by The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo was the sound track to my years in highschool and some of college. For those of us growing up listening to KROQ one would think Oingo Boingo was really popular and they were, but after moving to the East Coast as an adult it was interesting to learn it was actually a bit of a west coast phenomenon. I think I’m going to do a series of posts this week on different aspects of the band. (Nothing too deep and probably I’ll have to come back and update them)
Their biggest hits probably came from a contribution to a movie soundtrack. The title track to Weird Science (above) was a hit? Weirdly enough, according to Wikipedia, they also had an almost recurring gig in Hollywood as the band in the party scene – I remember them in the Rodney Dangerfield movie Back to School. I’m not actually sure if Wikipedia means they appeared as a band in a scene in each of these movies, but I think that’s the gist:
- Longshot (1981)
- Urgh! A Music War (1981)
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
- The Last American Virgin (1982)
- Sixteen Candles (1984)
- Good Morning, Mr. Orwell (1984)
- Bachelor Party (1984)
- Weird Science (1985)
- Wisdom (1986)
- Back to School (1986), where they appeared as a performing group
- Ghostbusters II (1989)
- The Best of Oingo Boingo: Skeletons in the Closet (1989; music video compilation)
- Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheatre, Halloween 1995
They also had a song or two on several movie soundtracks including a bunch of iconic “teen” movies such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Sixteen Candles, Bachelor Party, and Back to School. Other soundtracks featuring Oingo Boingo songs included: The Last American Virgin, Surf II, Something Wild, Midnight Run, Ghostbusters II, and The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.
