Song of the Day 10/31: Oingo Boingo, “Dead Man’s Party”

Before Danny Elfman embarked on his prolific career scoring films, he led a band called Oingo Boingo. His older brother had started a street theater troupe in Los Angeles in the ’70s called the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, and Danny started writing music for them.

They were just Oingo Boingo by 1979, but the band’s eclectic mix of influences failed to catch on until 1985, when they went pop with their fifth LP, 1985’s “Dead Man’s Party.” Movie director Tim Burton liked it so much he hired Elfman to score “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” the same year. That kicked off a long relationship. Elfman has scored almost all Burton’s films, along with hundreds of others.

Elfman’s macabre leanings made him a natural choice to write the music for the 1993 animated classic “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and he even provided the singing voice of Jack Skellington, mayor of Halloweentown. As movie work became Elfman’s main focus, Oingo Boingo took a back seat. Despite a couple of tuneful albums they never broke through in a big way, and they gave a farewell concert in 1995. He has repeatedly said they won’t reunite, but a couple of former members still lead Elfman-approved tribute bands.

Even if you never heard Oingo Boingo anywhere else, “Dead Man’s Party” might sound familiar from the party scene in the 1986 Rodney Dangerfield vehicle “Back to School” one of several appearances they made in comedies of the time.

They didn’t just provide the soundtrack, they actually got a decent bit of screen time.