Oingo Boingo Lives!

Many Original Members of Quirky, Angry, Funny, Edgy, Underrated 80's Band Return!

 If you attended college in Southern California in the early-to-mid 1980's, you must remember Oingo Boingo, the quirky, hard-rocking band whose concerts were dance-and-sweat events. 

As a child of the 1970's, well, I had never seen or heard anything quite like them. I wasn't sure what to make of the band at first. But they grew on me.

When I was working part time as a coach and camp counselor at the Montecito YMCA in college, about half the kids on my sports teams were listening to Oingo Boingo on their Sony Walkmans.

 

One afternoon, I just had to borrow a kid's headset and listen in to see what all the fuss was about. It was immediately engaging, and also a bit disturbing and dangerous. I started dancing, and the kids on my team started laughing. 

 

They were happy to initiate their coach into the Boingo Universe. When you listen to Oingo Boingo, I realized that day, it's impossible to stay still.

 

The more I listened, the more I liked the creativity, the edginess, the reckless abandon, the just-plain fun. They were so different than anything else we heard on the radio in the early 80's.

 

They were punk-ish, but not punk. They were new wave-ish, but not new wave. They were alternative-ish, but not alternative. They were art rock-ish, but not art rock. They were ska-ish, but not ska . 

 

The band, which has been under-appreciated since the first record, created its own genre. Some call them Halloween Rock, 'cuz they had more than a small amount of anxious, scary/creepy themes and vibes, with references to nightmares and monsters and juvenile delinquents and insects underground.

Oingo Boingo did enjoy its 15 or perhaps 20 minutes of fame. I first saw them live at the US Festival in 1983 with my fellow 300,000 music fans. The band that day stole the show. 

 

They were funny, frenetic, obstinate, wacky, angry and musically gifted. They were jesters from Hell. I loved every minute of it. Of course, many of my fellow classic rock buddies thought they were lame and still do to this day. To each his own. 

I love those 70's arena rock bands. But I embraced the music of the 80's, too, and still do. I loved my MTV.

 

Oingo Boingo became hugely and deservedly popular in Southern California, if not quite as much so nationwide. The band had a great reputation as a superb live act. 

 

The band's biggest national moments came when they appeared in the Rodney Dangerfield comedy “Back to School” singing their hit "Dead Man's Party,' and when they recorded the title track of the movie comedy "Weird Science," and when they got their song "Goodbye" placed at the end of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." 

Well, the good news is that most the original members of Oingo Boingo are back in a band called "Oingo Boingo Former Members." The band has a phenomenally talented new lead singer, but of course co-founder and undeniable genius Danny Elfman is still nowhere to be found.

Danny became a celebrated film composer, as many of you know, and never looked back. He's consistently, stubbornly refused to give the other original members of his former band the name, and he doesn't have any plans to resurrect the band. It kind of sucks. 

 

The good news is that seeing this band is a total Oingo Boingo experience. The new lead singer, Brendon McCreary, who is decades younger than his bandmates, is billed as an Oingo Boingo "superfan." He is a phenomenal talent. 

 

Arguably a better all-around and more versatile vocalist than even Danny, Brandon's command of the subtleties of the Oingo Bongo canon is remarkable.

 

So....  tonight we're gonna party like it's 1983! It's not too late for you to join us and re-live those college parties that you don't fully remember but you know we were there. The show doesn't start until 7:3o p.m. at Humphrey's By the Bay on Shelter Island.  There are still a few tickets available at Ticketmaster.

See you there!

PS -- Here's a partial list of songs by Oingo Boingo, if we missed some, let us know:

 

Acapella Ditty

Ain't This The Life

Bachelor Party

Ballad Of The Caveman

Better Luck Next Time

Burn Me Up

California Girls

Can't See (useless)

Change

Cinderella Undercover

Clowns Of Death

Controller

Cool City

Cry Of Vatos

Dead Man's Party

Dead Or Alive

Dream Somehow

Everybody Needs

Flesh 'n' Blood

Go Away

Goodbye 

Good For Your Soul

Grey Matter

Heard Somebody Cry

Helpless

Hey!

I Am The Walrus

I'm So Bad

Insanity

Insects

Is This

Just Another Day

Little Girls

Lost Like This

Mary

Nasty Habits

No One Lives Forever

No Spill Blood

Nothing Bad Ever Happens (To Me)

Nothing To Fear (but Fear Itself)

On The Outside

Only A Lad

Piggies

Reptiles And Samurai

Run Away (the Escape Song)

Stay

Take Your Medicine

The Cat Is Dead

Tough As Nails

Water

We Close Our Eyes

When The Lights Go Out

Where Do All My Friends Go

Who Do You Want To Be?

Whole Day Off

Why'd We Come (all This Way)

Wild Sex (in The Working Class)

You Got Your Baby Back