That's Entertainment : Oingo Boingo / Danny Elfman
Education. It’s very important, so this school holidays I took Alex to the movies to see Pixels.
Awesome film. Tonnes of fun. Big 80’s soundtrack. And it’s got him in to retro gaming. Plus he’s learnt that Adam Sandler is this era’s Orson Welles or Gregory Peck.
So now, I’ve been sifting through the video racks and sharing 1980’s movies that I think are absolutely pertinent to Alexander’s ongoing education. And as much as I love them, there are only so many times a week I can watch Ghostbusters 1 and 2 or the original Star Wars trilogy [the kids can’t understand why I mutter so much when they re-watch their beloved prequel trilogy, though that said, the lot of us have gotten very, very excited by the trailers for The Force Awakens].
F*** Frozen, we’re here to have fun! [Never seen it; never want to].
Now, I would have loved to have slipped in Highlander, Batman, Gremlins or A Nightmare on Elm Street but…ahhh…no, I think we have a few years to wait to watch those. Maybe Rad or BMX Bandits? Next holidays!
So we stick with The Last Starfighter, The Goonies and Raiders of the Lost Ark with the occasional well placed cough to censor a ‘naughty nanny word’ and a hand over the eyes for the yicky bits.
Then of course, there is Weird Science, a John Hughes masterpiece. Quite possibly one of the grandest ‘male’ wish fulfilment movies ever, where two young lads create their perfect woman in their computer and end up with Kelly Le Brock as the dream dame. And as much as I’d love to…I just can’t. In the pile with Freddy Krugar and Connor McLeod!
So where am I going with this? Well Weird Science the movie had a soundtrack song called, funnily enough, Weird Science. The band that sang it was Oingo Boingo. This was a band that took jazzy new wave leanings with synths and horns and made themselves a niche pop rock act during the 1980’s gaining some popularity. Each show was a bit of an event - with whacked out theatrics and comedy and raucous horn section improvisation.
The singer of Oingo Boingo is/was Danny Elfman. He’s pretty much scored every Tim Burton film - Pee Wee Herman, Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland and quite a few Sam Raimi flicks - Darkman, Army of Darkness, Spiderman 1-3, Oz the Great and Powerful, as well as the Men In Black trilogy, Avengers 2 and 50 Shades of Grey.
Oh, he’s also the guy who wrote the theme tune for The Simpsons.
And as oddball as his Tim Burton movies are, Oingo Boingo are similar - askew, off kilter, off beat, eccentric. To keep it simple, I’ve included three of my favourite cuts. I hope you enjoy them too.
Now back to the movie education of Alexander Raymond…it’s not some weird science. It’s fun, fun, fun until daddy takes the remote controller away.
Oingo Boingo
Private Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuxss1kBQWw
Weird Science https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm-upHSP9KU
A little Weird Science clip:
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