Oingo Boingo

For other uses, see Oingo Boingo (disambiguation).

Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo in 1987. From left to right: Dale Turner, Sam "Sluggo" Phipps, John Avila, Steve Bartek, Danny Elfman, Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, Mike Bacich, Leon Schneiderman.
Oingo Boingo in 1987. From left to right: Dale Turner, Sam "Sluggo" Phipps, John Avila, Steve Bartek, Danny Elfman, Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, Mike Bacich, Leon Schneiderman.
Background information
Also known as
  • Clowns of Death
  • Mosley & The B-Men
  • Boingo
OriginLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active1979–1995
Labels
Past members

Oingo Boingo (/ˈɔɪŋɡoʊ ˈbɔɪŋɡoʊ/) was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the years previous.[5] Their highest-charting song, "Weird Science", reached No. 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Oingo Boingo was known for their high-energy live concerts and experimental music, which can be described as combining elements of music such as art, punk, ska, rock, pop, jazz, and world, amongst other genres.[8] The band's body of work spanned 17 years, with various genre and line-up changes. Their best-known songs include "Only a Lad", "Little Girls", "Dead Man's Party" and "Weird Science".

The band experienced multiple line-up changes, with Leon Schneiderman, Dale Turner, Sam Phipps, Danny Elfman, Steve Bartek, and John "Vatos" Hernandez being the constant members for most of their history. As a rock band, Oingo Boingo started as a ska and punk-influenced[6][7] new wave octet, achieving significant popularity in Southern California. During the mid-1980s, the band adopted a more pop-oriented style, until a significant genre change to alternative rock in 1994. At that point, the name was shortened to simply Boingo and the keyboard and horn section were dropped. The band retired after a farewell concert on Halloween 1995, for which they reverted to the name Oingo Boingo and readopted the horn section.

  1. ^ a b "Oingo Boingo – Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Holden, Stephen (August 31, 1981). "Rock Bands: Oingo Boingo and Go-Go's". The New York Times. p. C15. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Miller, Scott (2010). Music: What Happened?. 125 Records. ISBN 978-0-615-38196-1.
  4. ^ a b "Danny Elfman: The 10 songs that changed my life". Kerrang.com. June 21, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Benson, Alex (May 15, 2018). "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo: Danny Elfman's Circus Theater Origins". Medium. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Denman-Underhill, Lori (October 22, 2015). "Overcoming Stage Fright, Danny Elfman Brings Nightmare to the Bowl". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Danny Elfman (interviewee) Jools Holland (interviewer) Derek Burbidge (director) (May 1982). Urgh! A Music War. Warner Bros. Later on in the 70s when the punk thing started happening, I found it difficult to totally relate to the music, because it was real simple ... but the energy and speed I loved. I loved fast music. And that got me inspired once again to start writing.
  8. ^ [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]