home Again
04 Skin
05 Glory Be
06 Help
07 Sweat
08 Flesh And Blood
09 Grey Matter
10 Only Makes Me Laugh
11 Elevator Man
12 No One Lives Forever
13 My Life
14 Not My Slave
15 Stay
16 Just Another Day
17 Who Do You Want To Be
18 Wild Sex
19 On The Outside
20 Only A Lad
21 Goodbye
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/367356236/oi-phoe89.rar
SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET: THE BEST OF OINGO BOINGO (1989)
Credits:
Bass - Kerry Hatch
Drums - Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez
Saxophone [Baritone & Alto] - Leon Schneiderman
Saxophone [Tenor & Soprano] - Sam "Sluggo" Phipps*
Synthesizer, Keyboards - Richard Gibbs
Trumpet, Trombone - Dale Turner
Vocals [Lead], Guitar [Rythm], Written-by - Danny Elfman
Vocals [Rythm], Guitar [Lead] - Steve Bartek
Mastered By - Arnie Acosta
Producer - Joe Chiccarelli (tracks: 02, 05, 08 to 10) , Oingo Boingo (tracks: 01 to 06, 08 to 10) , Pete Solley* (tracks: 01, 03, 04, 06) , Robert Margouleff (tracks: 11, 12)
VIDEO:
"Little Girls"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jItz-uNjoZA
Tracklist:
01 Little Girls
02 Private Life (Edited)
03 On The Outside
04 Nasty Habits
05 Grey Matter
06 Only A Lad
07 Wake Up (It`s 1984)
08 Insects
09 Whole Day Off
10 Nothing To Fear (But Fear Itself)
11 Nothing Bad Ever Happens
12 Who Do You Want To Be
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370386396/oinskel.rar
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeletons_in_the_Closet_(Oingo_Boingo_album)
Q:
If you'd ask most people who have some awareness of what Boingo is about how they'd characterize the band, they'd probably think of really fast, hyper-tempo songs that bruise their way past you and get out of the way quick. These new songs are generally slower, more thoughtful and more expansive than what people think of you doing. Was the change a matter of having been away form the band for so long, it was essential to do something that felt different to come back to?
Danny Elfman:
"I reached a point toward the beginning of the '90s, and the late '80s, where I started drifting. And I probably was more into film scoring than the band at that point. I think I kept the band together more for the sake of the band than for myself. But it seems like there were a couple of points along the way where suddenly I would get really exci
ted and launch off in a certain direction. I get bored really easy, and I don't always find what it is that it takes to get un-bored.
When we first started out, it was all about energy and fun and aggression. And then, in Dead Man's Party, we kind of took a complete shift. I really retired the band twice already. Because before Dead Man's Party came out, I said, "Well, we had our fun, we did what we did, it's time to let it go." So when I wrote the title song, I kinda went back and said, "Hey, listen to this, see what you think." And after a couple other of those tunes, the band got back together again, it was a new thing. And a lot of our old fans hated us, and we found a lot of new people. We just kind of let go of that earlier style, which some people never forgave us for. But I didn't care.
I'd get nasty letters saying, "Why don't you do this anymore?" I go, "Well, if I did, we wouldn't be together, so there'd be no band, so either way you lose, I guess." It's like we either shift or we just go away, which is the natural way that should happen with a band. It should always be reinventing itself or it should just cease to be -- otherwise, why? You're just repertory ensemble playing a favorites list. And I've always tried to keep a balance with the shows, because if you get a really crazy audience out there, they want to hear all the songs they know. I only want to hear my new stuff. So we've tried to find this balance, 50-50, I'll meet them halfway.
But I think after Dead Man's Party we started to drift again, and didn't really have an anchor; we were just kind of floating along. My great enemy was getting ahold of me, which is boredom. And I think after Dark at the End of the Tunnel, I was kinda like, "OK, that's enough now. We did it, we had more than you could ask for, we had a second life, and now it's time to lay it all to rest." And I got into all this other stuff—writing scripts, did all these musicals, did 20-odd film scores."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Grammy94.htm)
REVIEWS
"Even for a career spanning over a decade, three Oingo Boingo greatest-hits albums seem a little far-fetched. Each one contains a good sample of some of their best songs, ranging from early new wave days to pop and rock, all in their twisted tongue-in-cheek style. The reasoning behind the triple deal is that their earlier albums were distributed by A&M records while their later releases were owned by MCA. Skeletons in the Closet is the A&M collection, filled with rambunctious, madcap fun and perversion dabbling. Misfits and punk lovers will cling to this music; conservative parents who hear "Nasty Habits" will rebuke it. These are some of their wildest goods, including "Insects," which make the band and the listener "want to dance," "Only a Lad," the anthem for a boy who has been molded by society to cause havoc and eventually shoot someone in the leg, and an edited version of "Private Life." If you have to choose between Skeletons in the Closet or the MCA collection titled Best of Boingo, choose neither. The merging of Universal and Polygram allowed the company to overtake the old master tapes and release a comprehensive collection in 1999 called Anthology, a two-disc set that is the only way to go for anyone interested in singer Danny Elfman's joyfully wicked little band that had great fun helping out the degenerating of a generation."
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wnfixqt5ldte)
"While I love Oingo Boingo (they have been my favorite band for the last 20 years). This is the CD I listen to the least. Don't get me wrong, on its own it is a great CD, but with all the other OB compilations available this one falls short.
Part of the problem was the band was splitting from one record label and moving to another. This CD was put out by the former record label in order to fulfill their contract with OB. Plus for any true OB fan this marks the beginning of the end for the band. After the release of "Skeletons" and "Boingo Alive", Danny Elfman (yes Jenna Elfman's uncle) concentrated on his music scores more than he did on the band. Thus releasing fewer new recordings.
If you are an avid OB fan and must have everything they own, get this CD. If th
is was going to be your first OB CD, get their "Anthology" CD. It is more complete."
"This compilation covers the prime years of Oingo Boingo prior to their gaining mass exposure with "Weird Science" and the album "Dead Man's Party". It limits its selection to tracks from their first three albums for the A&M label.
The good thing about this collection is that this is the only single-disk compilation that gives you the original studio versions of these songs. Later compilations such as "Best O' Boingo" substitute cluttered-sounding, inferior live versions recorded before an empty auditorium in 1988. (Not exactly the metaphor one wants for their career.)
People buy compilations to minimize the number of CDs they buy, so with "Skeletons in the Closet" you won't need "Nothing to Fear". Five of these twelve songs are the best half of that second album. However, the brevity of the collection means that the other two albums are short-changed. By the time the third album "Good For Your Soul" came out, the band may have been repeating themselves and in need of a second wind, but you'll still want to download "No Spill Blood" and "Sweat" from that album and a few from their best album of this early era, "Only A Lad". In particular, the band's cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me" stood as a delicious counterpoint to the Van Halen remake issued a few years earlier.
When I first saw this on a retail display I thought, "Finally they've found an excuse to put that first, brilliant Oingo Boingo EP on CD". No such luck. Adding its few tracks would have bumped the duration of this overview up to what one expects of a compilation. Or if you were thinking that you might get to hear a song or two from their first wild recordings on the soundtrack to "The Forbidden Zone", nope, missing in action. And if you were looking for the popular "Goodbye Goodbye" from the soundtrack to 'Fast Times at Ridgmont High', the label didn't bother to license that one song to fill out the collection. (You'll see the song listed on a few other Oingo Boingo best of's but it's always the live version.)
All in all it's a tough call. The lack of effort put into this assemblage almost makes it seem gratuitous. Given that it only draws from three albums and the tracklisting comes up short, you almost might as well just get those three albums - "Only A Lad", "Nothing To Fear" and "Good For Your Soul". But if you do settle for this collection, that too is a good choice - you'll probably enjoy it enough to wish you'd sprung for the original albums."
"This particular release is amazing! There is not one bad song throughout the entire cd. It is one of those albums that you can listen to over and over again and never get tired of it....now that's what I call a great record.
For those of you who have never heard of Oingo Boingo, I would say they are a band that makes music that is almost impossible to describe. Their music is truly unique and is completely different from anything you've ever heard. Although there are a lot of bands that have their own sound, Oingo Boingo adds to their sound diversity by including the use of wind instruments. So I'll make an attempt and say Oingo Boingo is punk meets pop meets new wave meets brass meets weird, and that's about as close as I can get. So give them a listen, you won't be dissapointed."
More reviews:
http://www.boingo.org/articles/SITCReview.html
http://articles.latimes.com/1988-08-14/entertainment/ca-519_1_boingo-alive
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/comp/oingo_boingo/the_best_of_oingo_boingo__skeletons_in_the_closet/
http://www.ed-wood.net/skeletons_closet.htm (french)
LIVE AT IRVINE MEADOWS THEATER (currently called as Verizon Wireless Amphitheater), IRVING, TEXAS (27.10.1990)
VIDEO:
"Not My Slave"-Oingo Boingo live video from '90 Halloween
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ5oMx79fH8
The complet Halloween Concert:
http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2009/10/30/oingo-boingo-halloween-concert-video-irvine-meadows-dia-de-los-muertos/
Tracklist:
01 Cry of the Vatos
02 Dead Man's Party
03 When the Lights Go Out
04 Dead or Alive
05 Home Again
06 Skin
07 Glory Be
08 Cinderella Undercover
09 Help Me
10 Sweat
11 Out Of Control
12 Flesh'N Blood
13 Grey Matter
14 Long Breakdown
15 Good For Your Soul
16 Elevator Man
17 No One Lives Forever
18 We Close Our Eyes
19 Mama
20 Minnie The Moocher
21 Dream Somehow
22 Not My Slave
23 Stay
24 Who Do You Want To Be
25 Wild Sex
26 Try To Believe
27 Just Another Day + Encore
28 Gratitude
29 Private Life
30 Violent Love
31 No Spill Blood + Encore
32 You Really Got Me
33 Little Girls
34 Only A Lad
35 Goodbye Goodbye
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/372040555/oiirv90.rar
Some about Irvine Meadows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_Wireless_Amphitheatre_(Irvine)
Review:
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-29/entertainment/ca-2672_1_oingo-boingo
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-25/news/ol-4441_1_oingo-boingo-s-treatment
LIVE the Santa Barbara County Bowl (article):
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-18/news/vl-3504_1_music-oingo-boingo
DARK AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL (1990)
"Where's the courage I once had
Where's the strength I once possessed
To stand up tall and face the music
Laughing in the face of death..
Like a bad dream I once had where
Everyone but me knew something
Walking blind through the burning fields
The dead brigade is on my heels
They follow me--they follow me"
(Glory Be)
"Life is a dream somehow
Life is a nightmare and life is a bitter pill
(Life is a dream somehow)
Life is a Disneyland ride which is better still
Come to the rescue now
Life is a drowning pool
Life is a circus for fools just like you and me
Life is a mortal coil
Wrapped in cheap tin foil on a kitchen sink
Come to the rescue now"
(Dream Somehow)
Credits:
Accordion - Brian Mann (http://postscoremusic.com/discographyBri.htm and http://drmacmusic.com/htmls/media.html), Kenny Kotwitz (http://www.myspace.com/kennykotwitz and http://www.bluesbox.biz/recordings.html)
Artwork By [Design] - DZN, The Design Group/ Artwork By [Direction] - Vartan
Peter Zokosky (http://www.zokosky.com/) - Cover Paintings
Bass, Vocals - John Avila
Drums, Percussion - Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez
French Horn - Yvonne S. Moriarty (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0605372/ and http://www.facebook.com/people/Suzette-Moriarty/1302918437)
Guitar - Steve Bartek
Keyboards, Vocals - Carl Graves
Saxophone [Baritone] - Leon Schneiderman
Saxophone [Tenor], Saxophone [Soprano] - Sam Phipp
Trombone - Bruce Fowler/ Trumpet - Dale Turner
Piano - Ralph Grierson (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0001452 and http://www.musicandhealth.com/RG.html)
Maxine Waters and Julia Waters (http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Waters.html) - Additional Vocals (track 11)
Management - Laura Engel , Mike Gormley
Mastered By - Greg Fulginiti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Fulginiti)
Engineer [Assistant] - Brian Soucy (http://www.musicla.com/bsoucy/)
Engineer [Second] - Talley Sherwood (http://www.talleysherwood.com/ and http://www.linkedin.com/pub/talley-sherwood/19/909/76)
Mixed By - Chris Lord-Alge
Photography - Dennis Keeley (http://www.denniskeeley.com/)
Producer - Danny Elfman , John Avila , Steve Bartek
Recorded By - Bill Jackson , Jeff Lord-Alge
Recorded By [Additional] - Csaba Petocz (http://mixguides.com/microphones/tips_and_techniques/audio_recording_vocals_march/ and http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/credits/csaba-petocz/478879), Jim Scott
Vocals, Lyrics By, Music By - Danny Elfman
Credits for "Fles & Blood" maxi:
Producer - Danny Elfman , John Avila , Steve Bartek
Remix, Producer [Additional] - Jeff Lord-Alge (track 12)
Credits for "Out Of Control" maxi:
Edited By - Omar Santana (http://www.myspace.com/omarsantana) and http://www.myspace.com/markplati)
Keyboards [Overdubs] - Mac Quayle
Producer - Danny Elfman , John Avila , Steve Bartek
Producer [Additional], Mixed By [Additional], Edited By - Arthur Baker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Baker_(musician))
VIDEO:
"Skin - live"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktQfNAUPivc
"Danny Elfman- Dark At The End Of The Tunnel Interview"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWbYH3DuVAI
Tracklist:
01 When The Lights Go Out
02 Skin
03 Out Of Control
04 Glory Be
05 Long Breakdown
06 Flesh 'N Blood
07 Run Away (The Escape Song)
08 Dream Somehow
09 Is This
10 Right To Know
11 Try To Believe
Bonus:
FLESH AND BLOOD (Maxi) (1989)
12 Flesh And Blood (Extended Version)
13 Flesh And Blood (Instrumental)
14 Flesh And Blood (7" Version)
OUT OF CONTROL (Maxi) (1990)
15 Out Of Control (Funky Vocal Mix)
16 Out Of Control (Funky Drummer Dub)
17 Out Of Control (Power Mix)
18 Out Of Control (Fingertips Vocal Mix)
19 Out Of Control (Outer Control Dub)
20 Out Of Control (Environmental Mix)
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370403523/oin90.rar
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_at_the_End_of_the_Tunnel
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-25/entertainment/ca-4362_1_oingo-boingo-fans
"Boingo's latest album, "Dark at the End of the Tunnel," (MCA) which critics have called a big change from the band's earlier work.
Change, in fact, is the essence of Oingo Boingo, which grew out of an avant-garde theater group Elfman describes as "wild, mul
timedia performance art." The troupe transformed into a rock band—but with its eight-man lineup, emphasis on the saxophone and trumpet, and front-man Danny grinning and gyrating with an almost frightening glee (every inch the Elfmaniac), this is hardly your average rock band.
Creative creepiness is an Elfman trademark. He calls all the songs on "Tunnel" "dark: scary-dark, funny-dark, or just dark-dark." There's also a supernatural, not-of-this-earth theme to most of the movies he's scored, like the music for that pesky ghost Beetlejuice, the monsters of horror-master Clive Barker's Nightbreed, and his newest project, Tim (Batman) Burton's film Edward Scissorhands (about a boy who has, yup, scissors instead of hands, and stars Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder).
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Seventeen90.htm)
""From being very frenetic, we've become more diverse," the 34-year-old Mr. Elfman said the other day in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. The best songs, including "When the Lights Go Out", which imagines civilazation becoming savage during a blackout, have the dark, vivid imagery of comic-book nightmares."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/NYT90-tracy.htm)
Lyrics of Right To Know
"On a cool dark night someone's coming down the street
With a smoking gun and a smile on his face
For all to see, the rest is history
But no one knows what's on his mind
Except him and his monkey--come on . . .
When the big man fell with a secret on his lips
So close, so close
'Til the bullet gave his kiss
The world cried out loud, the rest is history
And no one knows what's on his mind
Except him and his monkey--come on . . .
You've got a right to know
You've got a right to know
You've got a right to know
You've got a right to believe that there's something more to see
There's a man at the desk who is talking real soft
To a half dozen guys but not a word is lost
The men depart they all know what to do
With a rifle aiming through a clearing in a bush
So close, so close, but no one thinks to look
You've got a right to know
You've got a right to know
You've got a right to know
You've got a right to believe that there's something more to see
Than a big bunch of flowers in a cemetery
So why hold out, come on and give your testimony
On a phone connection on the other side of town
Sits a man with a pencil who doesn't make a sound
He nods his head, the rest is history
But no one knows what's on his mind
Except him and his monkey--come on, come on
When the big man fell with a secret on his lips
So close, so close
'Til the bullet gave his kiss
You've got a right to know
You've got a right to know
You've got a right to know
You've got a right to believe that there's something more to see
Than a big bunch of flowers in a cemetery
So why hold out, come on and give your testimony
On a cool dark night someone's coming down the street . ."
"Having had to perform a series of concerts in Los Angeles at the same time he was finishing the Edward Scissorhands score, he is looking forward to a real vacation, after which he will begin writing songs for Oingo Boingo's next album and will choose one of the movie scoring invitations his agent has been receiving. "If you're a composer, how else can you write three or four solid hours of music a year and have it all played back?" he asked. "Every minute you write is going to be performed, and that's really wonderful."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/NYTimes90.htm)
REVIEWS
"Danny Elfman, lead singer of Oingo Boingo, knows how to make great music. With his penetrating charisma he can pull many a song through in his own wacky direction and style, making it equally dark and fun. Dark at the End of the Tunnel seems misguided, as though Elfman has lost sense of the music he
is "meant" to make, or maybe he had been dabbling in too many musical scores at the time to keep track (he was gaining momentum as a darn good film scorer with hits like Batman and Edward Scissorhands). There are only moments here and there that will remind you of the madman's laugh riot Oingo Boingo used to be. That would be fine, except that the remaining songs are bland and dispirited. Elfman takes a shot at pure pop on "Try to Believe," which is uniquely positive and emotional: Who knew he had it in him? He spreads those hidden wings of emotion even further on the mercifully tender and comforting "Out of Control," which is about as close to a lullaby as you are likely to hear from this group. What a wonderful idea it would have been to use one of the most artistic and clever singer/lyricists of the 90s and his inspired band to create an entire album of pop and ballads. What might be a selling of pride for Elfman could have been a huge benefit to the world of pop with his distinct voice and ability. He gives us a taste of what could have been, along with "Flesh and Blood," a tantalizing blend of vocals and rhythmic mischief that make the album glow, however briefly."
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:d9fpxqe5ld0e)
"Lots of people were disappointed with this album because it's so different from the past work of Oingo Boingo. Well, I absolutely love this album. And yes, I'm a huge fan of their earlier work. But I guess you can say I'm diverse in my taste. Even when they had the rare mellow song in their old stuff, I loved it. This is just a cd of mainly just those kinds of song. On this album, Danny Elfman sings lovely, haunting melodies with wonderful lyrics. The band sounds great with fun rhythms and whatnot. I love this album. This Oingo Boingo fan loves ALL of their work."
"I am a huge fan of Oingo Boingo and I am not from the west coast. I discovered the band in 1983 and listened to them at least once a week for about a decade. I own everything they've ever released, in addition to some unreleased demos. They are my favorite band of all time and I am grateful every day for their music. So I am a geek for this band. I hope I've made that clear.
I have a theory about Amazon reviews, which is that most people don't review albums they don't like. It's unfortunate, because it puts the reviews and ratings completely out of balance. Basically, you'd be hard pressed to find an album that has received a large number of negative reviews (I challenge you to find an album with 10+ reviews, where at least 6 of them are not positive).
My advice: Unless you are a Boingo geek, like me, and must own it all, there is no reason to own this album. It is by far the worst in their catalog. When I bought it the week it was originally released, I was so excited to see the cool artwork on the cover (especially after the 80s paint-streaked cover of the preceding release,"BOI-NGO"). I was a bit disappointed with their previous album's sound - a bit too tame. There were some great songs on it, though. And the artwork of "Dark. . ." tricked me into believing this one would find the band back to their unique, weird sound I'd loved on their earlier releases.
Well, upon hearing the disk for the first time I was blown away by how awful it sounded. Oingo Boingo always had a heavily produced sound. And for me they were brilliant at walking the fine line between brilliant and cheesy (although most of my friends in North Carolina only heard cheese). But "Dark. . ." just sucked. Maybe they were feeling label pressure for another hit record like, "Dead Man's Party," or possibly they were trying to make a transition into the '90s. Whatever the reason, this album sounded the least like Oingo Boingo to me. I finally understood why my friends laughed at me for liking this band. This album was awful.
The promotional photos on the inside of the CD jacket showed the band dressed in cowboy shirts - Danny had a bolo - and they did not look cool at all. They looked like sales associates at Circuit City. What the hell happened?
Steer clear of this release. Get Nothing to Fear or Good For Your Soul or any other Oingo Boingo release than this one.
I think the folks who are giving positive reviews to this disk are either too young to know what Oingo Boingo is about and they're into really mainstream pop stuff like old Paula Abdul or they had a bad trip at one of the legendary Boingo Halloween Christmas shows in LA and have lost their sense of musical taste. Regardless, this is a bad album.
But, with all of that said, a bad Oingo Boingo disk is still not the worst musical purchase you could make (assuming you have the rest of their amazing catalog).
Enter this "tunnel" at your own risk."
"If you are a hard-core Oingo Boingo fan - you may very well hate this album. A friend of mine gave me my copy two weeks after it was released because he just couldn't stand it. As I later learned, before Dark at the End of the Tunnel ("Tunnel"), OB's work was often raw, energetic and not over-produced. Tunnel is a marked change.
I had never listened to OB before I purchased Tunnel. Consequently, I didn't have any preconceived notions. What I found was an extremely complex album that is as musically solid as any I had (or have) ever heard. It contains songs with "edge" as well as some of the best balads I have ever heard. Most of all, I love the layering. Many of the songs are filled with intricate back rythms and riffs which make the sound extremely "full." You can tell that this album was produced during the rei
n of the synthesizer (albeit at the end of that time period). But, Tunnel does a supurb job of utilizing the fullness that a synthesizer can provide without over-doing it.
Uncharacteristically, Tunnel really puts Danny Elfman's voice at the forefront. His vocals are a true highlight of the album.
Buy this album. Then, sit back and listen to it like it is a completely unknown band. I'm confident you will be very impressed!"
"By 1990, Oingo Boingo had made a gradual transition from the semi-humorous Boi-ngo in 1987, to the extremely dark and often uneasy mind of genius composer/lead vocal Danny Elfman. This culminated into "Dark at the End of the Tunnel". However, Elfman didn't know how to separate his musical worlds. And this was a very interesting thing.
"Dark at the End of the Tunnel" is a slow self-aware transitional album full of atmosphere and good lyrics. Oingo's lyrics are not as important now as they used to be. But "Dead Man's Party," alreaady covered that ground.
Here, we first will find a seemingly cold and angry album, yet with multiple listens, "Dark at the End of the Tunnel" could be considered a great album which contains a large handful of classic songs. That's not to say every song is perfect, but it doesn't really have to be.
A prime example is what one could consider one of the finest and most haunting songs ever written / composed is "Skin". It was a song originally meant for the "NIGHTBREED" soundtrack (1990) ((but appeared only in country version) which is no coincidence that Elfman composed all the music for). Skin is a song literally about undead demons ripping their faces off. Nightbreed was directed by Clive Barker (Hellraiser) who no doubtedly admired Elfman's work on Beetlejuice and Batman only a few years prior.
"Flesh N' Blood" sounds similar to "We Close Our Eyes" and was featured on the "Ghostbusters 2" soundtrack (1989). Even thought the second ghostbusters soundtrack didn't match the first film's soundtrack (or the first film, for that matter). Seems to have that reluctancy-based soul defiance to it. Upon loosely recalling the Grim Reaper-phobic theme in DMP's "no one lives forever", Elfman sings "I'm not gonna give up the ghost no!"
"When the Lights Go Out" has a hint of Depeche Mode / Devo / Nine Inch Nails style industrial synth buried by several droned, yet loud-sounding guitars which sort of stretch-rock back and forth inbetween the stuttering words projected by Elfman.
"Right to Know" is an incredible example of Danny's composition / juxtaposition styles all tied together on a course of obvious melodies. Also contains a catchy, yet jumpy xylophone.
"Out of Control" sounds more like a lullaby and anti-suicide anthem than anything I've heard from OB. An honest outlook on life balanced out by some positives.
"Try to Believe" sounds like something Depeche Mode would attempt to replicate (and that works too) with their song "Condemnation" in 1993."
"Boingo were THE alt band of the eighties, demented, dark and death obsessed they made irresistible party music that appealed to Goth geeks and new wavers. Their sound was as unique as their morbid obsessions, although they were similar to bands like Adam and the Ants and The Hoodoo Gurus. This item is the last great album they produced, proceeding the disappointing BOINGO by light years. Some of the bands best tracks are here, including `Skin', Flesh And Blood' (from Ghostbusters 2) and the excellent, touching `Out Of Control' (a suburb anti-suicide tune). Truthfully, all the tracks are great, and although this is not the best Boingo album (that would be DEAD MAN'S PARTY) it is without a doubt in the first rank. Well worth the cost."
"Truly a studio masterpiece. Being a Boingo fan for over twenty years and seeing them live fifteen times has given me quite an appreciation for Danny and company. This CD is so completely involving you just get goosebumps every time you listen to it. The rhthyms are grand and the lyrics take on new meanings every time you listen. I am a DJ and have heard few albums that compare to this on a whole. Even a non Boingo lover would enjoy this one. Wonder what Danny thinks is his best album? I bet he would choose this one! I used to think that Good for your Soul was the bands finest hour (great horns) but upon repeated auditions Dark at the End of the Tunnel won out even though the use of horns is spare. This is music at its finest hour. Peace!"
More reviews:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050511172446/www.mahatmarandy.com/rb/rb0104.htm
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-02-25/entertainment/ca-1882_1_oingo-boingo
http://www.boingo.org/articles/DarkReview.html
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/oingo_boingo/dark_at_the_end_of_the_tunnel/
http://starling.rinet.ru/music/oingo.htm#Ladű
http://www.ed-wood.net/dark_end_tunnel2.htm (french)
Oingo Boingo at Irvine live review 1991:
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-11-02/entertainment/ca-679_1_boingo-man-party
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-11-02/entertainment/ca-608_1_oingo-boingo
STAY (Compilation) (1990)
Credits:
Cover illustration by Brazilian artist, Claudio Braz
Tracklist:
01 Stay
02 Cinderella Undercover
03 Not My Slave
04 Grey Matter
05 Just Another Day
06 Dead Man's Party
07 We Close Our Eyes
08 Flesh 'N Blood
09 Help Me
10 Weird Science
11 Who Do You Want To Be
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/366678238/oistay.rar
"Hello there! My name is Phil, and I'm a Brazilian Oingo Boingo fan with some more info about the band releases in this country.
They came to Brazil in 1990, and by that time they were VERY VERY popular, I can say that they were the most popular International band in Brazil on that year.
"Stay" took part on a soap opera Soundtrack (it was a story about a family of
surfers, the name is "Top Model").
About the album itself, it was only authorized by the band , more like a compilation mande only to Brazil with their most succesfull songs with the Brazilian fans."
"This LP is a MUST HAVE RARE RARE RARE for any true Mas Locos Boingos collector. The
album is titled STAY, and was released in Brazil after OB was asked to release the song for the title theme of a sit-com over there. The album has Oingo Boingo written at the top in swirvy lettering with a skeleton surfing on the cover. The bottom of the surfboard says STAY.
The album does not have rare tracks, but it is somewhat of a compilation of a couple of albums. It has DMP, stay, close eyes, cinderella, grey matter, and a few others (I believe 10 or 12 tracks total)."
(http://www.raptorial.com/Boingo/Stay/index.html)
BEST OF BOINGO (1991)
Credits:
Producer - Danny Elfman , John Avila (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 17) , Steve Bartek
Producer - Paul Ratajczak (http://www.mercurysoundstudios.com/mixers_staff.html)(track 03)
Tracklist:
01 Dead Man's Party
02 When The Light's Go Out
03 Gratitude
04 Skin
05 Flash N' Blood
06 Not My Slave
07 Stay
08 Sweat
09 No Spill Blood
10 Out Of Control
11 Weird Science
12 No One Lives Forever
13 Wild Sex (In The Working Class)
14 Just Another Day
15 Who Do You Want To Be
16 Only A Lad
17 Goodbye Goodbye
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/373021323/boibof.rar
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_O%27_Boingo
""Going off and writing songs, I have total control, which you don't have as a film composer," Danny Elfman said. "Once a score is done, they can take it, cut it up, bury it under sound effects, anything they want. As a songwriter I don't have to please anybody but myself and the band. Nobody comes and listens to the song and says,'Change this, change that, cut a verse out.'"
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/NYTimes90.htm)
Danny Elfman:
"I reached a point in the '80s and the beginning of the '90s where I started drifting," he allows. "And I probably was more into film scoring than the band at that point. I think I kept the band together more for the sake of the band than for myself. I get bored really easily, and I don't alwasy find what it is it takes to get un-bored....I really retired the band twice already."
"Elfman had decided to "let it go" a full 10 years ago, but after writing the song "Dead Man's Party" he felt that he had hit upon a new style worth pursuing, a shift from the original "energy and fun and agression" to something a tad more toned-down and complex. The resulting album alienated some fans but was the first gold one (sales of 500,000) for Oingo Boingo, which had long been legitimately huge in Southern California but only moderately popular elsewhere.
But he was bored again after the follow-up album "Dark at the End of the Tunnel" was released in 1990. Thence came the 20-odd film scores, the screenwriting efforts, the yet-to-be produced musicals, all of which provided more than enough outlet for his purely aesthetic drives. Fortunately for Boingo fans, Elfman was and is a first-class, A-level crank. And there's still no medium quite so conducive to crankiness as rock 'n' roll."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/LATimes94.htm)
REVIEWS
"A gothic, experimental band that utilized a simple blend of R&B and new wave, Oingo Boingo was quite an innovative force in the eight or so years covered on Best O' Boingo. Few bands can claim such a unique spot in the annals of pop music, but thanks to the visionary songs from lead singer Danny Elfman, Oingo Boingo often transcended the limitations of whatever genre they chose to take on. Picking up after their highly bizarre new wave years, this retrospective emphasizes their poppy, mainstream work, starting with their morbid good-times anthem "Dead Man's Party." Perhaps the best song in their catalog, the track utilizes every likable aspect of their sound, from the intense horn work and start-and-stop rhythms to Elfman's endearingly nasally yelp and impressive compositional skills. Other highlights include the Talking Heads-influenced "Not My Slave," the eerie Eastern-flavored "Sweat," and the campy creep-out anthem "No One Lives Forever." Without access to the material from Boingo's years on A&M Records, the album does feel a bit padded, especially when material from the bland Boi-ngo gets so much play. But with so many great Elfman songs in one place, it's hard to argue with the amount of quality new wave that makes it onto the record. Besides, 1999's Anthology underrated this period in their career, making Best O' Boingo the premiere sampler of their pop-oriented years."
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:a9foxqe5ldke)
""Best O' Boingo" is a basic necessity for any good collection. Songs such as "Not My Slave" and "Wild Sex in the Working Class" showcase Danny Elfman's songwriting talent, and get you moving. No Halloween Party is complete without Boingo on the stereo."
"Having been a major Boingo fan for years, I found the "Best o'Boingo" to be a bit of a disappointment. They kept many of their better songs intact for this collection - "Stay", "Not My Slave", and "Just Another Day" are three of my faves. However, eight of the seventeen tracks are not the original Boingo classics, but re-recordings; and nowhere near as good as the original releases. (The re-recordings of "Dead Man's Party" and "No One Lives Forever", well, stink.) If you are a serious collector of Oingo Boingo music, this might be a good choice to round out your collection; but if you're buying your first Boingo CD, I'd suggest going with one of their older albums, such as "Dead Man's Party"."
"There are re-recordings of some of the more popular songs on this album, most notably the one that starts the whole thing off: "Dead Man's Party".
This isn't a bad thing. In the case of "Dead Man's Party", the oddly sluggish feel of the original is gone entirely. Most of the songs, in fact, sound tighter, brighter, and the whole thing just *bounces* along with the cheerily macabre sensibility that an Oingo fan dotes on. I listen to it and find I get the keenest enjoyment from it in the car, despite my rotten speakers. There you are, zooming through space in your little tin-can with internal combustion. Death is not far from your mind, more often than not, and it's invigorating to hear it discussed with such happy relish.
The mood of this compilation is perhaps a bit lopsided: the friskier pieces such as DMP and "Not My Slave" tend to be near the beginning, while the album slides toward wistful sentiment and pretty minor-key warbling toward the end. In the car, the opening trumpets of DMP are a clarion call back to the lighter side of things. Without the "Repeat All" function, it kinda wiggles to a halt. Not bad at-awl."
More reviews:
http://www.i-mockery.com/weeklies/weekly.php?type=music&id=7
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/comp/oingo_boingo/best_o_boingo/
http://www.ed-wood.net/best_boingo.htm (french)
LIVE AT UNIVERSAL AMPHITHEATRE, UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA (19.01.1993)
CD 1.
01 Helpless
02 We Close Our Eyes
03 Change
04 No One Lives Forever
05 Who Do You Want To Be
06 Not My Slave
07 Stay
08 Sweat
09 I Am THe Walrus
10 Lightning
11 Yodel
12 Nothing To Fear
CD 2.
01 Wild Sex In the Working Class
02 Dead Mans Party
03 Just Another Day
04 Try To Belive It
05 Gratitude
06 No Spill Blood
07 Grey Matter
08 Only A Lad
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/373006686/oinliuni93.rar
Universal amphitethre concert article:
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-01-15/entertainment/ca-1200_1_oingo-boingo
Info about Universal Amphitheatre:
http://discoverlosangeles.com/business.html?businessid=12665&categoryid=1064
LIVE AT IRVINE MEADOWS THEATER (currently called as Verizon Wireless Amphitheater), IRVING, TEXAS (30.10.1993)
VIDEO:
"Insanity"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8sjDR-Jpac
Tracklist:
01 Gratitude
02 Out Of Control
03 No One Lives Forever
04 Helpless
05 We Close Our Eyes
06 Not My Slave
07 Stay
08 Country Sweat
09 I Am The Walrus
10 Did It There
11 Who Do You Want To Be
12 Nothing To Fear
13 Dead Man's Party
14 Just Another Day
15 Wild Sex
16 Insects
17 Grey Matter
18 No Spill Blood
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/372996099/oinir93.rar
Halloween concert articles:
http://www.boingo.org/articles/DailyBruin.html
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-01/entertainment/ca-51974_1_oingo-boingo-tricks
http://graveyard-duck.com/pages/boingo93.html
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-01/entertainment/ca-51908_1_oingo-boingo
LIVE AT MESA AMPITHEATRE, MESA, ARIZONA (10.07.1994)
Tracklist:
01 Insanity
02 Who Do You Want To Be
03 Grey Matter
04 Dead Man's Party
05 No Spill Blood
06 Hey CUt
07 Change
08 Pain
09 Insects Cut
10 Spider
11 Can't See Useless
12 I Am The Walrus
13 Lost Like This
14 Kiss My Ass
15 We Close Our eyes
16 Helpless
17 No One Lives Forever
18 Nothing To Fear
19 Only A Lad
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370063206/oinmesa94.rar
Mesa's official page:
http://www.mesaamp.com/Home.aspx 
BOINGO (1994)
"Helpless to turn back the clock
That ticks on
With it's cruel shiny face
It laughs while it watches
My every disgrace - I was
Born a sap - all the
Nurses laughed when they
Saw me the first time
They giggled and they said
"This poor little monster'd be
Better off dead."
(Helpless)
Credits:
Accordion - Doug Lacy
Bass, Vocals - John Avila
Concertmaster - Bruce Dukov (http://www.brucedukov.com/main/bio2.asp)
Drums, Percussion - Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez
Guitar - Warren Fitzgerald
Guitar [Lead], Conductor, Orchestrated By - Steve Bartek
Keyboards, Sampler - Marc Mann
Saxophone [Baritone] - Leon Schneiderman
Saxophone [Tenor], Saxophone [Soprano] - Sam Phipps
Backing Vocals - Carl Graves (track 06), Cameron Graves and Taylor Graves (track 01) (both members of The Score, see: http://www.youtube.com/user/wearethescoreTV) /Julia Waters , Maxine Waters (track 05) (http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Waters.html)/ Carl Graves (track 06)
Trumpet, Trombone - Dale Turner
Fred Seykora - Solo Cello (track 03)
Vocals, Guitar, Arranged By - Danny Elfman
Written-By - Danny Elfman (tracks: 1 to 8, 9 to 12)
Engineer [Mix Second Engineer] - Chad Munsey (http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/credits/chad-munsey/528298), Mike Baumgartner (http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/credits/mike-baumgartner/589052)
Engineer [Recording Second Engineer] - Marty Horenburg , Mike Piersante
Technician [Studio] - Bruce Jacoby (http://www.remo.com/portal/news/index.html?id=22), Jimmy "King" Amason (http://pnwbands.com/shearwaterAK.html), Matt Luneau (http://mamakicks.com/chris_bio.htm), Nick Jeen , Tim Durfey (lates news: in 2009 Michael Bolton's production and technical team led by PM Tim Durfey)
Mastered By - George Marino
Mixed By - Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero (http://www.discogs.com/artist/Michael+Barbiero and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Barbiero and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Thompson_(musician))
Producer - Danny Elfman , John Avila , Steve Bartek
Recorded By - Bill Jackson
Recorded By [Additional] - Michael Barbiero
Recorded By [Orchestra] - Shawn Murphy (http://www.sekd.com/news/060629_Shawn_Murphy.asp)
VIDEO:
"Hey!"-Oingo Boingo live video from '94 Halloween
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPccqmNvjiw
Tracklist:
01 Insanity
02 Hey!
03 Mary
04 Can't See (Useless)
05 Pedestrian Wolves
06 Lost Like This
07 Spider
08 War Again
09 I Am The Walrus
10 Tender Lumplings
11 Change
Bonus:
OUTTAKES
12 Helpless (Studio B-Side)
13 Kiss My Ass (Live)
14 Vultures (Extended)
15 Vultures (Short)
16 Water (Demo)
INSANITY (Maxi) (1994)
17 Insanity (Short)
18 Insanity (Medium)
19 Insanity (Long)
20 Helpless (Cassette Album Version)
HEY! (Maxi) (1994)
21 Hey! (Short Version)
22 Hey! (Long Version)
23 Hey! (Medium Version)
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/370404453/oin94.rar
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boingo_(album)
http://books.google.hu/books?id=QQgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12&dq=OINGO+BOINGO&lr=&cd=30#v=onepage&q=OINGO%20BOINGO&f=true
http://www.myspace.com/boingoinsanity94
"Elfman has scored such high-profile films as Dick Tracy, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Midnight Run, and Scrooged. So why is the in-demand wunderkind returning to the competitive grind of the concert stage and the recording studio as the lead singer and songwriter of the arty, frantic Los Angeles rock band Oingo Boingo?
"After seven years of movie work, I'm feeling burnt out," said Elfman last week, phoning from Southern California. "Film composing is sitting at a piano for 12 hours a day. The solitude of the job turns one into a grumpy, cynical personality. The band is a way to offset that. Being in a band is very physical. There's the camaraderie. It's like a weird extended family."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/sanfran93.htm)
Q:
What is your opinion on Oingo Boingo changing their name to Boingo?
John Avila:
"I was personally against it. It was a quick decision. I didn't pay attention to it afterwards. Now that the albulm came out it seems that everytime people ask, "What happened to Oingo?" it has turned into a drag because I constantly have to explain why. The funny thing is that there really isn't any real reason why we did it. It was just done. So we moved on.
In reretrospect, if I would have known that it was going to cause such a rukus, I would have been really against it. One of the things we always tell people is, if you want to call us Oingo Boingo, feel free. Call us anything you want, just don't call me Sue."
(http://www.boingo.org/articles/VMNArticle.html)
"With a new name, a fresh new sound, and a new label, Oingo Boingo—the eccentric Los Angeles group with a regional cult following-- has been reborn after a four-year recording hiatus. Now known as Boingo—which most of its fans
had already called it—the group continues its musical experimentation, but its quirky, mid-'80s "Weird Science" days are history.
No longer a synth/dance/pop band, Boingo rocks on its self-titled Giant Records album—literally. With music ripe for modern and album rock programmers' picking, the Giant staff will take the music to both radio formats. Giant hopes to make Boingo—which has been around for 15 years and recorded seven previous albums—a truly national act.
But Elfman hopes any tour by the band won't go on too long. "I can't see playing on tour every night for six to nine months," says Elfman. He concedes that using orchestral accompaniments on new Boingo songs such as "Insanity" and "Mary" was influenced by his film scoring, and says that inspiration for his new writing came from sounds he heard coming from his 15-year-old daughter's bedroom.
"I heard her listening to her Beatles records, and then I started exchanging albums with her," Elfman says. "Then I started listening to the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin. The Beatles had a wild abandon for changing style from tune to tune. I've always wanted our albums to be eclectic, and I've been pining for the day when we could just let our minds wander."
Elfman and company wander to their heart's content on the new album, which stretches over 70 minutes. One song, "Change", is 16 minutes long, while another, "Pedestrian Wolves", is just over nine minutes. While Boingo's cover of "I Am the Walrus" pays homage to the Fab Four, the dramatic, choral singing in "War Again" and "Lost Like This" recalls vintage Queen. The group closes its 12-song album with an uproarious, previously unreleased tune from the days when the band was known as the Mystic Knights. Called "Helpless", the song features incongruous accordion riffs, drum march rythems, and Elfman's adopted hoarse roaring in the chorus.
"It was a challenge leaving dance music behing and not using sequencers," Elfman says. "It's the most challenging, fun, and difficult record we've ever done. It felt like a cold bucket of water splashed in our faces."
But Elfman knows that Boingo's longtime fans may take the band's change in sound as a slap in the face. "I'm expecting to get a lot of nasty letters," Elfman says. "I got them when I recorded [the solo album] "Dead Man's Party" in 1985. Fans would write and say they made Oingo Boingo, and in seperating and changing we abandoned them."
"With any band that's been around as long as Boingo, the music constantly changes and evolves," Backer says. "Sometimes hardcore fans will be sacrificed. But they're making the album they've always wanted to make, and [marketing it] is a major priorty for us."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Billboard94.htm)
Lyrics of Insanity
(http://www.lyricsfreak.com/o/oingo+boingo/insanity_20102776.html)
"...I am the virus, are you the cure?
I am morally, I'm morally impure
I am a disease and I am unclean
I am not part of God's well oiled machine
Christian nation, assimilate me
Take me in your arms and set me free
I am part of a degenerate elite
Dragging our society into the streeet
Into the abyss and to the sewer don't you see
The man just told me, he told me on TV
Do you think you're better than me
Do you want to kill me or befriend me
And the alchoholic bastard waved his finger at me
His voice was filled with evanglical glee
Sipping down his gin and tonics
While preaching about the evils of narcotics
And the evils of sex, and the wages of sin
While he mental fondles his next of kin
My mind has wandered from the flock you see
And the flock has wandered away from me
And he waved his hypnotizing finger at me
Let's imitate reality
Let's strive for mediocrity
Let's make believe we're all the same
Let's sanitize our little brains
I'd love to take you home with me and tuck you into bed
I'd love to see what makes you tick inside your pretty head
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
Christian sons, christian daughters
Lead me along like a lamb to the slaughter
Purify my brain and hose down my soul
White perfection, perfection is my goal
Do you think you're better than me
Do you want to kill me or befriend me
Christian nation, make us alright
Put us through the filter and make us pure and white
My mind has wandered from the flock you see
And the flock has wandered away from me
Let's talk of family falues while we sit and watch the slaughter
Hypothetical abortions on imaginary daughters
The white folks think they're on the top ask any proud white male
A million years of evolution, we get Danny Quayle..."
"During the 1992 political campaigns, Elfman felt sufficiently disgusted by what struck him as hyopcrisy in the "family values" rhetoric of Dan Quayle and the religious right to pen a diatribe in reaction. This new song, "Insanity", represented as interesting a stylistic break from Boingo's standard M.O. as "Dead Man's Party" had earlier, and he took it to longtime lead guitarist Steve Bartek for a reaction. Bartek encouraged Elfman to write more along those lines, and soon he'd come up with more tunes that, like "Insanity", went on for six or seven minutes or more, eschewing the standard pop song limitations.
In the studio, things got even more expansive, as Elfman threw out most of what he'd come in with and started working on songs with the reconstituted band for the first time—instead of directing the players to replicate his demos.
The lyrics range from Elfman's most overtly political statement, "War Again," an angry response to Gulf War patriotism, to his most unusually personal song ever, the affecting "Can't See (Useless)."
"Half the songs on the album were improvised in the studio, which is a completely new thing for me and really fun," Elfman says. "I started to feel really excited for the first time since '80, when we first started out, and '85 or '86, when we did "Dead Man's Party."
"This album caught us in transition. It's almost like catching something at the point where you're shedding out of one skin and you don't know what the new skin looks like yet.
Boingo fans without a taste for orchestral music might feel jealous of the time Elfman devotes to the movies. But Bartek, who is also Elfman's orchestrator on the movie work, doubts the band would have lasted nearly as long as it has if the two of them hadn't ventured beyond pop into film music.
"Had Danny and I not been doing projects in between, I think the whole process would've been sped up a bit," says Bartek, surmising they would have burned out on Boing without other outlets to retreat to. "The time in between has helped keep it going, actually, so each time we got together, it seems fresh. There's always been enthusiasm when we reconnoiter."
"In the new album's anti-Republian "Insanity" and anti-sortie "War Again" would indicate a far different orientation, one more aligned with the liberalism usually expected of rockers.
"I was hard-core left-wing growing up; I was a radical. And when I left that, I left it in a big way," Elfman explains. "And of course I went and embraced everything that was against what I then saw as the hypocrisy of the left-wing movement. Since then I've become a radical reactionary, I suppose, and my views are really mixed. I don't embrace either side at all, because there's just as much bull on the left as on the right. But it is amazing how that follows you"
"The one that I hated the most was quirky. but the fact was, we were quirky, and I can't undo that," he adds with a laugh. "Actually now, I've begun to like it again, so it's OK. Now, as of this new album, I suddenly find myself going, 'Yeah, OK, I'm quirky, all right.' I guess I'm coming full circle."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/LATimes94.htm)
Danny Elfman:
"We started to record in February of '93. There was a half an album done by March, but I got pulled into The Nightmare Before Christmas. That kept me going until October when it opened. The band went back in and listened to what we had done and said, "Fine. We'll keep 'Insanity' and dump the rest." "Can't See," "Hey!" and "Pedestrian Wolves" all came together when we went back into the studio. For example, "Pedestrian Wolves" was a total improvisation in the studio. Then I put lyrics to it. This was an enormous change for me. I've always been such a control freak, meticulously preparing and rehearsing for the studio."
Q:
There are some lengthy tracks on this album. "Insanity" is more than seven minutes, "Pedestrian Wolves" is nine minutes plus and "Change is 16 minutes long. Why did you stray so far from traditional pop forms?
A:
"Don't worry. We'll edit 'em down for singles. In the case of "Change," I had a short tune and I knew I was going to turn it into an experiment in elasticity. The original version was 20 minutes long. It's the musical equivalent of a collage. I always wanted to do a piece which would alter as it went along, with one melody leading into the next."
Q:
After a decade and a half as Oingo Boingo, why did you change the name of the band?
A:
"So many people have been asking us why we changed the name, but it doesn't mean shit. They can call us Oingo Boingo. They can put it on the marquee. I'm even sorry I did it. It was kind of an afterthought. We've been calling ourselves Boingo for the past nine years. The band was an outgrowth of the theatrical group the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Then, when we became a rock band, we cut it down to Oingo Boingo. Now, we're down to Boingo. We used to joke that we had a plan, that we were working down to "Ngo." Eventually, we'd get down to just "O," the indivisible number, the expression of negation. Since we're touring without the horn section, some people are saying that the horn section was Oingo, and they took the name with them when they left. That's not true."
Q:
Those horn players have been with you for years. Why are they gone?
A:
"They'll probably be back at some time. There are just no horn parts on the new album. From the "Dead Man's Party" album on, I've had a philosophy. If there's a place for horns or keyboards, they'll be there. If not, they won't. Before then, I tried to force everybody into the arrangements. I would have had to force horn parts on this one."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/SFChronicle94.htm)
Q:
Why did you cover "i am the walrus" on Boingo? Does it have some special meaning or d'ya just like it?
Answer:
"No reason. it was a spontaneous thing"
Q:
On this album, ironically, you used horn players on "I Am the Walrus," a song that in its original incarnation had an orchestra, of course. It's the one place on the record where you really spotlight the horns, whereas you use strings much more on other songs. Was the use of strings just as simple as the fact that you've gotten so used to working with them on the film scoring side that it was inevitable you bring them over to your rock work?
Danny Elfman:
"No, actually, I've always tried to keep them apart, which is why I didn't use them before. I wanted to keep these two sides of my life completely separate. But as I started getting into these songs, the songs themselves started to call out for these things, and I just couldn't find a compelling to not let them come together. Part of me was going, "No, no, keep 'em apart." It's like two sides of your brain, and if you let them get together, maybe you'll have a meltdown or something? I was worried about matter and antimatter getting together. [Laughs.]
And that's always how I felt about these two careers, that they appealed to such different sides of my personality, and when I'm doing one, I've always tended to hate and look down upon the other. When I'm with the band on the road, I think, "Ew, God, film composing, how do I ever do that?" I can't imagine how I do it, it takes so much work and discipline and concentration, and doesn't have any of that energy and sweat. And yet when I'm in the middle of a film score, it's like, "Oh God, being in a band is just so boring. This is really a much more creative field to be working in, and I never have to repeat things I don't want to. It's wonderful." So I've always turned my nose up at whichever one I'm not doing, and felt that I should have to keep them apart. And this time I just let it all mush together happily, and it was fun, I enjoyed it."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Grammy94.htm)
Danny Elfman:
"And that's when I wrote the song "Insanity," just about a year and a half ago, and the same thing happened again. I went to Steve [Bartek] and played him "Insanity," and he said "That's interesting, do you have any more?" I started doing a few more things. And the band kind of again went through an algebraic thing and signed a new deal with Giant...
Once again, I felt excited about something, because we were improvising. We were coming up with stuff and going in the next day and laying down tracks and then making a song out of it. Five songs on the album were cut as demos; we weren't even trying to cut real tracks. And I liked that. It's nothing new for most bands, it's just not the way we functioned. I was always used to coming up with songs, bringing in demos, playing them for the band and then we would record them. And here I was coming up with [only] shreds of bits. So, I guess for the first time, we were functioning like a band.
So it was like a whole fresh experience for us. Whether anybody likes the album or not, I have no idea, but I had a really good time. This album caught us in a transition. In the beginning, it was almost like catching something at the point where you're shedding one skin and you don't know what the new skin looks like yet. I was already aware while we were doing it that again, for the second time in my career, I'm probably gonna piss of a lot of Boingo fans. I survived it before, and I can certainly survive it again, one way or another.
I guess I'm long past the point of being overly concerted with how my stuff is received. Because what do I have to prove, really? I don't really care. Not that I don't care—everybody wants their stuff to be received -- but I don't need it to be. I want to go back in the studio again, I want to record another album like next month. I've already written five more pieces since I got out of the studio.
Once I get my engine going, it starts really going. This album isn't out yet for another two weeks, it's already starting to feel like an older album! I want to get in and do even a newer one before the first one comes out!"
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Grammy94.htm)
REVIEWS
"The introduction to Boingo's first track, "Insanity," sounds like an unused cut from the Batman motion picture theme , shuffling into an angry and eerie rebellion against Christianity, right wing mentality ("years of evolution and we get Danny Quayle"), and media. The lyrics and instrumentation alone demand attention, but the album is pushed over the top by the inclusion of children's vocals that contain a certain element of hypnotism, reminiscent of the rebellion against school teachers in Pink Floyd's The Wall. This is what happens when someone captures "Children of the Damned" and gives them Danny Elfman as choir director. If one can survive the entrance to the rest of the album, there are depressing ballads and guitar-driven rockers to gain, but nary a hint of the plucky instrumentals on past efforts. Boingo amply covers John Lennon's "The Walrus" and milks up their creative spots on the tracks "Lost Like This" and "Spider." Most enjoyable, and unfortunately only on the cassette version, is the end track "Helpless." "Helpless" is voiced by a Jack Skellington-mode Danny Elfman and nearly parodies the grieving found on the rest of the album. It is an operatically rendered portrayal of a "monster" who has been handed a bad life and has no escape. The group Oingo Boingo was once a party favorite, a cult dish for outcasts and pop-punksters, a Halloween night treasure. With their previous album Dark at the End of the Tunnel they showed signs of slowing down, becoming a bit more thoughtful and age weary. With Boingo they have completely dissipated every ounce of youthful banter and concocted an album that would fit neatly between the shelves of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. Every grain of 1990s droopiness and melancholic frustration has been forced into the album, which makes it a risky one. Here is a fun '80s band in every sense of the term and they have made an unquestionable, 100 percent crossover into grim alternative."
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:d9fpxqyhldae)
"One of the most under-rated albums ever made. It's unfortunate that this passed most people by. I highly recommend this CD for music fans. At the time Danny Elfman wrote most of these songs, he said that noticed his teenage daughters were listening to a lot of Beatles and Led Zeppelin which caused him to rediscover an appreciation for that music. You can hear the influence in the song writing on "Boingo". This is almost the highest level of song writing that Boingo achieved. It's not my favorite Boingo CD, but it is one of my favorite works of music."
"I thought I'd write a review because there's one key thing about this album none of the reviews address. Elfman had been doing Oingo Boingo for a few years before he began composing movie scores. His star has faded a bit in the last decade, but in the late 80's - through much of the 90's he was one of the very biggest, busiest composer's working.
Up until this album, he had made a point of not letting his composing work cross over into his Oingo Boingo work (Elfman effectively was Oingo Boingo- he wrote pretty much everything for that band as well and his band mates were pretty much hired musicians). With this final Boingo studio album he finally decided to let his two musical worlds mix together and see what the result would be (he also fired half the band for this one). The results are simply stunning, and it's a shame he only did this the one time.
Most people will agree that this album is totally different than the bands body of work. Some love it for this reason, some hate it. The thing people forget is that the general consensus was that Oingo Boing had been slowly sliding down hill for years, sounding safer, more commercial, and arguably more bland. The band (and the man) who would right such edgey frightening songs as (I like) Little Girls and Nasty Habbits had long ago been replaced by a band that was getting dangerously close to adult contemporary. Slowly Elfman's biting sarcasm and uncomfortable humor had been becoming more and more gentle and benign. The people that call this album dark are really forgetting where it all started. Musically it was a whole new animal (and a brave, jaw dropping one), but lyrically this was the closest he'd been in a very long time to where he started.
(also of note- the Farewell live album includes 5 (or 4 if you're lucky enough to have the tape only track helpless) additional tracks written for this album that were ultimately not released. Helpless and Water are both show stoppers stronger than many of the cuts on here, their omission was criminal. Piggy, Clowns of Death, and Burn Me Up are fun but ultimitely don't amount to much.)"
"I'm quite surprised that there are so many positive reviews about this album. This is easily the weakest recording they ever released. Gone are the horns, the manic edginess, the sense of humor, and even the strong sense of melody. Where once we had a band with their own unique sound and vision, we're now left with a stripped down version of Oingo Boingo that chose to follow the darker trends of the time like NIN. There's nothing wrong with being dark, but little of it screams of sincerity. They even grew their hair long, got some tatoos, and sported the grunge look at the time in a feeble attempt to appeal to the current musical trends/fashion at the time. If there's one positive about the album it's that we see early indications of where Elfman was heading with some of his soundtrack scores, and I suppose it's a departure from their usual sound. It's not as bad listening to it today as it was when it first came out, but it's just not all that inspired."
"Wow, I can't believe the people here saying that Danny Elfman wanted to get in on the grunge craze and copy Nirvana. There is nothing on this album that even remotely sounds like grunge music. If you prefer Oingo Boingo's older material then fine. Personally I find it to be way too cheesy and way to "80's pop" for my tastes.
What Danny Elfman did here was bring together some of the members of Oingo Boingo for an entirely new project (hence the name change to just "Boingo") and tried to create a dark, forbidding piece of pop music combined with his classical music style. What he created is a musical masterpiece and an instant classic album. I'm not even remotely interested in getting Oingo Boingo's back catalogue but I will still be listening to this album for years to come. Yes it's dark, yes it's depressing and it's altogether brilliant.
The only disappointment is that Elfman decided to call it quits in terms of pop music after this because I would have loved to hear what else he could have come up with had he continued in this direction. Keep an open mind and ignore the negative reviews."
"This is Oingo Boingo's most mature album, and it's also the darkest in terms of the texture and the lyrics. People who degrade the album, touting it as trying to do nothing more than copy or rip-off other bands or styles of music, are totally daft. The album is totally unique to everything I have ever heard. Elfman doesn't need to rip anyone off. He's a creative genious. Listen to this album and the sublime lyrics he incorperates into the songs, and you'll know exactly what I mean."
"I've found that no two Oingo Boingo records sound the same, and Boingo is a particularly interesting example of this. Here, Danny Elfman has moved away from his New Wave roots into a more Alternative Rock style. The orchestrations are much richer here than on his previous albums, and the lyrics seem to operate on a much more personal level.
Overall, this record serves up a very different listening experience than Only A Lad or Dead Man's Party. From the bombastic (And utterly amazing) "Insanity" to the 16-minute freee for all "Change" (My personal favorite) Boingo will take you on an intense thrill ride.
The songs here are much longer than has previously been Elfman's wont, most likely because he has more to say. Many people dislike long songs, but I much prefer them to shallow 2 1/2 minute pop singles.
If you would like to here something completely different that is sure to astound and amaze you. Check out this record."
More reviews:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050511172857/www.mahatmarandy.com/rb/rb0105.htm
http://www.boingo.org/articles/EWBoingoReview.html
http://nevergetoutoftheboat.blogspot.com/2008/08/oingo-boingo.html
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/oingo_boingo/boingo/
http://starling.rinet.ru/music/oingo.htm#Lad
http://articles.latimes.com/1994-05-15/entertainment/ca-57783_1_boingo-albums-stars
http://www.connollyco.com/discography/oingo_boingo/boingo.html
http://www.ed-wood.net/boingo2.htm (french)
FAREWELL: LIVE FROM THE UNIVERSAL AMPHITHEATRE (1996)
Credits:
Accordion - Doug Lacy
Bass, Vocals - John Avila
Drums, Percussion - Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez
Guitar - Warren Fitzgerald/ Guitar [Lead] - Steve Bartek
Keyboards - Marc Mann
Saxophone [Baritone], Saxophone [Alto] - Leon Schneiderman
Saxophone [Tenor], Saxophone [Soprano] - Sam Phipps
Trombone - George McMullen
Trumpet, Trombone - Dale Turner
Vocals, Guitar - Danny Elfman
Percussion [Additional] - Katurah Clarke
Written-By - Danny Elfman (tracks: 1-1 to 1-10, 1-12 to 1-15, 2-1 to 2-15)
Engineer [Additional] - John Paterno (http://www.jpreceng.com/John_Paterno_home_page/Home.html)
Engineer [Assistant] - Charlie Bouis , David Nottingham (http://www.davidnottingham.com/), Doug Boehm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Boehm and www.myspace.com/dboehm2086), Van Coppock (http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/van-coppock/604588)
Mastered By - Dave Collins
Mixed By - Bill Jackson (tracks: 1-1, 1-3, 1-4, 1-6, 1-12 to 1-14, 2-1 to 2-3, 2-5 to 2-7, 2-11, 2-14) , Sylvia Massy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Massy)(tracks: 1-2, 1-5, 1-7 to 1-9, 1-11, 1-15, 2-4, 2-8 to 2-10, 2-12, 2-13, 2-15)
Producer - Danny Elfman , John Avila , Steve Bartek
Recorded By - Bill Jackson
Notes:
Recorded live at the Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, CA on Halloween 1995.
VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHabulyy2Tg
CD 1.
01 Insanity
02 Little Girls
03 Cinderella Undercover
04 Controller
05 Burn Me Up
06 Insects
07 No One Lives Forever
08 Hey!
09 Reptiles And Samurai
10 Water
11 I Am The Walrus
12 Piggies
13 We Close Our Eyes
14 Mary
15 Can't See (Useless)
CD 2.
16 Helpless
17 I'm So Bad
18 Change
19 Stay
20 Who Do You Want To Be
21 On The Outside
22 Wild Sex (In The Working Class)
23 Dead Man's Party
24 Nasty Habits
25 Clowns Of Death
26 Ain't This The Life
27 Whole Day Off
28 Grey Matter
29 No Spill Blood
30 Only A Lad
Links to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/367350441/oifa1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/367352932/oifa2.rar
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_(Oingo_Boingo_album)
Also read these articles/interviews on the last concert:
http://articles.latimes.com/1995-10-28/entertainment/ca-62258_1_danny-elfman
http://articles.latimes.com/1995-11-02/entertainment/ca-64090_1_oingo-boingo
http://graveyard-duck.com/pages/boingo95b.html
http://graveyard-duck.com/pages/boingo95a.html
http://articles.latimes.com/1995-10-23/entertainment/ca-60298_1_oingo-boingo
http://www.boingo.org/articles/sltarticle.html
http://www.boingo.org/articles/ocrarticle.html
http://www.boingo.org/articles/HRArticle.html
http://www.boingo.org/articles/dnarticle.html
http://www.boingo.org/articles/lbptarticle.html
http://www.boingo.org/articles/OCRReview.html
http://articles.latimes.com/1995-11-04/entertainment/ca-64725_1_oingo-boingo-sam-phipps-courtney-love
Danny Elfman:
""Rock-and-roll, like the theater, has one really negative side, which is repetition," he said. "Every time you go on stage you are performing a body of material that is essentially the same, and that's what drives me crazy and keeps me from doing extended tours. There's a certain point where I long to get back to the purity of writing an orchestral composition at a piano, where I have no physical restraints and I don't have to deal with my greatest enemy, which is my voice."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/NYTimes90.htm)
Danny Elfman:
"The breakup of Oingo Boingo, on the other hand, is far more amicable. "We've been thinking about laying it to rest for the last four or five years. We decided to make a nice clean break, give our fans a chance to say goodbye and give us a chance to say goodbye to them," Elfman said. "I think it's a miracle when a band makes it more than a decade, especially a big, nutty group like us."
Dany Elfman:
"The band's Day of the Dead imagery and its traditional Halloween concerts came about almost by accident, says Elfman. "I just always loved Halloween—it's a chance to let your imagination go and be someone else, and our concerts just happened to get scheduled at that time, and it all came together with our imagery and made sense."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Radcyberzine96.htm)
Also read this:
http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/91x95.htm
REVIEWS
"The final performance of Oingo Boingo was captured on Farewell: Live from the Universal Ampitheatre on Halloween 1995. A two-volume VHS recording accompanies the two-CD set. Oingo Boingo agent provocateur Danny Elfman is an adroit, singular, and quirky songwriter. For sheer entertainment, the Oingo Boingo repertoire earns high marks. This CD and VHS set documents the final performance of the band — Oingo Boingo's Halloween shows had become an institution, and this swan song is also their first live album. Finally, listeners and viewers are invited into this secret society. All the original material is written by Elfman and proves itself insightful and at times unforgettably quirky. Like the best groups, they provide uninterrupted entertainment with a mental package to take with you. There are 30 tracks on the two CDs — these are all translated to the videos, with the addition of a half hour of "documentary and retrospective footage" and videos for "Little Girls" and "Insanity." This archival footage goes from goofy cacophonous theater to intriguing Oingo Boingo operas, proving the group's status as a great and underrated band."
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hzfqxqwhldhe)
"This is truely the definative album for the definative band. If you get just one Boingo album, get this one. You'll be able to sustain yourself for at least a year on this prime Boingo cut! Its got a great mix of songs from all the albums (Except Dark At The End Of The Tunnel,its one weakness), a wealth of energy, a good mix of rare Boingo thrown in there and the live feel of Boingo Alive. The band is at its peak here. Steve Bartek's awe inspiring guitar work, Danny Elfman's darkly humorous singing, John Avila's rock solid basslines, Vato's speed drumming and of course, the imortal horn section. And let's not forget Warren Fitzgerald's palm muting and pich bend guitar work. Crank up the cd, feel the energy of that last Holloween show.
From the tribal "Insanity" to the comforting "We Close Our Eyes" the 2 cds span a wealth of musical styles. This cd is a excellent spring board to start your Boingo collection from. Buy it now and sing the praises of Boingo in the streets!!!"
"Samual noted that this album contains one song, "Water" not available elsewhere. There are actually four songs.
"Water" was actually the easiest song of the four to obtain. It was recorded for an album, but never released. However, bootlegs of the studio recording are pretty common.
"Burn Me Up" and "Piggies" were introduced during the 1994 tour, after the last album was recorded. "Burn Me Up" is pretty much a throw-away- it might have been better if the horn parts had actually been played by the horns instead of on keyboard. The '94 tour had no horns, so I suspect they just didn't have time to learn the new songs for this brief Farewell tour.
"Piggies" is a little better- it proves that Elfman had been listening to a lot of Primus at the time. (Priums themselves were playing a piece of Elfman music from Pee Wee's Big Adventure before their shows the same year, and Elfman mentions this on the PWBA DVD.)
But the big get here is "Clowns Of Death". This song MAY pre-date the 1994 tour, but I'm not aware of any studio versions. (OB sometimes played secret shows under the name "Clowns Of Death") This is one of my favorites of OBs heavier material.
Along with those tracks, the album contains 3 songs which have never been released on CD- "I'm So Bad" and "Ain't This The Life" from their debut EP, and "Helpless", which appeared only on the cassette version of their final album. And, as mentioned, the live version of "Change" is a great improvement, turning the meandering 16 minute mess of the studio version into one of my favorite OB tunes."
"This CD is amazing, I think that it goes back and improves a lot of boingos songs, like some of the songs that Id rather listen to on this live cd than the studio recording are: No One Lives Forever, Reptiles & Samurais, We Close Our Eyes, and Wild Sex. Those are just the briliantly performed songs, that I liked better than the studio versions, and practically all the other songs are performed incredibly, with the exception of Little Girls (Sounds like their playing at 2x), and Change (I dont know how you would perform this song correctly) and a correction on someones review, the original change is practically 16 minutes on studio 9 minutes live. Either way this is an amazing album, never have I heard live songs performed so well, great album to listen to from start to finish"
"I ordered this with some hesitation. I like Oingo Boingo, and have since I was 16 (so that's been 18 years now, for those keeping score). However, I fell out of touch with the band around the time DARK AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL came out. So, my knowledge of the band is from the pre-1987 era. Also, I never saw them live (I kick myself for deciding not to go, but at the same time, I hate going to concerts alone; it was tough to find anyone who had heard of them during that last tour, let aolne wanted to see them). Those two factors coupled made me skeptical of this CD set. However, the large song selection made my mind up for me.
Disc one is good. It has more of their newer songs, and one I have not found on any other Oingo Boingo album (WATER). The song selection leaves me a little lost and the choice of the early material on disc one makes me shudder, as they picked several songs I have NEVER liked ("Little Girls" and "Reptiles and Samurai" are two standouts). However, the live version of "Insects" gives me new respect for the song. "Water " is a nice, bluesy tune that seemed to come out of nowhere (It is totally opposite from their other stuff).
Disc two brings me back to more familiar territory. The first song ("Helpless") is a dark tune that sounds similar to the style from the NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS era stuff. from there, it goes back to earlier tracks. "Stay" is a welcome friend. "Nasty Habits" is given a new lease on life. "Dead Man's Party" brings the crowd to life. "Who Do You Want To Be?" is popping with energy. And so on, until the ending track of "Only A Lad". There are other tracks, several that I was not familiar with before buying this CD set. "Clowns of Death" fits in perfect with the growing aggression of the set. Listening to it, it fun to see the progression of the band over the years.
At 20 bucks, it's not the least expensive CD in their catalog to buy. For a few more bucks you could buy ONLY A LAD, NOTHING TO FEAR, and Danny Elfman's SO-LO. However, you'd be missing the raw energy captured here.
I am very pleased with the production quality found here. They managed to smooth the rough spots without losing the energy. That's the sign of a talented producer. The listener really benefits from the hard work here.
So, if you are new to Oingo Boingo, you may want to start with BOINGO ALIVE to get a better feel for the band. But, if you're an older fan, like me, this will probably be right up your alley."
More reviews:
http://www.blockbuster.com/browse/catalog/movieDetails/132788
http://www.raptorial.com/Zine/Reviews/Boingo01.html
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/oingo_boingo/farewell/
http://starling.rinet.ru/music/oingo.htm#Lad
http://www.ed-wood.net/farewell_video.htm (french)
ANTHOLOGY (1999)
CD 1
01 Intro - Tender Lumplings (live) (Farewell video version)
02 Ain't This the Life (from Oingo Boingo ep - either 10" or demo version)
03 Nasty Habits
04 On the Outside
05 Only a Lad
06 Little Girls
07 Grey Matter
08 Wild Sex (in the working class)
09 Private Life
10 No Spill Blood
11 Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Me
12 Sweat
13 Who Do You Want To Be
14 Gratitude
15 It Only Makes Me Laugh
16 Everybody Needs
17 Dead Man's Party
18 Weird Science (alternate mix from motion picture soundtrack)
CD 2
01 Just Another Day
02 Stay
03 Not My Slave
04 Where Do All My Friends Go
05 Mama (Boingo Alive version)
06 Cinderella Undercover (Boingo Alive version)
07 Flesh 'N' Blood
08 When the Lights Go Out
09 Out of Control
10 Insanity (medium version)(from the "Insanity" import single)
11 Mary
12 We Close Our Eyes (live)
13 Whole Day Off (live)
14 Piggies (live)
15 Insects (live)
16 Goodbye, Goodbye (Boingo Alive version)
Links to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/366653645/oinan1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/366653758/oinan2.rar
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthology_(Oingo_Boingo_album)
"Oingo Boingo's two-disc Anthology collects some of the finest examples of their eclectic sound, including "Weird Science" and the Halloween anthem "Dead Man's Party." Tracks like "Only a Lad," "Grey Matter," and "Cinderella Undercover" define their cerebral-yet-catchy style, and live versions of "Tender Lumpkins," "Whole Day Off," and "Insects" hint at the group's theatrical concerts. The most complete of the Oingo Boingo collections, Anthology picks up where Best O' Boingo left off, making it a good starting point for those new to the group's quirky pop."
(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dxfixqwkldae)
"I am such a huge fan of Oingo Boingo, and especially Danny Elfman...........that I would find it hard to find fault with any of their work. As i know most of the songs on this double CD set, I was not able to alter that opinion, modern chaos with a touch of voodoo dark humour, mixed with a latin under current, yes odd, but a scorchingly good cocktail. The talent of Elfman is his ability to link subversive lyrics with jaunty tunes, that make you tap your feet and nod your head, all the while you are trying to ascertain whether he really means what he is saying, or is htre some other DEEPER meaning, almost a double bluff on the lyrical conten ? As modern poets go he will not be remembered in 100 years time, as he is not mainstream enough, but I bet if you asked him if that mattered he would look at you curiously and frown, for Elfman clearly enjoys the creative side of song/music writing, and could care less that the general public at large may not understand his genius, "a fire does not get bigger or hotter just 'cos you notice it !". For those of you loathe to spend out on this CD, think of this, you WILL buy more than one OB CD, and so save yourself the expense now, get this compilation, you will not be upset."
"Absolutely superb. You can see why Oingo Boingo are quoted as often being 'influental'. They have so much stuff that you can see that other bands have put they're own 'spin' on. Because it's fantastic!"
More reviews:
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/comp/oingo_boingo/anthology/
DEAD BAND'S PARTY: A TRIBUTE TO OINGO BOINGO (2005)
Tracklist:
01 Clear Static – Dead Man's Party
02 Let Go – Only A Lad
03 The Matches, Zebrahead – Violent Love
04 Rocky Racoons – Little Girls
05 Reel Big Fish – We Close Our Eyes
06 RX Bandits – Grey Matter
07 Hello Goodbye – Weird Science
08 Plain White T's – Better Luck Next Time
09 Stairwell – Just Another Day
10 Suburban Legends – On the Outside
11 Over It – Stay
12 Aquabats – The Controller
13 Jessica Burgan – Not My Slave
14 Finch – When the Lights Go Out
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/366655578/triboi.rar
"Every cover is good. Some better than others obviously with the highlight being Suburband Legends' "On the Outside" cover. They really bring a fun youthful edge to the song. The "Little Girls" cover by the Rock Racc
oons isn't scary enough to drive the sarcastic point home like Oingo Boingo did.
The lowest point though is the Matches/Zebrahead cover of "Violent Love" which isn't even an Oingo Boingo song. It's actually a Willie Dixon cover that appeared on Oingo Boingo's debute EP. I find it very odd that the booklet credited every song to Danny Elfman when the cover of a cover should give credit to Dixon. This is really the only fact that keeps me from giving the album 5 stars.
Aside from that everything is great, but like any tribute album it mostly just makes me want to listen to the originals again.
Oh yeh, and also what album is "Better Luck Next Time" from? I downloaded the original song, but can't find out anything about where it came from. It's a great song though and a pretty decent cover."
"I listened to this album and wanted to like it. However during the whole album, I kept thinking that someone was hosting a bad karaoke night with the Theme "Oingo Boingo Music".
Just not the same as the real thing and NOT a fitting tribute to the best band ever."
"though it's a nice thought, none of these bands (or anyone, for that matter) should have ever been allowed to touch oingo boingo."
"I didnt think anyone could redo any Oingo Boingo songs that I would actually enjoy listening to, but they really hit the nail on the head with this Onigo Boingo tribute! I enjoyed almost all of the songs just as much as the originals. What a refreshing tribute to listen to. Normally, tributes suck real bad... not this one."
"I thought this album was pure genius! The people behind this album had a great idea and put great bands on it! It obviously took a lot of time and energy to put together something this awesome. Jessica Burgan was the best hands down. I listen to it almost everyday and recommend it to anyone!!!"
More reviews:
http://www.scenepointblank.com/reviews/498
DRINK TO BONES THAT TURN TO DUST: A TOAST TO OINGO BOINGO (2006)
Tracklist:
01 Mark Lemhouse – Who Do You Want to Be
02 Woodrush – Running on a Treadmill
03 K23 Orchestra – Grey Matter
04 Jack The Original – Heard Somebody Cry
05 They Walk Among Us – Lost Like This
06 Sick – Nasty Habits
07 Disbonded – On the Outside
08 Scott Fisher Band – Spider
09 The Cheats – Nothing Bad Ever Happens
10 Maneja Beto – Skin (Cuero)
11 Sneakin' Out – Little Girls
12 Delta Nove – Only a Lad
13 Shiftless Layabout – Not My Slave
14 Lelando featuring Jackie Daum – Stay
15 Octothorpe – Little Guns
16 Brett Dennon – Private Life
17 Intervision – Dead Man's Party
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/366655756/toasoi.rar
More info:
http://www.myspace.com/deptofrecords
http://www.deptofrecords.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=20
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/oingo-boingo-tribute-album-with-very-rare-1
"This is a great tribute CD. A lot of the artists take the songs in fun new directions rather than just parroting out their copy. This CD can perform the dual tasks of introducing you to the classic songs of Oingo Boingo and/or bringing some not-quite-so-mainstream bands to your attention."
"I can hardly top the endorsement from Elfman himself, but I can vouch for the originality of the approach. These songs span a variety of genres, though they mostly take the originals in a more jazzy direction. The exception is "Nothing Bad Ever Happens," which ends up punkier than it ever was. The key to any good tribute song is being faithful to the spirit without slavishly copying the original. On this album, only "Little Guns" comes close to being a sound-alike -- and since it's a fun song anyway, that's fine. This is why the other Oingo Boingo tribute album, "Dead Band's Party," was mostly a disappointment, since too many songs were note-for-note recreations. Not the case here. This would be a listenable compilation even if it wasn't a tribute album."
More review:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oingoboingotrib
!!!DON'T MISS!!!!!!!! OINGO BOINGO RARITIES!!!!!
Forbidden Boingo (rarities)/ some live recordings etc.
Check them here:
http://michaeldowney.co.uk/oingo.htm
ALBUMS:
Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (1978)
Oingo Boingo demo ep (1979)
Forbidden Zone film soundtrack (1980)
Oingo Boingo ep (1980)
Only A Lad (1981)
Nothing To Fear (1982)
Good For Your Soul (1983)
Danny Elfman SO-LO (1984)
Dead Man's Party (1985)
BOI-NGO (1987)
Boingo Alive double album (1988)
Skeletons in the Closet compilation (1989)
Stay (1990) Brazil only
Dark at the End of the Tunnel (1990)
Best O' Boingo compilation (1991)
Boingo (1994)
Farewell double live album (1996)
Anthology double album (1999)
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection The Best of Oingo Boingo (2002)
Dead Band's Party: A Tribute to Oingo Boingo (2005)
Drink to Bones That Turn to Dust: A Toast to Oingo Boingo (2006)
Biography:
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as a performance art group called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (formed in late 1972 by Richard Elfman, was a musical theater troupe in the tradition of Spike Jones and Frank Zappa, performing an eclectic repertoire ranging from Cab Calloway covers to instrumentals in the style of Balinese gamelan and Russian ballet music), and from 1976 it was led by songwriter/vocalist Danny Elfman, who has since achieved substantial renown as a composer for film and television.
The group's format changed twice. In 1980, it changed from a semi-theatrical music and comedy troupe into a ska-influenced New Wave octet and shortened their name to Oingo Boingo. In 1994, the band reshuffled its lineup, adopted an alternative rock sound and rechristened themselves Boingo. The band retired after a farewell concert on Halloween 1995, having reverted to the name Oingo Boingo for the concert.
Although Oingo Boingo was often compared to Devo throughout their career (due to both bands' affinity for quirky new wave, goofy stage acts, and most obviously, peculiar yet intriguing band names), Oingo Boingo never obtained the mainstream success that Devo did. But the band did manage to obtain a large and devoted fan base, especially in their hometown of Los Angeles, CA.
THE NAME(band name origins):
The name has been streamlined too: The group that started out as the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo is, with this album, just Boingo (though Elfman says it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to go by the band's de facto moniker, and anyone's welcome to continue using the discarded Oingo).
"There was originally a desire to continually have the name shrink, so that by now it should be Ngo--or just O, O being the smallest molecular matter that cannot be halved."
Q:
Where did the name "Oingo Boingo" originally come from?
John:
"It was originally "The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo" before they were a rock band for a number of years. Before that back to around 1975 they were a live theatrical group. They did like 1930's orchestral kind of like 30's jazz. The name came from Danny Elfman's brother, Rick Elfman, who originally came up with the name--as far as I know that is where it comes from. I do know, though, that once I was in an elevator with these Japanese businessmen and the name Oingo Boingo came up and they were giggling. I said, "What's so funny?" In japanese it has something to do with large breasts."
Tavis:
I'll have to call Rick Elfman and find out how—-where that name Oingo Boingo comes from.
Elfman:
"If you wanna find the genesis of, like, where it originated from, look to early Zap comics, R. Crumb."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/TravisSmiley05.htm)
More:
http://www.amiright.com/artists/oingoboingo.shtml
SOME MORE OINGO BOINGO THOUGHTS:
Question:
A common theme in Boingo's music is death. Are you fascinated by death, and why?
Danny Elfman:
"My best friends are all dead people. So why not?"
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Aol95.htm)
VMN:
Do you have a philosophy of the music of Boingo? Or all together as a group?
John:
"We've always had the philosophy that, if we ever feel like we're turning into some kind of dinosaur or it feels like it's old, or the spirit of Boingo is not in our music at any time, then that is when it will be our last year. It will stop. We feel like we're always keeping the creative juices flowing. It's got to feel right. If it doesn't then that's when it's all said and done and put out to pasture."
VMN:
How does Boingo keep the passion to play?
John:
"I think one of the things about our band is we've never been a band to stay together twelve months out of the year. We take breaks from each other throughout the year. We have our own Boingo union breaks. Everyone goes off and does their own thing. During this time Danny has amde a career out of doing film scoring. Steve Bartek does scores for his films and he's done a few of his own movies. Everyone goes off and does their own thing. What happens is when we get back, sparks start to fly. All those creative juices start flowing. It's one of my theories. I don't know if that's the true reason we've been together. It seems to be one on the reasons we haven't burned out as a band."
(http://www.boingo.org/articles/VMNArticle.html)
WHY DID OINGO BOINGO DISBAND...
Danny Elfman:
"The last five or six years I was in the band, my instincts were telling me I was doing myself a lot of harm - and I was right. I really should have gotten out sooner than I did, and I'm incredibly regretful that I didn't because I'm paying the price for it now."
Thus, anyone still harboring delusions that one day Boingo will reunite should snuff out those pipe dreams. The most singing you'll get out of once- manic, orange-haired Elfman will be occasional movie songs (two in "Corpse Bride").
Yet Elfman has only fond wishes for his former band mates, several of whom are grouping for a one-off Halloween-ish show Oct. 29 at the Grove of Anaheim.
"Anybody can do whatever they want with (Boingo). I lay no claim to it. I'm happy to see that music live on, and it really doesn't bother me - as long as I'm not asked to participate. To me, it's the past, and the past should stay the past."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/OrangeCounty05.htm)
Q:
Why not?
ELFMAN:
"I can’t get in front of a stage that loud again. I spent 17 years in a band in front of monitors and it fucked up my ears. It was insanely loud. I was standing in front of four monitors blasting my own voice into my head which has to be louder than the band to be able to sing and hear yourself during these fucking two and a half, three hour shows. Then it all has to be louder than 6000 screaming audience members. Believe me when I say this, it was louder than anything you can imagine. I really got to the point where if I stayed in that environment any longer I would be deaf right now."
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/suicidegirls05.htm)
Q:
Does Steve Bartek or John Avila work with you anymore?
DElfmn:
'Steve Bartek (Oingo Boingo's guitarist) has worked with me on practically all my films as my primary orchestrator. And I hope to work with him regularly in the future, if I'm lucky. John Avila (Oingo Boingo's bass player) is a great bass player and I hope I'll work with him in the future as well. As a trivia note, John played bass on the soundtrack for the movie "To Die For.""
(http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Aol97.htm)
Read more bio here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oingo_Boingo
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifyxqr5ld6e~T1
AFTERMATH, MEMBERS, SIDE PROJECTS.....
RICHARD GIBBS & KERRY HATCH
After they left Oingo, both were members of Joe Lamont's band in 1985 (http://www.aor-fm.com/bands/686_joe_lamont.aspx). Before this, they formed ZUMA II with another member of Joe Lamont band Michael Jochum . They released only one album: ZUMA II - st (1985)
Members were:
Richard Gibbs (keyboards), Kerry Hatch (bass), Michael Jochum (drums, percussions), Joe Turano (piano) and Eric Williams (back. vocals, guitar, dulcimer).
Almost the complet Zuma II. played on Boy Meets Girls - Reel Life 1988 Lp! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reel_Life_(Boy_Meets_Girl_album))
From Zuma II., Gibbs and Jochum (currently Korn member, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jochum) worked together on other projects too:(for example Richard Gibbs - Bingo (1991), Korn - Unplugged (2007), Shenkar (2008))
Interesting thing:
Jochum guested on ex Oingo member Doug Lacy & Zydeco Party Band 1999 album.
Turano guested with John Fox (Oingo member in 1984) on Matthew Wilder - I Don't Speak The Language (1983)
Richard Gibbs & Turano played on Van Stephenson - Suspicious Heart (1986)
Richard Gibbs & Eric Williams played on Stan Ridgway (Wall Of Woodoo) - The Big Heat (1985) album . They also wrote a song for DeBarge in 1987 titled as "You're not the only one"
Kerry Hatch & Eric Williams played on Rita Coolidge - Never Let You Go (1983) album
This is all i know. Some further info on Zuma II. available here:
http://www.blujay.com/item/Zuma-II-Pop-Promo-LP-1987-blujay-13041400-2844787
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,190463,00.html
Michael Jochum and Richard Gibbs talk about Zuma II:
http://www.mediablvd.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7502&st=220
JOHN AVILA & JOHNNY VATOS HERNANDEZ:
John Avila and Johnny Hernandez have continued to work in a number of groups together, including Food For Feet, CID, Tito & Tarantula, Psychotic Aztecs and Doug & The Mystics. Additionally, these two members and a few other ex-Boingo members put together an Oingo Boing tribute show in Anaheim in 2005.
And they play on many soundtracks as well (see below).
FOOD FOR FEET (1981-1991):
"In 1981, John Avila co-founded Food For Feet. They were a power trio (with Mike Tovar on guitar) that toured extensively and recorded two cd's for Doctor Dream Records. The band developed a worldwide fan base and became known for their often unpredictable live shows. Food For Feet would remain together until 1991."
"John Avila, what a great bass player. I have a six song ep by a band called Food For Feet, that featured John Avila and Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, from 1989. It was a power trio, and there was a killer cover of the song "Tequila" with the bass and guitar doing the saxophone parts. I used to play it at Halloween parties, and everyone loved it."
ALBUMS:
Food For Feet – Food For Feet EP (1989)
Food For Feet – Order (1991)
You can download for free their 1989 Ep along with a bunch of other songs (live records) here:
http://michaeldowney.co.uk/oingo.htm
More info:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQyEKs1jC7Y (interview)
http://home.roadrunner.com/~collom/oingoed/story.html
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-04/news/vl-2149_1_oingo-boingo-songs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVgIzjG0vMk
http://new.music.yahoo.com/food-for-feet/
http://books.google.hu/books?id=_mAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20&dq=OINGO+BOINGO&lr=&cd=126#v=onepage&q=OINGO%20BOINGO&f=true
CID (formerly The AllStars 1992-1995, and later The Allstars get resurrected as Hammond Sammond Johnnies before CID):
"Definitely LA's best alternative blues band, featuring my bass player John Avila!
AllStars/Cid shows at then-owner Art Jong’s Old Towne Pub — they were the unofficial house band (a role later taken over by Snotty Scotty & the Hankies).
On their CD with the same title (1996) guested Victor Bisetti on drums (Los Lobos) and Robby Krieger (The Doors) on guitar."
More info:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030815165747/www.cidband.com/main.html
They also formed the rhythm section of TITO & TARANTULA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tito_&_Tarantula), a Los Angeles band fronted by Tito Larriva of The Plugz and the Cruzados.
Johnny Hernandez was a member here between 1999-2003? (he wasn't on the 2008 album, but he was a drummer on Tito's 2002 CD), John Avila was a guest musician only in 2000.
PSYCHOTIC AZTECS (1999)
Avila and Hernandez also joined Larriva (Tito & Tarantula) and guitarist Stevie Hufstetted (Tito & Tarantula) in this one-off project band. The Aztecs released one album on the Grita label called Santa Sangre.
PSYCHOTIC AZTECS - Santa Sangre (1999)
Tracklist:
01 Tierra Me Cubre
02 Leu·Ntate
03 Puro
04 Cara de Picasso
05 Nadare
06 Salmame
07 Claud de Cristo
08 Sin Calzones
09 Bella Marauilla
10 Agente Secreto
Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/366651116/psychotic_aztecs_-_santa_sangre__1999_.rar
"Awesome hard rock album sung in spanish."
"The Psychotic Aztecs are without doubt the brain child of Tito Larriua as he produced and wrote all the songs. Tito has several albums with his group "Tito and Tarnatula" and his mark is all over this CD.
Tito, who hails from Ciudad Juarez and grew up in El Paso, Texas, sings songs of the border experience. Tito, who is now part of the LA scene has been recording for years and has even done some acting. He has worked with Robert Rodriquez of "El Mariachi" fame and even had a bit part in the movie. The soundtrack to the film "EL Mariachi" contain three tracks by "Tito and Tarantula", including the cool tracks for the wild bar fight scene.
This is an album that hits you for it's grittyness and pure old time rock and roll with a twist, very twisted. Some songs are reminiscent of the early work of the "Doors" complete with haunting lyrics, great guitar riffs and sudden drops and crescendos in the rhythms that set a chaotic then peaceful mood."Salmame" is a sort of Norteno-Punk tune that is rapid fire to mid-tempo to rapid fire music with superb guitar work. "Puro" is a song that tells a tale of the border clashes complete with reference to LA Migra and his joy in being "puro Mexicano y que no me voy".
The music for the most part is a sort of dark, rhythmn and blues mixture of modern songs of the Southwest. "Bella Marruilla" is a number that slowly builds up to a masterful blending of guitar riffs that have you wondering where the song is going. Enjoy the ride as Tito takes you along for a desert ride, on a horse in search of the elusive wonders of life. This song would fit well as a backdrop for a movie, trippy stuff. The landscapes are yours to paint as there are no lyrics to this instrumental song, just beautiful music. "Agente Secreto" sounds an awful lot to me like "Secret Agent Man" of pop fame years ago only in Spanish .
The "Psychotic Aztecs" are Tito, lead vocals and guitar, Steven Medina, guitar, John Avila, bass and vocals and Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez on drums and percussion. A very good CD that will get a lot of play once you get it. It takes several listens to understand their sound but make no doubt these guys are uniquely talented. This is about as uncommercial as it gets, raw, southwest music in search of a soul in the desert."
More info:
http://www.latinovision.com/BandPage.asp?ArtistID=29
They (Avila/Hernandez) also played with:
THE CLOSET SURFER on concerts in the 90's (http://web.archive.org/web/20030810125235/www.surfband.com/bandinfo.htm)
Robby Krieger - Cinematix (2000) CD, on the song "Missionary Jam" (Bass, Co-producer, Engineer, Mixed By - John Avila/ Drums - Jonny Hernandez)
JOHN AVILA, JOHNNY VATOS HERNANDEZ, DOUG LACY, STEVE BARTEK & SAM PHIPPS:
Their band was DOUG & THE MYSTICS (1995):
After the Oingo break-up, John Avila, guitarist Steve Bartek, drummer Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez, and saxophonist Sam Phipps (along with Doug Lacy and other musicians) formed a band called DOUG & THE MYSTICS. They recorded one album, New Hat in 1995(Co-Produced with Steve Bartek), which included a cover of the Oingo Boingo song “Try to Believe,” original songs, and covers of songs by Frank Zappa and other artists.
"Born in Houston, Texas, Doug Lacy started playing the piano around age 4. He's a multi-instrumentalist including steel drums, accordion, tuba and penny whistles. He's toured as a keyboard tech for groups like Rod Stewart (also played steel drums), ELO, Barry Manilow, Boz Scaggs, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Joe Cocker, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Hornsby, Billy Joel, Simon & Garfunkel, Ry Cooder, The Tubes, Todd Rundgren and Oingo Boingo. For several years Doug worked with Oingo Boingo, playing various instruments and singing background vocals when the band broke up he grabbed the band (without Danny Elfman) and went into the studio to record a CD called "New Hat" by Doug and the Mystics. During all this he still maintained the Zydeco Party Band and has made several CDs with them - the latest is "Do You Know What it means"
Does Doug look familiar to you? Aye matey! Doug is also pirate at Disneyland playing sea shantys on accordion and penny whistles on Wed., Thur. and Fri., and he also plays three nights a week in L.A. doing solo piano at the meat-loving Beer frau run, Red Lion Tavern in Silver Lake.
When he's not doing those things Doug has appeared with Paul McCartney playing accordion and singing background vocals, worked on several films including "BaseketBall" and "The Bucket List", and just FYI, The Zydeco Party Band was the house band for "the Late Mr. Pete Show" and "Muppets Tonight". You may have seen his hands featured, under cover of furry gloves, attached to Rolf the singing dog"
More info:
http://www.myspace.com/dougandthemystics
http://www.united-mutations.com/d/dougmystics.htm
http://articles.latimes.com/1995-09-25/entertainment/ca-49733_1_oingo-boingo
JOHNNY "VATOS" TRIBUTE TO HALLOWEEN:
All of them (Avila, Hernandez, Bartek and Phipps) has contributed on The Johnny "Vatos" Tribute to Halloween concerts almost every years since 2005.
"Ten Years after the band Oingo Boingo’s Farewell Show (Halloween 1995). Johnny Vatos, the drummer for Oingo Boingo decided to do a show for the true loyal Oingo Boingo fans. He came up with the “Johnny Vatos Tribute to Halloween.” He got other fellow band members [John Avila (bass), Steve Bartek (lead guitar), Sam "Sluggo" Phipps (sax) Doug Legacy (Keyboards)] from Oingo Boingo to participate in a show dedicated to the fans. This show occurred October 29th, 2005."
(http://www.thebossbookingagency.com/vatos/)
They also contributed on Bartek's score "Disney's Meet the Deedles" (1998) on one song "Luau" (Written by Steve Bartek, Performed by Johnny 'Vatos' Hernandez, John Avila, Steve Bartek and Sam Phipps), see below.
OINGO MEMBERS PLAY TOGETHER ON DIFFERENT SOUNDTRACKS:
Steve Bartek is the musical arranger on Danny Elfman film projects.
And some films where Oingo members contributed in:
Back To School (1986) (Danny Elfman, Steve Bartek, John Avila, Dale Turner)
Midnight Run (1988) (Danny Elfman, Steve Bartek, Johhny Vatos Hernandez)
To Die For (1995) (Danny Elfman, John Avila, Steve Bartek, Warren Fitzgerald)
Freeway (1996) (Danny Elfman, Sam Phipps)
Gossip (2003) (John Avila, Johhny Vatos Hernandez, Doug Lacy)
Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (1997) (John Avila, Johhny Vatos Hernandez, Steve Bartek, Sam Phipps, Doug Lacy)
Disney's Meet the Deedles (1998) (on one song "Luau", written by Steve Bartek, performed by Johnny 'Vatos' Hernandez, John Avila, Steve Bartek and Sam Phipps)
An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000) (Steve Bartek, John Avila)
Snow Day (2000) (Steve Bartek, Doug Lacy)
Carolina (2003) (Steve Bartek, John Avila)
Free Radicals (2004) (Steve Bartek, Doug Lacy)
Battlestar Galactica (2005-2006) (Steve Bartek, John Avila and Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez play on the track from "Black Market". And the main title theme from Battlestar Galactica, composed by Richard Gibbs, is also on the soundtrack.)
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (2009) (Steve Bartek, John Avila)
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) (Steve Bartek, John Avila, Doug Lacy)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008) (Steve Bartek, John Avila)
Eureka (2009) (Steve Bartek, Doug Lacy)
OINGO MEMBERS WORK WITH BEAR MCCREARY:
Who is Bear McCreary:
As the musical director and vocalist / accordionist / keyboardist for The Johnny "Vatos" Tribute to Halloween in October 2005 and 2006, he arranged and conducted over two hours of music for a 16-piece ensemble featuring Oingo Boingo alums Steve Bartek, John Avila, Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez and Sam "Sluggo" Phipps.
(http://www.planetpoint.com/visualmusic/biobear.html)
"Bear McCreary (series composer) frequently uses three veterans of Oingo Boingo – Steve Bartek, Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez and John Avila – for his work as composer for Battlestar Galactica and revealed that all three played on 'Samson and Delilah.' "They're great," said McCreary, adding, "They've played on other stuff [for the series] too, but Terminator doesn't have a lot of rhythm section on it, so 'Samson and Delilah' was the first chance to really bring them in. But I'm sure they'll be more. I have other ideas and other plans."
(http://music.ign.com/articles/909/909886p1.html and http://www.musicweb-international.com/film/2005/sum05/bsg_s1.html)
Also read this (Richard Gibbs interview):
http://www.bearmccreary.com/html/press/press12.html
!!NEWS!!!
Basically, the band that plays for me on Battlestar reunited for Dark Void and you’ve got a lot of ethnic percussion, you’ve got a lot of woodwind, guitars, Steve Bartek and John Avila from Oingo Boingo are playing.
(http://www.originalsoundversion.com/?p=3756)
SOME INFO ABOUT OINGO MEMBERS...
DANNY ELFMAN - Lead vocals, Guitar, Percussion, Composition (1974-1995)
See Oingo Boingo Part 3.:
STEVE BARTEK - Lead guitar, Backing Vocals, Horn Arrangements, Percussion, Accordion (1976-1995)
Role in Boingo: Arranger of Boingo music and co-producer of albums.
Steve Bartek is the musical arranger on Danny Elfman film projects.
Born on January 30, 1952 in Garfield Heights, Ohio. An American guitarist, film composer, conductor and orchestrator. He has been Elfman's orchestrator from day one, having been a member of Oingo Boingo. Like Elfman, he is a fan of Bernard Herrmann's scores for the Ray Harryhausen films, of Fellini and Rota and Casanova, and Kurt Weill, reasons why the two get along so well...
Playing with the Band Oingo Boingo for all there band life, he has gone onto compose music for Tv series like The Tick, Tales from the Crypt and Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories, and movies like An Extremely Goofy Movie, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion and Snow Day.
Steve was nominated for a Saturn Award for his soundtrack to Guilty as Charged but lost to Loek Dikker.
In 2005, together with Danny Elfman, he was awarded an BMI Film & TV Award for his work on Desperate Housewives.
Pre Oingo Boingo:
He was an unofficial member of Strawberry Alarm Clock (download here : http://mygeneration60s.blogspot.com/search/label/Strawberry%20Alarm%20Clock) - Bartek was only 16!- (1967-1968, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Alarm_Clock and http://www.strawberryalarmclock.com/):
"The Bartek's and the Bunnell's did everything together: church, school, sports, vacations, and for Steve and Jim Bartek and George Bunnell...music!
The key factor was Steve's musical prowess. He was already an accomplished flautist and was beginning to pick up on other instruments. Jim and George were taking guitar and bass lessons respectively. Pretty soon the three were able to play old jazz standards from beginning to end. It's easier when you have a "ringer" that can read anything put before him as was the case with Steve. Another neighbor, Ron MacIntyre, would soon join them on drums. That band was called PFFFT..."
Then occasionally, we would have the guy I (bassist George Bunnell) wrote songs with back in the old days, Steve Bartek. He would come out and do some of these shows with us. But, he was busy 'cause he does film scores with Danny Elfman. He's Danny Elfman's orchestrator and arranger and producer. He was also the lead guitar player for Boingo Boingo, Danny Elfman's band. He played flute on our first album and wrote all the songs with me."
Lot more here: http://www.classicbands.com/StrawberryAlarmClockInterview.html
"However, many of SAC songs came from the band Randy Seol, Steve Bartek and I (George Bunnell) played also in Waterfyrd Traene (pre-SAC), Public Bubble (during SAC), and Buffington Rhodes (pro SAC, "Originally called the Waterfyrd Traene, Randy Seol, George Bunnell and Steve Bartek left to join the Strawberry Alarm Clock. They rejoined Waterfyrd Traene in 1968 and soon became managed by Stephanie Buffington, which is when the band changed their name to Buffington Rhodes. Buffington Rhodes did go into the studio but the recordings have been lost, they broke up in 1969" (see: http://w69.w6.funpic.de/SF%20BANDS%202008.10.08.htm)
Lot more info on these bands here:
http://www.60sgaragebands.com/strawberryalarmclock.html and http://www.xtrememusician.com/info/artists/profiles/4675.html
"After the Strawberry Alarm clock disbanded in late 1968, Steve and George reunited in another band called Buffington Rhodes (also with George Bunnell and Randy Seol). Although they played in concert with Procal Harum, Chicago, Ten Years after, and recorded several songs with famed producers Bill Lazarus, and Dave Hassinger no record deal was made and the group broke up. This was in late 1969. At this point, frustrated with trying to keep a band intact, George and Steve went back to their song writing. After crafting a number of tunes, and embarking on a rock musical about P.T. Barnum they ended up right where they started, in another band. Again, big concerts(California Jam...playing between Deep Purple, and ELP...as the ABC in concerts' balloon logo group...aka. Strawberry Alarm Clock)and recording at the famed Wally Heider Studios in Hollywood, CA., but still, no deal...
by this time Steve had joined an odd group of musicians called "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo". This would prove to be his best move as they went on to great local success which has evolved into a full blown film composing career for Steve and his partner, Danny Elfman. George, in the meantime, had another band called "Speed Bumps". Steve was also a member of this group.
They did have a tentative agreement with A&M records, but Danny Elfman did not like the idea of Steve being in both groups(Boingo was also with A&M). His clout won out and the Bumps went into a tail spin. Never releasing a record except a children's album and book under the name of Beth Leichter...the lead singer of Speed Bumps...aka, Basha. this was in the late 1980's."
Bartek also played in Don Randi & The Baked Potato Band and in Turbulence in the 70’s (http://www.craigpallett.com/talk/?page_id=34), in Fejj (http://jetdangerrecords.com/) in the late 70's, and of course joined The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo as well.
Little Billy & the Astros is also mentioned where he played in, but i have no info about this band. He also was in Doug and the Mystics (see above)
He guested in:
"Blue" Gene Tyranny - Out Of The Blue (1977)
Michael Cassidy - Nature's Secret (1979)
and currently plays with Craig Pallett's (ex-Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo) band: Ynot Project (http://www.craigpallett.com/talk/?page_id=32 and http://www.myspace.com/craigpallett)
and with Brendan McCreary (series composer / member of Johnny Vatos Hernandez Tribute Band, see above)
More info:
http://www.myspace.com/brendansband
"Brendan McCreary's band play a good mix of some of the greatest out there; Queen, David Bowie, Elvis Presley and add a newer sound to make this music complete. The result is an inventive and modern pop/rock sound"
(http://acuvi.org/2009/07/)
He is currently hitting the L.A. area with his jazz/fusion/rock ensemble Relative and with the reunited Strawberry Alarm Clock, and don't forget Johnny "Vatos" Tribute to Halloween parties as well...
He produced the debut album of Raya Yarbrough in 2008 (http://www.rayayarbrough.com/)
Lot of works with Leon Gear:
Don Randi & The Baked Potato Band, Fejj, Craig Pallett's Ynot Project
Bartek has composed many music for television series. You can hear him on different soundtracks as weel playing with othet Oingo members (see the deatils above)
In 1992 he was nominated for a Saturn Award for his soundtrack to Guilty as Charged but lost to Loek Dikker and Body Parts. In 2005, together with Danny Elfman and Stewart Copeland, he was awarded an BMI Film & TV Award for his work on Desperate Housewives.
As an orchestrator Bartek has worked on over 50 productions, as of 2007, including most Tim Burton productions.
See this for more:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0058418/filmotype
More bio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bartek
Interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjwL0W0J3UI (pre oingo boingo, Boingo, Danny Elfman, scores...)
http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/FSM95c.htm
http://www.boingo.org/articles/FSMBartek.html
More info:
http://www.stevebartek.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=98719914040
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhOZm9-kjxY
DAVID EAGLE - Drums (1980-1981)
There are such sources mention him only as an additional musician, not as a Boingo member. Other sources say he was indeed a member of the band. I have no current info on his whereabouts.
He has played behind such stars as Tina Turner, Rick Springfield, and Oingo Boingo. In his video "Drum Basics" (http://www.amazon.com/Drum-Basics-VHS-David-Eagle/dp/6303205550), he shares his expertise with beginning drum students. He proves to be an exceptional instructor as he covers rudimentary material such as basic gear, simple note reading, warm-up, and tuning. In addition, he acquaints the drummer-to-be with a metronome, bass drum exercises, drumset patterns, fills, the role of the drummer in a rhythm section, and coordination exercises. ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
"David has also played with many well-known musicians and has played on major label recordings for artists such as Oingo Boingo (A&M Records), Alphonso Johnson (Epic Records), Jan Akkerman (Atlantic Records), and Gary Hoey. David’s over-the-top rock/ jazz-based drumming, with all its captivating subtleties, has a awesome sound all its own that takes OHM’s music to new adventurous musical territories. "
(http://melodicrock.com/showcase/ohm-live.html)
"David is a great and unique drummer who added his own thing to OHM:. When he was playing with us, he had one of the most unique drum kits you’ll ever see."
(http://www.live4metal.com/chrispoland2007.htm)
Appeared on
Guy Mann-Dude (1988) (see: http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=28555)
Miloš Dodo Doležal (1989)
O.H.M.(2003) (as member)
More info:
http://www.myspace.com/davideagledrums
http://www.ssmt-reviews.com/int/ohm.htm
LEON SCHNEIDERMAN - Baritone & Alto Saxophones, Percussion, Backing Vocals (1972-1995)
"Leon Schneiderman (standing) was a member of the theater group Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo and a founding member of Oingo Boingo. During the group's early years he built original instruments (Inventor of the Rumba-phone also called Balafons) and most of the sets, costumes, and theatrical devices, which contributed to the group's memorable and unique shows. He played saxophone with the group and continued to do so through most of the rock and roll years that followed.
In the mid-nineties Leon moved to the Mendocino coast near Point Arena. He joined the nonprofit that restored the historic Arena Theatre and served on that board for seven years before joining the film group for five years that showed movies in that same venue. Since then he has been sculpting, building and playing musical instruments, and tending his garden."
He played with the local drum band 'Ba Da Boom' (http://gualalaarts.org/AIR/Entertainment-2009.html)
Danny Elfman:
"Leon Schneiderman, who was the saxophone player and a high school friend, went with me to Africa, and we brought back these balafons, but they were too delicate, so we built our own. We built bass balafons. Then we started building a pot-and-pan orchestra, with big racks of tuned mining pans and beer cans and measuring cups."
(http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_danny_elfman/)
More info:
http://www.tapestryofthecommons.org/aboutus.html
http://pacificwoodsstudio.com/limbic/cloudfire/Cloudfire.html
JOHNNY "VATOS" HERNANDEZ - Drums, Percussion (1978–1995)
"I NEVER dread playing...... it's my life... it's my wife... it's my night & my day."
In the 1970s, Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez was the drummer and original member of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Although Oingo Boingo remains officially buried, in 2005 Johnny created Johnny Vatos & Friends with Steve Barter, John Avila, and Sam Phipps. They perform Oingo Boingo’s best works and bring Oingo Boingo’s charisma and pluck to every performance.
He was a member of:
Food For Feet (1981-1991) (with Avila, see above), The Psychotic Aztecs (1999) (With Avila, see above), Doug & The Mystic (With Avila, see above), with John Avila was the rhythm section of Tito & Tarantula (1999-2002?, see above), CID (1995-199x) (with Avila. Formerly the All-Stars, see above),
Doug Legacy and the Zydeco Party Band (with Doug Lacy)
He appeared in the movie From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) as Titty Twister Drummer, and Has contributed numerous drum tracks and voice tracks to commercials produced by Jason Johnson.
He was an actor and a musician on many soundtracks (see above as well):
http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0379608/
He guested with John Avila on Robby Krieger - Cinematix (2000) on the song "Missionary Jam" (Bass, Co-producer, Engineer, Mixed By - John Avila/ Drums - Jonny Hernandez)
His daughter (?, im not sure, but it seems yes) is the R&B Soul singer Felice Hernandez (www.myspace.com/felicehernandez).
He also plays as a guest with Tremolocos (since 2004, see: http://www.tremolocos.com/bio.html and http://www.myspace.com/tremoloco), with The Mutaytor (Avila's band,see John Avila), and The Closet Surfers (with Avila on live gigs,see above) among others.
Detailed bio:
http://www.drumchannel.com/library/2986/artist.aspx
Interviews:
http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/archive/Radcyberzine96.htm (1995, incl. info on "Food For Feet")
http://www.boingo.org/articles/hernandez.interview.html
More info:
http://www.johnnyvatos.com/
http://www.myspace.com/johnnyvatostributetohalloween
http://www.myspace.com/483538952
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tINydLBGIyw
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145916596748
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=20853033
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=98013944181
SAM PHIPPS - Tenor & Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet, Percussion, Backing Vocals (1974-1995)
"I'll add to this and say SAM PHIPPS.
He rarely EVER gets the rock sax credit he deserves....BUT....he was a key member of OINGO BOINGO band for ever. I guess , IF , the press started to get to him rock wise the parrots would follow suit.
As a jazz player...or tenor player- SAM PHIPPS is very very unique. I think he's a tower of knowledge sax wise as well."
(http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=51353)
He was also a member of Doug & the Mystics (with other Oingo members, see above), and sometimes still plays with Johnny Vatos Oingo Boingo tribute band.
Released one album "Animal Sound" in 1982, which is a pure avant garde free jazz record and got good critics. Some of them are below:
http://owensummers.blogspot.com/2007/11/sam-phipps.html
http://wondercaprecords.com/reviewssamone.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/animal-sounds-1982-album-by-sam-phipps
http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Sounds-Sam-Phipps/dp/B000UNXZI6
http://www.ccmusic.com/item.cfm?itemid=WCR170022
http://www.babycarseatsafety.info/animal-one/
http://www.audiophileusa.com/item.cfm?record=27948&c=1&kw=Jazz
And some artists he played with:
Annette Peacock - Been In The Streets Too Long 1983 album
(Oingo member) Doug Lacy's album in 1988: Doug Legacy and the Legends of the West - Hey You! (http://www.ryland-cooder.com/HeyYou.html)
Shaun Kama Kings of the Wild Frontier - Dear Scarecrow (2006) (http://www.myspace.com/kingsofthewildfrontier)
Spiders & Snakes - Melodrama (2008)
on soundtracks with other members of Oingo:
see above
He is also a member of Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez Tribute Band (see above) and here:
"Tonight we saw an Oingo Boingo tribute band featuring two actual band members: Vatos and (my namesake) Sluggo
Tonight Magic Mountain had a free concert: an Oingo Boingo tribute band which featured two actual original members of the band: Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez and Sam Phipps."
(http://mikethenomadbear.posterous.com/)
More info:
http://www.samphipps.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VRG4v9mx9U&feature=related
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0681049/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VRG4v9mx9U
http://mikethenomadbear.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/tonight-we-saw-an-oingo-boingo-tribute-band-featuring-two-actual-band-members-vatos-and-my-namesake-sluggo/
DALE TURNER - Trumpet, Trombone, Percussion, Guitar, Backing Vocals (1974-1995)
is an American trumpet player, best known for being a member of the American new wave band Oingo Boingo. Turner was born in Minnesota. Turner was a member of Oingo Boingo for the entire length of the band's existence, from 1974 to 1995. He played trumpet and trombone. He has also performed with Garth Hudson (saltyka added: Garth hudson - Our Lady Queen Of The Angels (1980) two Oingo members played on it, Dale Turner and Johnny Vatos Hernandez!), including a track on the Raging Bull soundtrack.
Turner acted in an episode of the CBS television program Cold Case in 2005, playing the role of an orderly (saltyka added: It is a wrong info, see why: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877481/). He appeared with Oingo Boingo in the feature film Back to School, the British film Urgh! A Music War, and in the videos for the albums The Best of Oingo Boingo: Skeletons in the Closet and Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheater, Halloween 1995. Turner was a production assistant for the first few episodes of the Canadian sketch comedy television show The Kids in the Hall
Turner was a production assistant (??? is it really true???) for the first few episodes of the Canadian sketch comedy television show The Kids in the Hall.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Turner)
I don't have info what happened to him after 1996.
More info:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:azfpxqwgldje~T4
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877480/
http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/dale-e-turner/229399
KERRY HATCH - Bass, Bass Synthesizer, Percussion, Backing Vocals
(1979–1984)
There is no bio available. This is below all what we know.
He played with:
Sylvester And The Hot Band - Bazaar (1974) (Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals - Kerry Hatch) (http://www.dragqueendiaries.com/bios_pages/Sylvester.htm)
Tom Jans (concerts in 1975) (see this page-there are some old photo with Kerry there: http://www.tomjans.com/TJ-live.htm)
Sheila - Little Darlin' 7" (1981)
Sister Sledge - Bet Cha Say That To All The Girls 1983 (1 song co-written by)
Rita Coolidge - Never Let You Go (1983) 1 song bass
Danny Elfman - So-Lo (1984)
Joe Lamont - Secrets You Keep (1985) (with Richard Gibbs)
Bob Siebenberg - Giants in Our Own Room (1985)
Madonna - Ciao Italia: Live From Italy (1988)
Mariyln Martin - This Is Serious (1988) (Kerry E. Hatch-keyboard)
Boy Meets Girl - Reel Life (1988)
He formed Zuma II (1983-1987, see above) with another Oingo member Richard Gibbs after they left Oingo.
Almost the complete Zuma II played on Boys Meets Girls - Reel Life (1988) LP.
There is only one source mentioned him as he was even in Fool´s Gold and Dan Fogelberg Band.
Since then whereabouts unknown..or perhaps you shouls ask Dana here for more info: http://www.youtube.com/user/phantomchik
JOHN AVILA - Bass, Bass Synthesizer, Percussion, Accordion, Backing Vocals (1984-1995)
John was born into a musical household and raised in San Gabriel, California. He began playing guitar at six and bass at sixteen. John cut short his musical studies at East L.A. College to tour with El Chicano and soon found himself on tour opening for Santana. John later toured with jazz vocalist Randy Crawford, and, in 1981, he co-founded Food For Feet. He then joined New Wave band Oingo Boingo in 1984, who he played with until 1995. During his tenure with Oingo Boingo, John co-produced four full-length releases with Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek.
At age 16, John Avila emptied his pockets to purchase a second-hand bass he discovered in a friend’s attic. That small investment proved more than worthwhile as Avila embarked on a life-long journey of non-stop performing, recording, and producing. He can hardly remember a time that music did not play a vital role in his life. Raised by musical parents, he started gigging professionally as a junior in high school. In 1984, he became part of the quirky cult sensation Oingo Boingo, and hasn’t slowed down one bit since the band’s dissolution in 1995. After the break-up, Avila built the ‘Brando’s Paradise’ recording studio and launched his career as an independent record producer, mixer, engineer, and session bassist/vocalist. His producing credits include Food For Feet, Reel Big Fish, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Neville Staple and Quetzal, among others. He has played bass on a variety of film and television soundtracks, including Columbia‘s “To Die For,” and Showtime’s “Resurrection Blvd.” The ever-energetic Avila also continues to tour and play with several different bands.
VMN:
When did you first start to play bass?
John Avila:
"When I was sixteen years old, I had a car and a license. As a result, I had a friend ask me to help him move from one house to another. The house he was moving into had an attic. We decided to get up there and see what was inside. We found this bass guitar. It was a Japanese bass and it looked just like Paul McCartney's bass guitar. It was in great condition and I offered the guy fifteen dollars on the spot for it. I took the bass home. It was love at first sight. From that moment on I never stopped practicing. I've never had a real job because that's all I've ever done was play bass."
(http://www.boingo.org/articles/VMNArticle.html)
After 20 years as lead guitarist of Oingo Boingo, he continued on his musical career by performing and producing in numerous engagements all over Los Angeles. Since 1995, John has run his own recording studio called Brando’s Paradise, producing bands such as Reel Big Fish, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Quetzal, and Robbie Krieger. During this time, he also played bass on recordings by Steve Vai and the Stewart Copeland Orchestra. He also sang lead vocals on Disney’s Another Goofy Movie.
He is currently teaching music at Citrus College (http://www.citrusarts.org/music/im/index.html), scoring films, and producing music on a daily basis.
(http://www.heypancho.com/Production-Team-Bios.doc. and http://www.lamusicacademy.edu/departments/vocals/instructors.asp)
After the break-up, Avila built the ‘Brando’s Paradise’ recording studio and launched his career as an independent record producer, mixer, engineer, and session bassist/vocalist. His producing credits include Food For Feet, Reel Big Fish, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Neville Staple and Quetzal, The Doors fame Robbie Krieger among others.
John played bass on a Steve Vai recording, performed with the 'Stewart Copeland Orchestra'.
He has played bass on a variety of film and television soundtracks (especially lot of works with othe Oingo members for the series composer Bear McReary, see above) including Columbia‘s “To Die For,” and Showtime’s “Resurrection Blvd.” Also Television, Commercials,and Movie Appearances.
John has never stopped playing, touring, recording, jamming, or experimenting. The ever-energetic Avila also continues to tour and play with several different bands.
(http://www.m-audio.com/artists/en_us/JohnAvila.html)
He was a member of:
Food For Feet (1981-1991) (with Johnny vatos Hernandez, see above), The Psychotic Aztecs (1999) (With Johnny vatos Hernandez, see above), Doug & The Mystic (1999, With Johnny vatos Hernandez, see above), with Johnny vatos Hernandez was the rhythm section of Tito & Tarantula (1999, see above), CID (1995-199x) (with Johnny vatos Hernandez. Formerly the All-Stars, see above),
Since 2003 he is a member of Kanawormz (http://www.kanawormz.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/kanawormz)
And since 2005 he is a full-time meber of MUTAYTOR (http://mutaytor.com/cast/john.php and http://www.myspace.com/themutaytor)
"The Mutaytor, a multi-media ensemble that was formed at the legendary Burning Man Festival by members of Oingo Boingo, Supertramp and other musical and theatrical groups will rock throughout "Halloween Horror Nights." The Mutaytor's blend of pyrotechnics, stunt performance, tribal dancers and pounding percussion-a riotously surreal techno-retro-funk-audience-will add a spine-tingling and alarming element to the overall Halloween experience.
Also played with The Closet Surfers (with Johnny vatos Hernandez on live gigs, see above)
Stolen Baby added:
Q:
If you could raise bands from the dead, what would be the dream tour for Stolen Babies?
Stolen Baby:
"Oingo Boingo, unanimously, across the board. We've had the good fortune of playing with members of Oingo Boingo and other outfits that they're in. We just did a show in LA with The Mutaytor—I call them the Burning Man Cirque du Soleil. John Avila, Steve Bartek, and Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez from Oingo Boingo all sat in with The Mutaytor that night. And that was great because we go way back with John. He's like Uncle John to us. He's worked with the Fratellis and Stolen Babies."
(http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/interview/stolen-babies.htm)
Sometimes also joins different jam bands like jam-band Moe in 2002, Jerry Hannan Band in 2009 and the same year: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boykin/3443798671/
And of course plays with other Oingo members as Johnny Vatos Tribute to Halloween
He is the composer:
The Resurrection of Officer Rollins (2009)
29th and Gay (2005)
His daughter is the jazz singer Leila Avila (www.myspace.com/lielaavila). John Avila plays bass in her jazz quartet!
Detailed bio:
http://sizzlingboys.blogsome.com/2008/05/29/jon-avila-profile/
More info:
http://www.johnavila.com/
http://www.myspace.com/johnavila57
http://www.deadmansparty.com/
RICHARD GIBBS - Keyboards, Synthesizer, Trombone, Percussion, Backing Vocals (1980–1983)
Born in Ohio and raised in Daytona Beach, Florida, Richard Gibbs has a Bachelor of Music (Composition) from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a member of Oingo Boingo from 1980-1984 (keyboards), and has since performed with Korn, Chaka Khan, The Staples, Maxine Nightingale, and Tom Jones. He has recorded with Robert Palmer, Tom Waits, Poco, Melissa Etheridge, War, Stan Ridgway, Victor Feldman, Living in a Box, Boy Meets Girl and many others. Gibbs was Musical Director for The Tracey Ullman Show and Muppets Tonight! (writing the theme music as well), and wrote the music for the first season of The Simpsons.
(http://www.jeremywalker.com/pages/films/imagesnote/Step_into_Liquid_notes_8-04-03.doc.)
Like his former bandmate Danny Elfman, Gibbs has embarked on a life of scoring movies and television shows. He has written the scores for over fifty films that have collectively grossed well over $1 billion in box office receipts worldwide (Dr. Dolittle, Step Into Liquid, Say Anything... and Queen of the Damned, among others) and acted as musical director and composer for various television shows, including Muppets Tonight!, The Simpsons, and Battlestar Galactica (see above and http://www.myspace.com/battlestargalactica2004).
His critically well-received collaboration with Jonathan Davis (lead singer of Korn) on the songs and score for Queen of the Damned led to a gold record.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Gibbs)
Q:
Richard - Would you be able to elaborate on why you left Oingo Boingo? Did you and Kerry leave at the same time?
Richard:
"Sure I'll elaborate - but it's not very exciting. I left for a combination of reasons. Most of my income came from outside of the band, as I was a fairly busy session player at the time. So the band never exerted a huge financial pull on me, even though being in the band definitely added to my cachet as a session player. Boingo was always clearly Danny's band, long before I joined, with very little room for compositional input from the other members. No stress over that, but in order to flap my creative wings I knew I would have to fly somewhere else. That led to me starting my own project, named Zuma II. We ended up being offered a contract with Pasha/CBS Records. I couldn't give Zuma II the attention it needed while still in Boingo, and I was having a lot of fun writing songs and growing a band from scratch. Kerry Hatch was also feeling the urge to test new waters, so I asked him to join up with us. Unfortunately that band never quite got off the ground
But ultimately the biggest influence on my decision was the birth of my first son, Keegan. Home with my wife and new baby meant a lot more to me than endless rehearsals and funky tours, so a few weeks after Keegan entered the world I tendered my resignation to Danny. It was all quite amicable. It was simply time to move on."
(http://rgmusic.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=display&thread=51)
So he formed Zuma II (1983-1987, see: http://www.bandtoband.com/index.php?Page=Search&BandId=14252) with Kerry Hatch (see also more above)
Almost the whole band played on Boys Meets Girls - Reel Life (1988) LP.
His releases (2 soundtracks):
Richard Gibbs - One More Thing (1 song on Various - 10 Things I Hate About You (Music From The Motion Picture) 1999
Jonathan Davis & Richard Gibbs - Queen Of The Damned: The Score Album 2002
Battlestar Galactica 2003
Some production:
DeBarge - Bad Boys (1987) (co pruducer)
Big - Looking For Heroes 12" (1988)
Various - Queen Of The Damned (Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture) (2002,co-producer)
Jonathan Davis - Alone I Play (2007 produced and co-written by)
Eisley - Combinations (2007)
Malbec - Keep It A Secret (2007)
Appears On:
Aretha Franklin - La Diva (1979)
Taka Boom - Taka Boom (1979)
Patty Brard - All This Way (1981)
Patty Brard - You're In The Pocket (1982)
Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones (1983)
Poco - Inamorata (1984)
Annabel Lamb - The Flame (1984)
Melissa Manchester - Mathematics (1985)
Patty Brard - Red Light (1985)
Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat (1986)
Living In A Box - Living In A Box (1987)
Cock Robin - After Here Through Midland (1987)
Princess - All For Love (1987)
Robert Palmer - Heavy Nova (1988)
Andrew Ridgeley - Son Of Albert (1990)
Melissa Etheridge - Never Enough (1992)
Box Car Racer - Box Car Racer (2002)
Chester Bennington/ David Draiman - System/ Forsaken (2003)
Chilliwack - Look In Look Out (2005)
Korn - MTV Unplugged (2007)
More info:
http://www.richardgibbsmusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/hard_ribbs
http://www.woodshedrecording.com/ (his studio)
http://www.thedayofsharing.com/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006099/
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/articles/2005/24_Mar---Top_Forty_Countdown_Part_One.asp
http://www.last.fm/music/Richard+Gibbs
http://www.moviemusicuk.us/gallery-gh.htm#rgibbs
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2009/0225/p12s01-ussc.html
MICHAEL BACICH - Keyboards (1984-1987)
He performed with the rock group Oingo Boingo in the ’80s and now spends a lot of time in the studio. He moved to Las Vegas in 2001 and was music director for vocalist Diane Diaz at the Bellagio for a couple of years.
Currently plays with Swingin’ Pedestrians (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/oct/14/freakin-frog-swings-music-influenced-rock-n-roll/)
"They play roots rock & roll like you've never heard it before. The Swinging' Pedestrians feature Tony Felicetta of the Fab Four Live, Richard Belgard and Nick White of the Blue Man Group, Michael Bacich of Oingo Boingo and Eric Tewalt of the Jersey Boys."
(http://www.vegasnews.com/18889/swingin-pedestrians-continue-their-run-at-the-freakin-frog.html)
More info:
http://www.myspace.com/swinginpedestrians
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Bacich/1379744059
CARL GRAVES - Keyboards, Synthesizers, Backing Vocals (1988-1991)
Born in Canada, grew up with an extensive formal classical training in the style of the Royal Toronto Conservatory of Music. Studied Jazz at the beginning of my College studies. Also started working as a vocalist with the group Soul Unlimited in Vancouver BC for a couple of years and then moved on to Join Capitol Records recording act Skylark, lead by David Foster,recording two albums. The groups first hit single was Wild Flower.
After Skylark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylark_(Canadian_band)), went on to a Solo career , doing two albums for A&M Records with the release of Baby hang up the phone followed by Heart be still...
Worked with various artist, Dave Mason,Brenda Russell,Donny Gerrard,LTD, played keys and sang back up in Oingo Boingo with Danny Elfman for a few years.
At present working with up and coming young acts in my own L.A based production company, Sterling Silver Pro (http://www.myspace.com/wiirm) , with my sons Cameron and Taylor Graves from the group The Score.
"Carl Graves' smooth single "Baby Pick Up the Phone" was a Top 20 R&B hit in 1974. Graves who was from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, sang with the band Skylark (which also included David Foster and singer Donny Gerard) who had a 1973 number nine pop hit with "Wildflower." Signed as a solo artist to A&M Records and working with producer Spencer Proffer, Graves' own "Baby Pick Up the Phone" reached the R&B charts in late 1974 and was on his self-titled LP Carl Graves. His next charting singles were the more up-tempo "Heart Be Still," from the LP of the same name, and the Ariola America single "Sad Girl." Graves can also be heard on Lee Oskar's 1997 album, So Much in Love." ~ Ed Hogan, All Music Guide
More info:
http://www.myspace.com/carlgravesmusic
http://www.sterlingsilvermedia.com/
http://www.sterlingsilvermedia.com/carlmedia.html
WARREN FITZGERALD - Guitar (1994-1995)
is an American punk rock musician, guitarist, songwriter, painter, armchair philosopher and record label owner.
He has also played with Dies Irae, Tenacious D, he formed the band Totally Uncalled Four, Don't No, Xtra Large
Outside of his music, Fitzgerald finds work as both an artist and a writer.
He was also playing guitar with The Offspring on their most recent tour.
Warren Fitzgerald is most famous for being the current guitarist of The Vandals. He also helps produce and acts in movies produced by his labels Kung Fu Films and Kung Fu Records.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Fitzgerald)
More info:
www.myspace.com/warrenanthonyfitzgerald
http://www.kungfurecords.com/
http://wafart.com/
http://twitter.com/warrenfitz
http://www.facebook.com/warrenfitzgerald
http://www.vandals.com/Vandals/Home/Home.html
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=41058554
http://www.boingo.org/articles/WarrenInterview.html
http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0280407/
MARC MANN - Keyboards, Samples (1994-1995)
is an American keyboardist, guitarist, programmer, arranger and conductor.
Longtime Elfman technical expert, orchestrator and musical associate
He played with Electric Light Orchestra (guitar, keyboards, vocals, arranger (2000–01))
In 2002, he played George Harrison's parts in "Concert for George", playing along side Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. He also played keyboards on Harrison's last album, "Brainwashed".
In addition, he has written string arrangements for several artists, including System Of A Down, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Regina Spektor and George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison's band Thenewno2.
(http://www.discogs.com/artist/Marc+Mann)
"Marc does not maintain a myspace or facebook site, but you can write to him at pelikanesis09 (http://www.youtube.com/user/Pelikanesis09) and he will receive all fan mail..."
Currently plays with Paull E. Rubin/Pelikanesis (see below):
Marc Mann & Paull E. Rubin (aka The Bear Bros.)
"Marc has a Masters Degree in Music from UCLA, a fact often overlooked and is one of Danny Elfman\'s right hand men, having toured as Boingo\'s keyboardist (& all those movies, he is a technical mastermind, Stanley Clarke called him the \"Lord Of Midi\" he even conducts the orchestra)! Marc won a Grammy for \"Concert for George\", played all George Harrison\'s parts along with Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Marc played keyboards on George\'s last and final cd, \"Brainwashed\" and also works as lead guitarist with Jeff Lynne and \"ELO\". He has written string arrangements for many top artists including \"System Of A Down\", \"Red Hot Chili Peppers\" and George\'s son Dhani Harrison\'s band \"The New 2\"). Marc certainly does need his own page huh?). He actually has been called the music industry\'s MVP by no less than Jim Keltner! Yep!"
(http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/pelikanesis5)
More info:
http://www.myspace.com/paullerubinpelikanesis
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0542869/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_QIV2fyG2I
DOUG LACY (DOUG LEGACY) - Accordion, Percussion (1994-1995)
"Born in Houston, Texas 1954 - Started playing the piano around age 4. - Starting tuning pianos before he was twenty and still does. - multi-instrumentalist including steel drums, accordion, tuba and penny whistles. - His "Montrose Marching Band" won the Gong Show in 1977. - Toured as a keyboard tech. for groups like Rod Stewart (also played steel drums), ELO, Barry Manilow, Boz Scaggs, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Joe Cocker, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Hornsby, Billy Joel, Simon & Garfunkel, Ry Cooder, The Tubes, Todd Rundgren and Oingo Boingo. - He was singer in Todd Rundgren's 11 voice orchestra supporting his release "Acapella" in 1987. - He then worked with Oingo Boingo for several years playing various instruments and singing background vocals. - After Boingo broke up he grabbed the band (without Danny Elfman) and went into the studio to record a CD called "New Hat" - Doug and the Mystics. - During all this he still maintained the Zydeco Party Band and has made several CDs with them.
He plays three nights a week in L.A. doing solo piano at the Red Lion Tavern in Silver Lake. - He also frequently plays with Acadiana, a zydeco band based in Oxnard,CA.
He has been touring and recording in Switzerland for over 10 years; sometimes as a solo or with the Zydeco Party Band and with Swiss bands like the Donkey Biters or Cla Nett and BluesNettWork."
Currently plays as The Zydeco Party Band:
"Doug Legacy: Accordion, Piano, Steel Drums & Vocals * As one of the founding members of the ZPB, Doug has spent a lifetime writing and making music. Just some of the folks he has performed with are Oingo Boingo, Todd Rundgren, and Paul McCartney."
More info:
http://www.myspace.com/DougLegacy
http://www.myspace.com/douglegacyandthezydecopartyband
http://home.roadrunner.com/~ZydecoPartyBand/
BRUCE FOWLER - Trombone (1983-1995 or according to another source 1987-1990)
There are such sources mention him only as an additional musician, not as a Boingo member. Other sources say he was indeed a member of the band.
Bruce Lambourne Fowler is a prominent American trombone player and composer. He notably played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart, and in the Fowler Brothers Band. Currently, he composes and arranges music for movies, and has been the composer, orchestrator, or conductor for many popular films.
Bruce is the son of jazz educator William L. Fowler and the brother of multi-instrumentalist Walt Fowler and bassist Tom Fowler. He is the father of Rhea Fowler, bass guitar player for The Naturals. Bruce Fowler is participating in both The Band From Utopia, the Mar Vista Philharmonic, and Jon Larsen's, Strange News From Mars, both feat. Zappa alumni Tommy Mars, Arthur Barrow, et al.
Fowler is the recipient of the 2007 Film & TV Music Awards for Best Score Conductor and Best Orchestrator. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Fowler)
More info:
http://www.united-mutations.com/f/bruce_fowler.htm
http://www.asmac.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=39902&PID=742137
http://www.myspace.com/waltfowler
http://www.hans-zimmer.com/fr/rcprod.php?numid=35
http://web.archive.org/web/20080512002611/http://www.fowlerbrothers.com/bruce1.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKC0XMbskhc
http://www.ninewinds.com/Artists/fowler.html
WILLIAM WINANT - Percussions (on tour only in 1991–1992, anyway he is an original Mystic Knights member between 1972–1975, see Oingo Boingo Part 1. for more)
I still don't know if he was a real member of Oingo, or guested only...
PAUL FOX – Synthesizers only on Danny Elfman - So-lo album (1984)
"Not to be confused with the late guitarist from the Ruts, producer Paul Fox's career began with XTC's 1989 album Oranges & Lemons, followed in 1991 by Robyn Hitchcock's Perspex Island. In 1992, Fox enjoyed his most successful year to date, helming not only 10,000 Maniacs' smash Our Time in Eden but also the Sugarcubes' swan song Stick Around for Joy. Texas' Ricks Road and the Straitjacket Fits' Blow followed in 1993, and a year later he returned with They Might Be Giants' John Henry and Phish's Hoist. Albums from Edwin McCain, Semisonic, and Grant Lee Buffalo appeared in the following years."
More info:
http://brightmanmusic.com/?page_id=69
http://209.85.135.132/search?q=cache:8DyEvvKCX0wJ:www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll%3Fp%3Damg%26sql%3D11:kbfixqy5ldje~T4+PAUL+FOX+producer&cd=6&hl=hu&ct=clnk
More info:
http://www.oingoboingo.com/
http://www.raptorial.com/Boingo/
http://www.myspace.com/boingoinsanity94
http://oingoboingouk.tripod.com/
http://www.boingoinsanity.com/
http://www.myspace.com/deadbandsmyspace
http://www.youtube.com/user/Despina838 (tons of rare videos)
http://www.youtube.com/user/OingoBoingoFan (lot of live video)
http://www.tangento.net/boingo2.html
http://www.velvetdemon.net/boingo/
http://home.roadrunner.com/~collom/oingoed/story.html
http://www.facebook.com/fansforboingo (1 Million People for an Oingo Boingo Reunion)
http://web.archive.org/web/19990501015810/http://oingoboingo.com/index.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20021122041538/www.isc.rit.edu/~elnppr/
http://web.archive.org/web/20050405211132/www.mahatmarandy.com/rb/index.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20030213005839/http://www.isc.rit.edu/~elnppr/oben/
http://web.archive.org/web/20041206050323/www.corpsechild.com/boingo/
http://web.archive.org/web/20021213192645/http://www.psychobomb.arachnid-hosting.com/boingo/index.htm
http://elfmanboingo.tribe.net/
http://buzzine.com/2008/05/oingo-boingo
http://www.myspace.com/deadmansparty.oingoboingo
http://www.myspace.com/153528987
http://www.myspace.com/madmunsterparty
http://www.myspace.com/oingoboingopictures
http://www.myspace.com/oingoboingofansite
http://oingoboingoukhttp://www.last.fm/music/Oingo+Boingo/+images/159186
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y211/Angrycloud/Oingo%20Boingo/
http://www.deadmansparty.com/
http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=oingo_boingo
http://www.metrolyrics.com/oingo-boingo-lyrics.html
http://www.radioparadise.com/content.php?name=songinfo&song_id=30247
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/oingo-boingo/poster-art/poster/PMT781031.html
http://graveyard-duck.com/pages/boingo.html
http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/oingo-boingo/
http://books.google.hu/books?id=OGOYqpxsyRgC&pg=PA3&dq=OINGO+BOINGO&lr=&cd=19#v=onepage&q=OINGO%20BOINGO&f=true (Danny, Oingo, Batman score...)
http://www.horrordrive-in.com/2008/06/oingo-boingo.html
http://blogs.tampabay.com/80s/2006/06/putting_the_boi.html
http://80music.about.com/b/2007/09/11/this-weeks-forgotten-gem-of-the-80s-oingo-boingos-just-another-day.htm
http://nonotes.wordpress.com/2006/05/01/the-oingo-boingo-version/
http://gakuranman.com/oingo-boingo/
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Oingo+Boingo
http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/oingo-boingo-biography
http://www.neatorama.com/2009/03/17/music-tidbits-oingo-boingo/
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-18/news/vl-3504_1_music-oingo-boingo
http://music.lovetoknow.com/Oingo_Boingo
http://music.msn.com/music/artist/oingo-boingo/
http://www.guitaretab.com/o/oingo-boingo/
http://www.realizedsound.net/dac/archives/232
http://www.gnoosic.com/discussion/oingo+boingo.html
http://rqsretrouniverse.blogspot.com/2008/11/theres-weird-science-behind-simpsons.html
http://www.nme.com/artists/danny-elfman-steve-bartek
http://www.fact-index.com/o/oi/oingo_boingo.html
http://www.rexonomy.com/topic/Oingo+Boingo
http://www.arcadovelho.com.br/ob/Oingo_boingo.htm
http://www.autobahn.com.br/antenna/oingo_boingo.html
http://www.dvdreamscape.free.fr/boingo-farewell.htm (french)
http://www.bsospirit.com/curiosidades/elfman_zone.php
http://www.collectorware.com.ar/oingoboingo.htm
http://www.ytmnd.com/keywords/oingo%20boingo
http://www.mikethepod.com/BIUL_OingoBoingo.jpg
LET'S CONTINUE WITH OINGO BOINGO PART 3.: EARLY YEARS OF DANNY ELFMAN...
