Music Worth Listening To Vol. 4

So back a few years ago my friend Donny and I would meet up a couple times a week just to jam. At the time we were laying the ground work for us doing our "Liquid Groove" project. We would write a song or exchange ideas for what we thought would make a good cover song for us to play. It's important to point out that Donny is originally from Southern California and is a few years old than myself. So growing up, his older brothers and sister were big into the music scene, one band being the one I picked for this week's MWLT.

So back to the story. It's a typical hot summer day in Ohio, we're sitting on his front porch drinking and playing music. He then mentions a song he would like to cover called "Just Another Day" by a band named Oingo Boingo. He plays me the a verse and the chorus. I fall in love. This is the beginning of my affair with Oingo Boingo. So that night I go home and look up all the Oingo Boingo videos that my little dial up connection can muster. I read about them on wikipedia. I become crazed sometimes when introduced to something new. All I needed to do was listen to some of their music to realize they

"Just Another Day" Live from their Farewell performance

influenced some of my favourite bands. By the end of their run, Oingo Boingo had shortened their name to Boingo and had made a complete transition from New Wave/ska/punk to legit Alternative pioneers by their 1995 break due to hearing loss suffered from frontman Danny Elfman.

Oh yeah. Didn't I mention that? Oingo Boingo's frontman is none other than soundtrack composer and Tim Burton staple Danny Elfman. The man who has brought you the themes to The Simpsons, Batman

and did the music for the videogame Fable. Not to mention he did the music for The Nightmare Before Christmas and provided the singing voice for the main character Jack Skellington. That's not all though. Oingo Boingo has a far reaching fanbase and is referenced by almost anyone who is cool and trendy. Do you like Seth MacFarlane Creator and star of Family Guy? Well his show American Dad makes an Oingo Boingo joke you might have missed if you weren't a fan of Boingo. It's actually Patrick Stewart singing the oft misunderstood Oingo Boingo song "Little Girls"

So without a doubt, I have to say this is music worth listening to. Watch their videos, but their albums and if you can find it get their farewell concert DVD I know leave you with a song that was covered for the closing credits of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie...


"We Close our Eyes" again from Farewell