CD Odyssey Disc 135: Oingo Boingo

For the third consecutive day I rolled an album for the Odyssey that was short enough to get through on one drive home from work. Sweet, sweet brevity!

Disc 135 is...The Best of Oingo Boingo (Millennium Collection)
Artist: Oingo Boingo

Year of Release: 2002 but with music from 1982-1990

What’s Up With The Cover?: A bunch of geeks in bad shirts. Surely all eight of these guys can't be in the band - yet they are.

How I Came To Know It: I knew the song "Weird Science" from the movie of the same name(which I loved) but this is Sheila's album, as she likes both Oingo Boingo and the work of their frontman, Danny Elfman.

How It Stacks Up: This is a best of, so it doesn't stack up. That wouldn't make sense. It is also the only Oingo Boingo record we have.

Rating: best ofs can't be rated - that is how the Odyssey rolls, man.

Although I am generally down on 'best of's and compilations, these 20th Century Masters are well put together, and I think the eleven songs on this one are a pretty fair representation of Oingo Boingo's better work.

The album starts off with probably Oingo Boingo's most famous song, the theme song from the movie "Weird Science". The song is OK, if a bit campy. I primarily enjoy how it brings me back to the movie of the same name, where a couple of nerds concoct a strange combination of computer programming and witchcraft to successfully summon Kelly LeBrock.

The movie did for Kelly LeBrock what Whitesnake videos did for Tawny Kitaen; she became an instant sex symbol, and the focal point of every teenage boys fantasy, including mine. I wonder how many Canadian teenagers put bras on their heads and hoped against hope that Kelly LeBrock would appear in their bedroom doorway and ask that all-consuming question: "What do you little maniacs want to do first?"

Weird Science also featured an early appearance of Bill Paxton as "my evil older brother, Chet." Obviously not hot like Kelly LeBrock, but ultimately destined for a much more distinguished career, discounting Twister.

But I digress - this is a music review after all.

On that front, Oingo Boingo is a little too eighties pop for me, despite the obvious talent. Too much drum machine for me to forgive at the end of the day. The song I actually enjoyed the most was "When The Lights Go Out", which turned out to be the only track not released in the eighties (it was 1990). Even that song is spoiled with the everpresent drum machine.

One thing I noticed this listen was a distinctly different sound on tracks like "Violent Love", "Only a Lad" and "Wild Sex". It was kind of like reggae on speed, with a horn section. At first I couldn't place it, but then I remembered - there are eight guys in the band. A lineup that big could only mean one thing - ska!

That is not to say Oingo Boingo is ska - they are not. I figure with eight members though, they were artistically obligated to include a few ska tracks anyway. Hey, I don't make the rules.

It is fitting that Oingo Boingo's most famous song was a movie theme - lead man Danny Elfman never made it very big with the band, but is now a much sought after for his skill in writing movie scores. Just as well I suppose - maybe he could do a reboot of Weird Science starring Meagan Fox?

Best tracks: Violent Love, When the Lights Go Out