So why is Oingo Boingo’s Dead Man’s Party on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I knew about Oingo Boingo before I knew about Oingo Boingo.
What do I mean by that?
Back to School is what I mean.
Yes, Back to School, the 1986 campus comedy movie starring Rodney Dangerfield, which remains one of my favorite classic comedies.
If you’re familiar with the movie, you know that Oingo Boingo performs during a wild scene at a party (thrown of course by Dangerfield’s outrageously rich, outrageously obnoxious, and outrageously funny Thornton Melon).
Thanks to umpteen rewatches on cable, my childhood brain was zapped through with the title track, “Dead Man’s Party,” and it’s still one of my all-time favorite songs not just of the 1980s, but of any decade.
It’s incredible as rock song, dance song, sing along song, party with Thornton Melon song. It’s unusual and multilayered and rhythmic and compulsively catchy – it’s that incredibly rare song that’s more than six minutes long and yet still demands to be played on repeat.
And how weirdo cool are these lyrics?
I was struck by lightning, walkin’ down the street
I was hit by something last night in my sleep
It’s a dead man’s party, who could ask for more?
Everybody’s comin’, leave your body at the door
Leave your body and soul at the door
Speaking of weirdo cool – weirdo nerdy cool, that is – we now turn to another classic 1980s comedy, though perhaps one not quite as great as Back to School. I refer of course to Weird Science from 1985, a movie that I also managed to watch roughly as often as possible as a kid and another movie that features a great (and weirdo nerdy cool) Oingo Boingo tune that matches the title of the flick: “Weird Science.”
Side note: I may or may not have had a crush on Kelly LeBrock when I was a kid.
Side note to the side note: the leader of the motorcycle gang that infiltrates the Big Party scene in the movie always reminds me of Midnight Oil lead singer Peter Garrett.
And while those two songs are kind of iconic and classically ‘80s, it’s the opening track, “Just Another Day,” that’s been in my head for the last few days – probably because I can’t stop listening to it. The chorus is soaring and compelling and wonderful and is an example of the tremendous range across the length of Dead Man’s Party the album.
Double that sentiment with the slower, moody, and completely captivating “Stay.”
Pop culture stuff that has something to do with Oingo Boingo’s Dead Man’s Party
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the enormous legacy of lead singer and songwriter Danny Elfman, who would go on to compose over 100 film scores in addition to a bunch of TV related stuff (like The Simpsons!).
Elfman has frequently worked with directors Tim Burton, Sam Raimi, and Gus Van Sant, contributing music to nearly 20 Burton projects, including Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, and Wednesday,[5] as well as scoring Raimi’s Darkman, A Simple Plan, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,[6] and Van Sant’s Academy Award-winning films Good Will Hunting and Milk.[7] He wrote music for all of the Men in Black and Fifty Shades of Grey franchise films, the songs and score for Henry Selick‘s animated musical The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the themes for the popular television series Desperate Housewives and The Simpsons.[8]
Personal stuff that has something to do with Oingo Boingo’s Dead Man’s Party
I grew up in the Long Island suburbs of New York City, and my wife grew up in Orange County, California, as suburban a childhood as it gets outside of Los Angeles.
I’m jealous to this day that she caught Oingo Boingo in LA at some point during her high school years. If only I could have been that cool, hip to Oingo Boingo (outside of my movie nerd vantage point back then), and in SoCal at the time!
Some stats & info about Oingo Boingo – Dead Man’s Party
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Dance Music, College Rock, Synth Pop, New Wave, Pop Music, SoCal Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3 out of 5 stars
- When was Dead Man’s Party released? 1985
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #214 out of 1,000
Oingo Boingo’s Dead Man’s Party on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Oingo Boingo’s Dead Man’s Party that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
It’s a dead man’s party, who could ask for more? Everybody’s coming, leave your body at the door.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.