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boingobitch · 3 years

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Oingo Boingo Iceberg 2: Electric Boogaloo

The first, for reference.

I've taken another stab at it because I've learned more and the original was made in a bit of a hurry. This time, I'll be explaining the layers...it'll be a long ride, so get comfortable.

LAYER ONE:

Weird Science / Dead Man's Party: This is what Oingo Boingo is most well-known for to the general public, as "Weird Science" and the Dead Man's Party album was quite popular at the time.

Oingo Boingo and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: The author of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is quite fond of including musical references in his work and OB is no exception.

Only A Lad is a satire of American culture: A commonly accepted interpretation of Only A Lad's lyrical theme.

Flesh n' Blood: Featured on the Ghostbusters II soundtrack. Falls in the same category of "OB song in a popular movie" along with "Weird Science".

"Little Girls is a pedo anthem hehe": Look at the Youtube comments for the "Little Girls" music video and you'll find several internet comedians telling this "joke".

"Danny should play the Joker!" / "Wow, he voiced Jack?": There's a 75% chance some variation of these remarks will be in the comment section of an Oingo Boingo-related video.

LAYER TWO:

The Mystic Knights & Forbidden Zone: Oingo Boingo started as a street theatre troupe formed by Richard Elfman, Danny's brother, before it was handed off to Danny and mutated into what we know now. Forbidden Zone was a movie directed by Richard, created with the intention of simulating a Mystic Knights show; it's also the first movie Danny ever composed music for.

"Little Girls was about Richard": A rumor, nothing more. It seems that it was conflated with the idea that "Little Girls" is about hot-shot Hollywood directors picking up young girls to manipulate and, of course, Richard is a director. While it is a rumor, I think it's worth noting that there is a 30 year age gap between him and his wife, Anastasia.

The Gong Show: The Mystic Knights made an appearance on The Gong Show in 1976.

"Someboby": The first pressings of Dead Man's Party had "Heard Somebody Cry" printed as "Heard Someboby Cry" on the back of the LP.

SO-LO is the 4th Oingo Boingo Album: MCA Records only wanted to sign on Danny Elfman for an album, not Oingo Boingo. He made the album with the band to get them interested in the whole group.

No One Lives Forever: Used in a minor scene in Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. Well-known to horror film enthusiasts.

Nasty Habits, Little Guns & Breakfast Machine: There's a very distinctive percussion beat + piano melody combo that Danny reuses occasionally in his music, as heard in these examples.

The Ritz (1985): One of the most iconic live shows in Boingo's lifetime, due to it's high quality and availability. If you haven't seen it, now's a good time!

LAPD PSAs: For some reason, the Los Angeles Police Department had Danny star in anti-drug / anti-drunk driving public service announcement videos.

Goodbye, Goodbye: The ending credits theme song for Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Another addition to the "popular movie" category.

LAYER THREE:

Oingo Boingo Tapes: Youtube channel dedicated to restoring and uploading bootlegs of unreleased Boingo tracks. We don't deserve them, honestly.

Bootleg Trading: A common practice in the early days of Oingo Boingo's fan base. Fan sites from the early to mid 2000's will often list what bootlegs they have, but will not provide them unless traded for - many high quality bootlegs have been lost due to hoarding.

Forbidden Boingo / All the Pieces: Two unofficial bootlegs of unreleased music, distributed by II Cane Lento. This was a primary source for bootlegs in the mid-2000s before OB Tapes, and getting yourself a copy is very difficult, as they were a limited release.

American Bandstand (1983): Boingo made an appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. This is one of the more recognizable interviews of the band, as well as the origin of the phrase "Nobody spanks Sluggo".

Face Like a Frog: The song "Don't Go in the Basement" was created for Sally Cruikshank's Face Like a Frog. Credited to Elfman, but is accepted as being a "Boingo project".

Islands uses a sample from Halloween: Self-explanatory. Listen to them side-by-side and you'll understand.

Mayo Shouno / Ai Ai Ai: Oingo Boingo was the backing band for J-Pop star Mayo Shouno's album Ai Ai Ai. There is no context for this.

Oingo Boingo Secret Society & Dead Man's Club: The Oingo Boingo Secret Society was an official fan club. Members would get discounts on merchandise, and an occasional newsletter. Dead Man's Club was a video intended to be released to members of the Society, previewing a selection of music videos.

Skeletons in the Closet VHS: Speaking of music videos, most of Boingo's were released on this VHS, minus promotional ones like "Weird Science" or later releases, like "Insanity".

Cry of the Vatos & Backmasking: There's a backmasked message in "Cry of the Vatos", parodying the superstition that backmasked songs contained Satanic messages.

LAYER FOUR:

Cinderella Undercover remakes: This song has been through hell. First conceived in 1981, it was meant to be on Only A Lad, but it got cut. It was played at live shows on occasion, and almost got onto BOI-NGO, but then it was cut again. It was finally released on Boingo Alive, a whole 7 years after it's conception!

Le Grand Magic Circus: Danny was a professional clown. No, I'm not kidding. During his short stay in France, Danny toured with Le Grande Magic Circus, a theatre troupe that would inspire the Mystic Knights. He met Steve Bartek during his time in France, too.

Danny contracted Malaria and Hepatitis: Elfman traveled through Africa for a year after his stay in France (this is where he found his love of percussion). While there, he contracted both Hepatitis and Malaria, which prompted him to return to the States. He was apparently taken care of by a German missionary when he was sick in Africa, but even he's unsure of this, given that Malaria can make you experience delusions.

Violent Love is a cover song: The original is by Willie Dixon, written in 1951.

Strawberry Alarm Clock, Food For Feet & Zuma II: Side projects of Boingo's members. Steve Bartek was the guitarist for Strawberry before Boingo, Food for Feet was an in-between project for drummer Johnny Vatos and soon-to-be bassist John Avila, and Zuma II was the band the original keyboardist Richard Gibbs and bassist Kerry Hatch left to form.

St. James / Finale: "St. James Infirmary" and "Finale" were recordings of MKTOB performances on Forbidden Zone's special features.

Little Guns & Pictures of You are based on dreams: From this article.

Burton, Ruebens and Forbidden Zone: Tim Burton and Paul Ruebens both saw a screening of Forbidden Zone, and Burton had been following Oingo Boingo around for a while before contacting Elfman for the soundtrack of Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Oingo Boingo Dance Party/Former Members: An "official Boingo tribute band" lead by Johnny Vatos. Technically, he holds the rights to the "Oingo Boingo" name now (Danny gave his blessing), but has chosen not to use it.

Forbidden Zone 2: A sequel to Forbidden Zone that Richard Elfman is supposedly making. Sort of an in-joke at this point.

Harry Langdon: Photographer who shot many of the high-quality pictures of the Mystic Knights you see floating around here. Also provided this footage of the aforementioned photos being taken.

LAYER FIVE:

Weird Science is autobiographical: This one's more of a funny anecdote than anything else. In "Danse Macabre: 25 Years of Danny Elfman and Tim Burton", Danny mentions that he was quite fixated on radiation and its effects when he was younger. He joined a "science camp" where he and other kids were allowed to work with radioactive isotopes. He'd bring home Strontium-90 and Cobalt-60 and inject them into dead flies to try and mutate them. In a way, he was a mad scientist!

Insanity's music video was censored: The music video for "Insanity" was broadcasted on MTV for a short period of time before being banned off the air. No reason has been provided, but one can assume it was removed to avoid controversy. The Brothers Quay, who produced the video, have held exclusive rights to it and have refused to redistribute it. It's only accessible through Youtube and a secret menu in the Farewell Concert DVD.

Dan Dan the Gingerbread Man: Remember how I said Tim Burton followed Oingo Boingo for a while before working with Danny? He had a character who looked awfully familiar in his 1982 stop-motion short, Hansel and Gretel. C'mon now...Dan Dan?

US Festival 1982: I whined about this here, but to summarize: it's a really significant Boingo show that's missing from the archives.

Danny wrote half of The Nightmare Before Christmas: The original TNBC was a short poem written by Burton - he'd read parts of the poem to Danny, and Danny would have to fill in the narrative blanks with his score and and lyrics. Elfman played a huge role in the creation of TNBC's story, and the lack of credit he was given for this caused a massive rift between him and Burton. Which brings us to out next topic...

Helpless is a Tim Burton hate anthem: Another rumor, spread around by this fucking post. Other than the use of Danny's "Jack Skellington voice" (so his...regular singing voice?) the song has nothing to do with Burton or TNBC. The lyrics don't even reference it!

The Clowns of Death: A pseudonym Boingo took on in its later years. They'd use this name to open for other bands in small venues - a sort of undercover disguise, if you will.

Gratitude & Beverly Hills Cop: Self-explanatory. It's on the soundtrack, but not in the actual movie.

Dead Man's Party (band): An unofficial tribute band from the early 2000's. Lead by a..."Danny Elfman cosplayer", let's say. Endorsed by Richard Elfman, for whatever that's worth.

Brazilians love Boingo: Explained here.

Danny dislocated his knee: Briefly mentioned in this article.

Goodbye, Goodbye is a Mystic Knights song: It wasn't written for "Fast Times." Of course, in MKTOB fashion, this version is slower and styled after 1920-30's music.

BOINGO (1994) is a midlife crisis album: BOINGO was made during a rough period of Elfman's life. He just got out of the turbulent production of TNBC and was torn between his career as a composer and as OB's front man. During this time, he apparently divorced his first wife, Geri Eisenmenger, got tatted up, and had a mental breakdown.

LAYER SIX:

Cassette-exclusive tracks: The extended version of "Gratitude" from SO-LO and the technically unreleased "Helpless" from BOINGO (1994) are only featured on the cassettes of their respective albums.

Steve encouraged Danny to make BOINGO (1994): From this article. Danny showed the demo of "Insanity" to Steve for approval, and Steve encouraged Danny to write the rest of the album's music in a similar fashion.

Sluggo's Solo Album: Animal Sounds is a Jazz album Sluggo released in 1981. Good luck trying to find a copy to listen to!

Doug and the Mystics: A short-lived band fronted by Doug Lacey, who worked with Boingo during its final years (usually as the accordion playing clown). Sluggo, Steve, Vatos and Avila were also members, thus the Mystics.

Change (22 minute version): There's a 22 minute demo of "Change" that was cut into the 15 minute official release. This tape has not been recovered yet.

Out of Control awareness campaign: Read here for details. It's a personal experience of a fan, so the legitimacy is debatable.

Richard Gibbs is a composer: After leaving the band, Gibbs composed music for a few movies, most notably Dr. Doolittle (1998) and Queen of the Damned (2002). He also assisted with the production side of The Simpsons.

BOI-NGO (1987) adverts: BOI-NGO was the most heavily marketed Oingo Boingo album after the major success of Dead Man's Party. This marketability also played a role in the "commercial" sound of the album

Warren Fitzgerald is a creep: There's a reason why people crop out Warren, the second guitarist, from pictures of the band. While I can't source this, there's been talk of him being misogynistic and generally perverted for years. Judging by the fact that he provided pubes for the "Skull hair mural" I think it's safe to say that he's probably gross.

Shrunken Heads: A Richard Elfman movie from 1994. Around this time, whenever Oingo Boingo would perform "No One Lives Forever", Danny would introduce it as "a song in the new movie, 'Shrunken Heads'...", similar to how he would introduce "Weird Science" in 1985.

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden: An obscure movie from 1977 that the Mystic Knights played a role in.

Violent Love Skit: Skits were a big part of the Mystic Knights and early OB shows, and this one had quite a few variations. The most common would involve Danny inviting a female audience member up to the stage and serenading her with "Violent Love", as seen here. In the more extreme version, Danny would run backstage with the gal during the saxophone solo, and they'd return afterwards with their hair disheveled + Danny would quickly zip his fly back up.

David Eagle: A temporary drummer who filled in for Johnny Vatos during Urgh! A Music War.

LAYER SEVEN:

I Always Talk to Pictures: This bootleg is in infamously poor quality, even after being cleaned up. The vocals are so difficult to hear that no one can figure out what the lyrics are supposed to be.

Kerry Hatch: Kerry tried to get his future Zuma II band mate, Richard Gibbs, kicked out of Oingo Boingo because he felt that Gibb's playing style was "too casual". This is only the tip of the Hatch trivia iceberg.

Only A Lad: THE MUSICAL: Read here.

Vatos was in From Dusk Till Dawn: For a minor appearance. While not "rare" information, it's not something I've seen talked about here.

Can't See & Divorce: Given that the song's lyrics describe a love lost, and the time period in which it was written, some fans have theorized that "Can't See (Useless)" is about Danny drifting apart from his first wife.

Hot Tomorrows: Another obscure movie from 1977, this time featuring the Mystic Knights actually performing. Also stars Hervé Villechaize, who would later play as the King in Forbidden Zone.

I'm Afraid Skit: Described here.

Boingo Wireless / Richard Elfman: Here.

Leon and Percussion: Leon Shneiderman made instruments, costumes and sets for the Mystic Knights shows. He continued to build instruments, specifically percussion (such as his Rhumbaphone) for OB throughout his career.

"Leon can do anything in the whole world!"

2008 Universal Studio Fires: A massive fire that destroyed thousands of film recordings and audio tape masters held at Universal Studios. Oingo Boingo was one of the bands affected by this, and it is suspected that some demo tapes and unreleased songs were lost here.

Danny and the Double Dicks: A potential new name considered while renaming the Mystic Knights during the "transitional" phase.

Try to Believe: Mentioned here. Dark at the End of the Tunnel wasn't intentionally made to be dark, if you can believe that.

Danny Nearly Dies: From this interview. Basically, he jumped into the pit, and two fans tried to steal the shirt off his back. They grabbed around the neckline of his shirt, though, and almost choked him out.

Danny Elfman Foot Fetishists: I'm not elaborating on this one.

That's about it! Thank you for your time. ❤

#i really appreciate the explanations thank u #rb

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