(reposted from January 2009)
Oingo Boingo - my favorite band for a loong time.
I always liked the Mexican folk art influenced design around the Dead Man's Party album and this video has bits of it too. Oingo Boingo was pretty big in California -- I was always unclear on why the rest of the world didn't fully appreciate the genius of the Elfman. In fact I guess to many people, I suppose Oingo Boingo is associated mainly with the Rodney Dangerfield movie Back to Class (or maybe the song they wrote for the Anthony Michael Hall movie Weird Science).
Hell might as well link to the Gong Show with an appearance by the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo - the precursor to the actual band Oingo Boingo. The Mystic Knights were more of a cabaret thing, led by Danny Elfman's brother Richard.
Last but not least is a documentary look at The Forbidden Zone, a movie musical Richard Elfman did that featured all of the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (including Danny Elfman) plus Herve Villechaize! The movie is truly bizarre and needs to be seen to be believed. The documentary is a really interesting snapshot of what the Elfmans were up to before Danny made the full transition to being in a rock band.
