Today’s dream setlist comes from longtime listener Jeremy Radwan from St. Petersburg, Fla.:
Oingo Boingo is one of those bands that always seems to defy labels. Are they new wave? Are they post-punk? Pre-punk? Ska even? Or are they some remnant of a nightmare Danny Elfman dreamed up after a bad night of sushi? I never had a chance to see them perform live, but October seems like a great month to honor Oingo Boingo with a dream setlist – the band was infamous for their Halloween-themed shows each year at outdoor venues in California during the season.
Oingo Boingo had a relatively short-lived career compared with many other SoCal bands. They formed in the early ’70s as The Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo and then evolved in the late ’70s into just Oingo Boingo. They called it quits in 1995 when Elfman decided to pursue composing musical scores fulltime (and to avoid further hearing damage). The remaining members of the band carry on these days as the act “Oingo Boingo Former Members” with Brendan McCreary handling lead vocals.
At lot of these are part of their 1995 “Farewell” final tour setlist, but I’ve thrown in a few other personal favorites and managed to whittle it down to 20 and three encores. Because Elfman has repeatedly said “there will be no Oingo Boingo reunions,” this will have to do for now.
Little Girls (1981): What better way to open the setlist than with an intro that SIT80s listeners will immediately recognize as the “mystical refrain” of the Stuck in the ’80s podcast’s “Listener Mailbag” seggie?
Nasty Habits (1981): I like how this song goes back and forth between 6/4 and 4/4 time.
Wild Sex (in the Working Class) (1982): Remember Anthony Michael Hall dancing crazily in front of Molly Ringwald at the high school dance in “Sixteen Candles?”
Private Life (1982): I’ve been working from home since the pandemic started so this one speaks to me a little differently … sometimes I feel like I just need to “get out.”
Only a Lad (1981): Poor Johnny, victim of society.
On the Outside (1981): Another one with a cool repeating time change from 4/4 to 3/4 and back.
No Spill Blood (1983): I actually read “The Island of Doctor Moreau” after hearing this for the first time. “We walk on two legs, not on four …”
Wake Up (it’s 1984) (1983): “Big Brother’s watching, we watch him back.” Still relevant.
Stay (1985): Another instantly recognizable (at least for me) opening guitar riff.
Who Do You Want to Be (1983): I like to think the horn part on this really gives the trombone player a good arm workout (he must hate playing this one).
Grey Matter (1982): Best use of marimbas/xylophones/balaphones (whatever they are) in a rockin’ track.
My Life (1987): We all feel like our lives are unraveling at one time or another.
Not My Slave (1987): The closest thing to an Oingo Boingo love song?
Home Again (1987): Can you tell I’m a sucker for opening riffs? I love the piano intro on this one.
Cinderella Undercover (1988): The fairy tale’s over: “The seven dwarves, there’s only four alive today …”
Flesh-n-Blood (1989): From “Ghostbusters II” (even though it wasn’t released on an Oingo Boingo album until 1990).
Just Another Day (1985): Another one of my favorites with another great opening riff.
No One Lives Forever (1985): As I get older this one gets more and more meaningful.
Dead Man’s Party (1985): Another classic opening riff from the horn section. All non-Boingo fans should recognize this one if they’ve seen “Back to School.”
Goodbye, Goodbye (1982): From “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” a good song to close out the main set.
ENCORES
Squeezit the Moocher (1980): The Mystics Knights of Oingo Boingo! (from “The Forbidden Zone”)
Weird Science (1985): You were probably wondering where this one was!
We Close Our Eyes (1987): A fitting end to the dream setlist.
More dream setlists: