Who says cloning is evil?
Does the start of another week have your energy somewhere around absolute zero? Well, The Nest has brewed up the perfect potion that will leave your ears screaming “eureka!” That’s because Monday is the day we mix up a bunch of random chemicals and dig for the lost precipitate deep within that giant centrifuge of great songs we like to call the Dusty Vinyl Archive! DJ Scratchy’s ready to flip the switch on her new creation Funkenstein, while the Sponkies are busy licking all the litmus paper. It’s time to blind you with some science…
While Devo might be able to hold claim to being one of the most underrated influential bands on 80’s music, the Los Angeles band that goes by the nonsense name of Oingo Boingo may very well be the decade’s most underrated group that represented 80’s music in general. OB’s origin can be traced back to a musical theatre of the bizarre troupe named The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo back in the 70’s. That group was founded by a man named Richard Elfman…. however, it was his better known brother Danny who transitioned the Knights into the more commercial sounding band we came to know in the 80’s…
Yeah, I wrote all of that music that was the soundtrack to your necking sessions in the back of the theater.
Danny Elfman’s made a career out of scoring Hollywood movies, including coming up with all of that surreal music that goes so well with Tim Burton’s films. Not as many people are aware he was also the lead singer of Oingo Boingo, which is why that group appears in many movie soundtracks from the 80’s. One such film Elfman wrote the title theme for was the 1985 John Hughes film Weird Science. While it’s certainly not one of Hughes’ better remembered 80’s films, it had a hell of a lot better theme song than those stupid Brat Pack movies did…
Like the movie it appeared in, “Weird Science” the song wasn’t a big hit… only reaching #45 on the US Hot 100 chart. But it’s still gone on to be one of the main reasons people might recall a group named Oingo Boingo once existed. I happen to like it a lot, though apparently the goofy music video shot for the song has soured Elfman on “Weird Science” so much he can’t stand to perform it… particularly after he saw it ripped by the titular duo on an episode of Beavis and Butthead. That’s OK, Danny. While Hughes had his crappy Breakfast Club, you gave us the awesome “Breakfast Machine” in one of the greatest movies of the whole 1980’s…
Mr. T, it’s what’s for breakfast, fool!
The DVA will bring you another weird tune next Monday…
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
I remember the name of the group but that’s about it…….in that regard my only comment could be like your famous silent critter * * * * * * * !
Pam
Ha! Mr. Fox uses periods……… asterisks sound like something that might come out of Uncle Snuggie’s mouth! Especially when his rear asterisk is being attacked by youknowwho…
he remeinded me a lot of a vampire somehow… but I loved dead mans party, it was THE dance floor filler at illegal teenie parties…
That’s a good song too, and the theme song of a Mr. Buster Possum…
The video dates things a bit – back to when a floppy disc was cutting edge computer fodder…but the movie? Excellent, even though I can’t stand Anthony Michael Hall at all since he grew up. Kelly LeBrock (sp?) was what most of us 80s girls aspired to be… Really great choice today!
I miss those floppy disks and all of the stupid, blocky games they had on them. As part of the first generation to have (ancient) PC’s in school, I have a fondness for that Apple IIe era tech…
I liked that movie, especially when the older brother gets turned into Jabba the Hut.
I can’t remember if I ever saw that movie, or only remember it from the clips in the video…
That, young man, is a indication of old age.
What? Speak up, I can’t hear you!
You’re fucking memory is going on you!!
Thank you for featuring Danny Elfman. He is brilliant! I remember the day I learned that the same guy who sang, “Dead Man’s Party” was the same who sang in “Nightmare Before Christmas.” Oh my goodness. Brilliant!
I think Nightmare Before Christmas was the first time I’d heard of Danny Elfman… and had no idea as well that he was behind Oingo Boingo, or that he also scored Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, which was always one of my favorite movies, and that Breakfast Machine song makes me think of Pee Wee (in his much more innocent days) even more than Tequila…
Never heard of the band (though I have heard of Danny Elfman obviously) but I remember the song. And I remember the film. Well, I remember Kelly LeBrock anyway.
At least you remembered the important parts…
Mad Science? Is that you Tony Fauci?