Bargain Audio CDs & Priceless Collection (series)

Boi-ngo

by Oingo Boingo

Product Description:

Oingo Boingo: Danny Elfman (vocals, guitar); John Avila (vocals, bass); Steve Bartek (guitar); Sam Phipps (tenor saxophone); Leon Schneiderman (baritone saxophone); Dale Turner (trumpet); Mike Bacich (keyboards); Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel: Carmen Twillie, Maxine Waters (vocals); Bruce Fowler, Michael Vlatkovitch (trombone).

Recorded at Sunset Sound Factory, Los Angeles, California.

BOI-NGO--no relation to leader Danny Elfman's solo record SO-LO--is one of Oingo Boingo's quirkiest and least immediately engaging records. A couple of careful listens, however, show it to be one of the group's most satisfying and durable efforts.

At the time, reviews focused largely on the album's bizarre mix--more than one compared it to a stereo effects demonstration record of the late '50s--while ignoring the convoluted arrangements, spiraling melodies, and unique lyrics of powerful songs such as "Where Do All My Friends Go" and "Not My Slave." Elfman's vocals are at their least theatrical--at times, he seems to be emulating the offhand deadpan of Frank Zappa--and the band is amazingly tight. Oingo Boingo's time in the commercial spotlight was past by now, but BOI-NGO shows that to the band, this hardly mattered.