OT - Grumpy Old Man Thread

[847badgerfan]

I've heard of...

None of the above.

[utee94]

You've never heard of Danny Elfman?  Orignially the frontman of 80s new wave band Oingo Boingo, but most famous for being a movie composer of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, Beetlejuice, Scrooged, Edward Scissorhands, The Simpsons, and a couple dozen others?

I wonder what a modern day Danny Elfman show is like?

[847badgerfan]

Oingo Boingo was a no-listen for me.

Iron Maiden was.

[utee94]

I saw Twenty One Pilots when they played the Formula 1 US Grand Prix at COTA a few years back.  I knew a little of their stuff from the radio and liked it fine, but it was a surprisingly excellent live show.

[utee94]

I'd say Oingo Boingo was kind of average as an 80s new wave/synth band, but Danny Elfman is one of my favorite movie composers.

[Cincydawg]

I never heard of any of'em.  I did attend a concert in the park last week but it was by the symphony.

I'm a snob.

[SFBadger96]

I'd say Oingo Boingo was kind of average as an 80s new wave/synth band, but Danny Elfman is one of my favorite movie composers.

I put Oingo Boingo in my top 5. Love them. My first live concert. Kind of nerdy new-wave/alt-punk, with a strong Halloween-based following. Popular among the theater kids (I'm not one), and the sort of people who are into the Rocky Horror Picture Show (I'm not really one of those, either). And I love Danny Elfman. I've never seen one of his live shows (and he only recently started performing live again--hearing issues), but I understand that they are a mix of his solo music, which is very similar to Oingo Boingo, some Oingo Boingo tunes, and some of his movie music. I've seen the former members of Oingo Boingo a couple of times. They put on a good show, and their new lead singer doesn't try to sing like Elfman--sings in his own voice, which I think is wise (but Elfman's vocals are better).

Curiously, Boingo's biggest hit--Weird Science, from the movie of the same name--is only considered meh among their fans.

I went with my kids to a 21 Pilots show. Great show, and I like their music. Not my fav, but of the new emo-ish stuff that is out there, I think those guys are top notch.

[SFBadger96]

Other than Weird Science, Dead Man's Party is probably Boingo's best known song--I think they played it in Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield. Classic Halloween tune. Along the same lines: No One Lives Forever.

Others that I'm into (first two are big call and response tunes at their shows): 
No Spill Blood
Wild Sex (In the Working Class)
When the Lights Go Out
Not My Slave
Just Another Day
Only A Lad (classic late 80s view of the criminal justice system)
Who Do You Want to Be
Pain
Running on a Treadmill
Good For Your Soul
Long Breakdown
Insanity

[utee94]

Yeah Dead Man's Party is on every Halloween party mix ever made (including mine of course).  You're definitely more into Oingo Boingo than I ever was, I was way more hard rock, arena rock, metal, and hair metal at the time.  For some reason I always had Oingo Boingo mentally categorized as sort of a poor man's Wang Chung.

But I definitely love Elfman's scoring of movies in general and his vocals in Nightmare.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Oingo Boingo sounds like it should be the name of a mid-90s third wave ska act. 

[SFBadger96]

Funny thing is that while I liked them back then, I was more into hard rock at the time. My tastes have changed over the years, and they have moved up. And yes, they also have some ska influences. Lots of horns. But they started out in the late 70s and most of their music came in the 80s. I think Elfman left the band in the early 90s as his film career really took off.

And yeah, he did some great soundtracks for Tim Burton--Nightmare is the best one.

He also did the Simpson's theme song (and has done more work for the Simpsons), Batman (the Jack Nicholson one) and Batman Returns, and some more recent Avengers movies. His film credits are extensive.