It’s a Dead Man’s Party! The Oingo Boingo Album by Album Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by GunsOfBrixton, Oct 16, 2020.

  1. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    There we go boys, that's the spirit! Love the thoughts so far!
     
    Runicen and wrappedinsky like this.
  2. ian christopher

    ian christopher Argentina (in Spirit)

    Location:
    El Centro
    love this band from the moment that I heard "Dead Man's Party" and "Weird Science" as a boy in the 1980s

    Fell in love with "Only a Lad" first - but as I've aged, the albums immediately following it (Nothing To Fear, Good for Your Soul, and Elfman's "So-Lo" album) have eclipsed it.

    Still hard for me to skip a song on any of their discs - even the lesser known/performed songs usually have an interesting twist/turn and a witty lyrical aside.

    Weakest album would probably be "Dark At The End of the Tunnel" but there's still some great compositions to be found therein.
     
    Runicen and GunsOfBrixton like this.
  3. ian christopher

    ian christopher Argentina (in Spirit)

    Location:
    El Centro
    Great album, "Controller" is indeed a deep cut gem. I'd say that it's aged better than any other track on the album save for "Perfect System" (a song that I've always loved - Elfman's voice does all kinds of crazy caterwauling, and I've always loved it)
     
    GunsOfBrixton likes this.
  4. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Holy Cow - what timing! Just stumbled across this - A new Danny Elfman Single!!!

    Not sure what to make of it just yet, but definitely has some Oingo Boingo vibe...

     
  5. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Noticing that the new single is described in several stories as his first solo work in 36 years (that would be since So-Lo in 1984)

    I respectfully disagree with that assessment. The fantastic "The Little Things" from the Wanted soundtrack was in 2008. This is properly part of the apocrypha section, but I'll post it here for real fans who know the score ;)

     
  6. Unknown Delight

    Unknown Delight Alan Myers Jazz Heads Unite!

    ( raises hand )

    Boston area fan here.
    Huge Oingo Boingo fan.
    Recently have been revisiting their music again since we just passed the Halloween season, but I've been into them since the late 80s.

    My story of discovering them here on the East Coast pre-Internet :

    1985.
    The film 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure' is released.
    See this film and I am immediately struck by the eccentric and playful music.
    Search out the soundtrack, and this is my first exposure to Danny Elfman.
    Become a instant fan.

    Over the next few years, Danny's other late 80s score work is added to my growing collection.
    Become a big fan of his unusual and downright marvelous instrumental score work.
    He seemed to be everywhere back then...big films, tv shows, you name it.

    At some point around 1989 or 1990, I read an interview in a film magazine about how Danny is part of a rock band called Oingo Boingo.
    The name immediately captured my interest, and already being a fan of his instrumental music i just HAD to hear what he was doing with said rock band.
    I suddenly feel a need to search out some music by said band.


    1992 -
    My search for finding Oingo Boingo albums finally happens.
    Local Boston used record stores to the rescue....as I frequented them heavily at the time due to becoming obsessed with the rock band Queen at this time.
    Searching for Queen LPs in the local used bins led me to find a lot of great quality vinyl pressings of vintage Boingo albums.
    Literally, a jackpot of offerings. The early 90s was a great time for finding excellent used vinyl.
    It was a exciting time searching out these Boingo LPs.
    Each find was played mulitple times over many many years....and I still play those albums today.

    So within a year or two I amassed pretty much all of their originally released LPs and some matching cassettes...'So-Lo' and 'Skeletons in the Closet' ( A+M compilation ) on vinyl included.
    Still missing the Ep, first two albums, and the last official release, but I'll likely pick them up if I ever come across them.
    'Boingo Alive' on double LP is probably my favorite ...next to 'BOI-NGO' and 'Dead Man's Party'.

    I have never seen them live, but have watched plenty of YouTube clips and full concerts from all their eras in the Internet age.
    Great energy, and the music is just terrific.
    Love everything about those guys.
    Oingo Boingo led me to discover another band I love, Devo, through watching concerts on YouTube.
    So it's really just a gift that keeps on giving!

    I was a Member of the Secret Society in 1991 and 1992.
    Still have my black n' white 'grasshopper' pin and cool tshirt from that time period.
    Oh yes, and that awesome poster they were selling back then!

    :)


    -
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2020
  7. Surly

    Surly Bon Viv-oh-no-he-didn't

    Location:
    Sugar Land, TX
    Very happy to see this thread!

    I first discovered them via MTV; we got cable in our house in 1982. Cleveland had its own new wave ("modern music," as they called it) station for about 6 months in 1983 and they played the band as well.

    My ratings of the discography covered to date:
    EP: 3.5
    Only A Lad: 4.0
    Nothing To Fear: 4.5
     
  8. ian christopher

    ian christopher Argentina (in Spirit)

    Location:
    El Centro
    Grey Matter is a classic for life - it sounds equally outstanding in studio and in a concert setting.

    different aspects of the song shine on the recording than in a live setting - both are a joy to listen to depending on my mood.

    Bartek's rhythm playing on "Private Life" never fails to cut me to the core
     
  9. GerryO

    GerryO Senior Member

    Location:
    Bodega Bay, CA
    Kerry Hatch REALLY plays bass on this EXCELLENT 1976 album by San Jose, CA's Willow Glen HS local boy Tom Jans,
    and that's my reason for an interest in early Oingo Boingo.
    [​IMG]
     
  10. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Yep, Halloween. That's it. Don't know why I couldn't place it.
     
  11. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    That's awesome! Love all these stories of how folks found the group, and how many are from around the country. If you can find the pin and shirt, please post a pic. The Boingo paraphernalia is a great part of the history of the band. I have no idea what happened to all my original stuff I picked up at the concerts - they seem to have vanished with time. Now I only have replicas. :cry:
     
    Unknown Delight and GerryO like this.
  12. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Excellent, glad you're along for the ride!
     
    Surly likes this.
  13. Runicen

    Runicen Forum Resident

    I saw this.. Kind of in the same boat as you. It's... interesting, but doesn't feel like a complete thought. It feels more like a sketchpad with parts of things that could have been separate songs all stapled together.

    Part of me kind of switched off at the "screamy rant" bit towards the end. It felt like a poor man's version of the angry young man thing Elfman was doing on the last Boingo album (I'm probably one of three people who actually liked that one).

    I don't know. My hope is that they picked a bad teaser track and that the album will drop and be amazing with everyone going, "Yeah, but with so many good songs, why did they pick that for the single?"
     
    GunsOfBrixton likes this.
  14. Roman Potato Chip

    Roman Potato Chip Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    It's certainly a lot different than his previous "Happy".

     
    Runicen and GunsOfBrixton like this.
  15. Unknown Delight

    Unknown Delight Alan Myers Jazz Heads Unite!

    Sure!
    I know right where these items are so will get them out for a snapshot soon.
    The pin is still hanging in my room, the shirt I still wear on special occasions, and the poster is currently hanging on the wall downstairs in my kitchen.

    Yes, I have breakfast with Boingo.
    ;)

    -
     
  16. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    And on we go!

    [​IMG]

    Good For Your Soul (1983)

    1. Who Do You Want To Be – 5/5
    Continuing the tradition of killer leadoff songs, this one gets the album rolling with high energy and horns front and center

    2. Good For Your Soul – 4.5/5
    Although it’s the title song, I think it’s a hidden gem – the first of two great ones on this album.

    3. No Spill Blood 4/5
    A great three song run here to start the album. These first three are a wonderful blend of the surrealism of Nothing to Fear, and the driving sound from Only a Lad. Peak Oingo Boingo?

    4. Cry Of The Vatos - 0.5/5
    Why’d we have to come all this way…just to hear this. It’s like the opening of No Spill Blood, but about about 2:15 too long. For me, this has the same effect that many of the spoken tracks do on some of the best Beach Boys albums. Really disrupts the flow. I treat it as an intermission on the album. Maybe that's what was intended...because buckle up, it's about to get wild...

    5. Fill The Void - 4/5
    Just short of hidden gem status, this is a pretty cool song, alternating between reggae and rock stylings throughout. Sort of a world music take on “Private Life”. Quintessential surprising Boingo.

    6. Sweat - 4.5/5
    I consider this the starter version of one of my very favorite Boingo Songs. Very good here, but in its final form a few years down the road, it’s one of my favorite songs of all time.

    7. Nothing Bad Ever Happens - 5/5
    The second of the two great hidden gems on this album and, like “Aint this the life,” easy to overlook. Another one that rides the border between surrealism and satire, it’s catchy as heck. I always get such a kick out of Danny dancing in the video - can't tell if he's nodding to David Byrne or mocking him.


    8. Wake Up (It's 1984) – 4/5
    Another solid album cut, with similar dystopian themes to the earlier “Perfect System.” This is a timeless song. It has felt relevant in some way or another throughout my entire life.

    9. Dead Or Alive -4/5
    I think of this as Oingo Boingo’s “thriller”. More directly horror oriented than anything up to this point, it previews Dead Man’s Party coming a couple years down the road.

    10. Pictures Of You – 3/5
    Capping off a a fantastic six song run, this one is good, not great. A very Oingo Boingo song, bringing more of the creepy, morbid feel into the mix.

    11. Little Guns – 1.5/5
    Kind of a let-down to end the album. Feels like something that didn't make the cut from Nothing to Fear. Rare filler that doesn’t add to the album, and sure as heck shouldn’t close it out. Oddly enough, though, the opening is strikingly similar to the opening of the new single I posted above. Along with his re-do of "Running on a Treadmill," I wonder if Danny is feeling nostalgic?


    Overall Rating: 4.5/5
    Leave out “Cry of the Vatos” and “Little Guns” and I think you have the best Oingo Boingo Album hands down. I honestly don’t know if those two could have been placed any worse. They really throw off the pace of the album in just the wrong spots. That said, it’s still easily in the running for best Boingo Album. Just great strings of music with unique style that you won't hear anywhere else. A lot of fun, and a continued evolution of the Oingo Boingo sound. Essential!

    Lyrical highlight

    War breaks out throughout the land
    Dodging bullets in the sand
    Enemy's getting much too close
    Sun beats down on the back of my neck
    Fingers twitchin'; covered with sweat
    Covered with sweat
     
    beartrackrecords and Runicen like this.
  17. Roman Potato Chip

    Roman Potato Chip Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Nothing to Fear is my favorite Oingo Boingo album on certain days. On others it's Dark at the End of the Tunnel. The latter is a polished eclectic pop masterwork, while the former is an tour de force of Elfman's quirkiest and most complex songwriting ideas. It's not as bouncy and crazy as Only a Lad, but I think the songwriting is more focused and melodic without losing any of the punk edge of its predecessor. I don't think there's a duff track to be found, I even enjoy "Running on a Treadmill" despite many listing it as the weakest on the album (I'd probably agree, but I think it's still catchy well written tune). For the most part, one thing I can say about Elfman is that he didn't write filler. There are songs that aren't to my tastes that I don't enjoy, but it always sounds like he's giving it his all.

    As I was typing this Good for Your Soul was posted. So I'll discuss this as well. I'd consider it the most inconsistent of the original three, but it's still quite a stellar release. When it's right it's really right. The one two punch of the punky horn ska of "Who Do You Want to Be" and the melodic title track is stellar. Maybe the best opening of any Oingo Boingo album. The Caribbean influenced single "Nothing Bad Ever Happens" is also a great song, with a stellar melody and a nice message about community and caring. I think a lot of different musical influences popped up on this album that weren't heard on subsequent or former releases. Like the aforementioned Caribbean single and the odd reggae mixed with French European influences on "Fill the Void". Not my favorite, but I love it all the same.

    "Cry of the Vatos" is sort of a spacer, I don't think it really harms the flow, but it doesn't add anything. The back masked message about adhering to Christianity in it is certainly amusing though.
    This would be the only take I really take exception too. I'd consider this creepy pulsating semi-ballad a highlight. Mr. Bungle covered it live early in their career.
     
  18. Unknown Delight

    Unknown Delight Alan Myers Jazz Heads Unite!

    I have 'Good For Your Soul' on vintage vinyl and a original cassette tape.
    I like a lot of the songs on this album, but find I prefer the 'live' versions to them done on 'Boingo Alive' better.

    I confess, as much as I like this album I don't play it as much as my other Boingo LPs.
    Need to get it out again for a another spin soon.
    I'm still listening to 'Dead Man's Party' and 'Boingo Alive' since Halloween!

    -
     
    GunsOfBrixton likes this.
  19. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Since several others have shared how they came to be fans, I should probably do the same. I grew up in Southern California, and was a devotee of KROQ 106.7. At the time, in my mid-teens, I was a huge Cure fan (they've long ago fallen out of my faves).

    Oingo Boingo was a regular on the station, but I didn't really take to them very quickly. But around, say, 1987 or so, a friend invited me to one of the Halloween concerts - and it was frickin awesome! I was hooked from that point on. I went to enough of their concerts that, aside from the Farewell show, they have all kind of blended together after 30+ years. To this day, I still think of them as a concert band, first and foremost.

    We didn't have much money when I was young, so I slowly accumulated cassettes of all their albums as I could. I bought cassettes because the only music player I owned was the one in my beat up car. Most of those were worn out (or melted) over time, but late in the cassette era I got my second copy of Alive! which I have to this day. Once I had a bit of money, I slowly bought up the CDs in the early 90s, courtesy of the Tower Records in West Covina.

    Over the years I have just a few bands that have stayed firmly in my top tier of favorites - The Beach Boys and CCR, which I remember from listening to my sisters' albums as a child. The Clash, Social Distortion, which were my punk era faves. But, as things stand today, I would say that Oingo Boingo is at the top of the pile for me. It amazes me how much I still like their music - I just never seem to get tired of it. Even as I've been listening my way through this thread, I am still finding new things along the way.

    And I will say that, even when I'm picking on some of the music, it's coming from a place of tremendous enjoyment and appreciation for the great work that Danny and the boys did for so many years - what a weird, fun, and wonderful band! I'm glad to have found some other folks here who appreciate them - feels like a revival of the Secret Society! Here's to hoping we make some new fans, too!
     
  20. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Interesting. We'll get along just fine :D
     
    wrappedinsky likes this.
  21. wrappedinsky

    wrappedinsky Forum Resident

    Location:
    SE USA
    This thread has got me spinning all of my Oingo Boingo discs, so thanks OP! Right now I have the Farewell concert playing in the background, which I always enjoy all the way through.

    I'll contribute to the question about how I discovered the band and got into them: I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Flori-duh, where sometime in my junior year of high school I copied a friend's tape of Dead Man's Party onto another really crappy regular-bias cassette. Didn't matter, because I played the heck out of that thing in my air-conditionless car. (I might even still have it in a box somewhere!) I eventually bought Dead Man's Party on CD sometime in the 90s, and it's still one of my favorite albums of all time. I guess it's partly because of the music, and partly because it is an echo of those years growing up that always continue to call to all of us as they fade into the past. (Nothing like music as a time machine into the past!)

    Although I never explored their catalog further as the years passed, Oingo Boingo was always in the back of my mind as a group that I really needed to check out to see if they had anything else as cool as DMP. It finally happened this year when I was playing around on SHF to see what had been said about the group here. That thread inspired me to acquire (so far) everything but Nothing To Fear and Boi-ngo. I've been listening to them a lot during days of quarantine, and have particularly taken to Dark At the End of the Tunnel and Boingo. Just over the past few weeks I've really begun to appreciate the earlier albums, as well. Fun stuff, all of it! Danny & co. have even made the early morning drive to work (ugh!) a little more bearable the past few days.
     
    GunsOfBrixton likes this.
  22. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    PSA - Dead Man's Party (vinyl & CD) and Nothing to Fear (CD) are part of the Amazon & Target 3 for the price of 2 sales. $6 for Nothing to Fear (before discount) strikes me as a particularly good bang for the buck.
     
    Runicen likes this.
  23. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    First two are amazing albums. Boingo's best. Unbelievable energy, while still exhibiting superb musicianship.

    My favorites are "On The Outside," "What You See," "Controller," "Whole Day Off" and "Why'd We Come."
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2020
    GunsOfBrixton likes this.
  24. Surly

    Surly Bon Viv-oh-no-he-didn't

    Location:
    Sugar Land, TX
    Good For Your Soul is my favorite album by them, and "Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Me" is my #2 favorite OB song (the honor of #1 goes to "Stay"). Plenty of great cuts on here such as "Who Do You Want To Be" (can't believe no metal band has covered that one) and "No Spill Blood."

    I have playlists for each year of the '80s in my iTunes (years '83-'89 each feature 350+ songs) and the 1984 one starts with "Wake Up (It's 1984)," followed by "This Is The Picture" by Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson. Now, that song is from his 1986 So album, but both the OB and PG/LA song were featured on a show called Good Morning, Mr. Orwell that aired on Public Television on 1/1/84:

    Good Morning, Mr. Orwell - Wikipedia
     
    GunsOfBrixton likes this.
  25. GunsOfBrixton

    GunsOfBrixton Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    North Carolina
    One of the things that always appealed to me about Boingo were their album covers. Much like their music, their album covers are unlike pretty much any other band. What is your favorite? (and an honorable mention if it's hard to pick just one)

    Mine is Only a Lad. It has that wonderful effect of being moderately interesting at first glance, then a second later you start realizing that there's a whole lot more going on in the picture, right down to the patch of the EP cover - a nice touch, given that the title song debuted there.

    What I think I like even more is that Billboard has it on their list of the worst album art of the 8o's: The Worst Album Covers of the '80s . The idea that they hate it somehow provides me with great satisfaction. :D

    [​IMG]
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine