Oingo Boingo  was an American rock band, best known for their hits “Dead Man’s Party” and “Weird Science”.  They are also known for their soundtrack contributions, their high energy Halloween concerts, and for their unique mixture of styles including ska, punk, new wave, funk, and other world music genres.  The band was led by songwriter/vocalist Danny Elfman, who has since achieved success as a composer for film and television.  (More from Wikipedia)

 

 

Sometimes rock musicians go into an entirely different line of work: Danny Elfman for instance has become one of the leading writers of Hollywood movie scores.  Beginning in the early 1970’s and through the mid-1990’s, he was also the front man for the quirky band Oingo Boingo.  Only a Lad, their first full-length album came out in 1981 and is the one that I have; the title song, “Only a Lad” was a minor hit.  That cover is a real hoot; it is a heavily redecorated Norman Rockwell painting that was used as the cover shot for one edition of the Boy Scout Handbook.  The original was drawn on a completely white background, so that is why the “jaunty lad” (as National Geographic magazine described the original painting) is up in the clouds in Oingo Boingo’s reimagining. 

 

(September 2012)