quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

How old are you?

---

Bingo. Anybody who's "knowledgeable in music" but never heard of Oingo Boingo is hovering around 25 AND doesn't know nearly as much about music as they think they do.

---

Or 55.

---

Somebody who is 55 right now would have graduated college in 1983. I'd be willing to bet they'd know who Oingo Boingo were.

It depends on how into music you were.
Weird Science and Back to School weren't in your demographics, which is mainly where I know them from.

quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

How old are you?

---

Bingo. Anybody who's "knowledgeable in music" but never heard of Oingo Boingo is hovering around 25 AND doesn't know nearly as much about music as they think they do.

---

Or 55.

---

Well, unfortunately for your arguments, I'm just at half way between 25 and 55. So right in what appears to be the range of someone who should know who this is, according to a few of you.

I grew up in the 80s in a household that had radio on all day every weekend, and top 40 radio at that. My older brother had a cd collection that hit 1000 by the mid the 90s, and it was all 60s-80s. I've been in bands for over 10 years that played a huge variety of rock, pop and 80s.

I know a lot more about popular music than most. I have had several 80s compilation CDs in the past, and OB is not on any of them. I have made 80s playlists based on best of website lists, and OB has never shown up, and it's never come across my pandora stations either.

You're not gonna convince me this band is a household name. They are very mildly successful. Relatively obscure one might say.

quote:

---

Compared to 99.9% of all musicians, they're pretty damn successful.

Maybe it's a glass half full glass half empty argument.

---

Maybe so, because I can reply to this by saying,
every musician that's ever released an album is more successful than 99.9% of all musicians.

That don't mean chit.

How many unique posters are in this thread? These are the entertainment board lurkers that have heard of OB, besides myself of course. If you knew of them, you'd probably be inclined to click a thread with their name as the title.

You said what I have been saying.....

quote:

---

They are very mildly successful.

---

That is not relatively unsuccessful.

And I'll add that they are more successful than 99.5% of bands that had released an album.

I'm from that era. They were a mere blip on the radar.

quote:

---

I'm from that era. They were a mere blip on the radar.

---

Is that relatively unsuccessful or mildly successful?

quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

Listen to the soundtrack for Pee Wee's Big Adventure and hear how much of those ideas morphed into soundtrack for The Simpsons. Especially the main themes for each.

Elfman has done so many amazing things. Truly a genius.

---

His greatest work imo is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

---

Batman Returns says hello

---

Batman

quote:

---

And I'll add that they are more successful than 99.5% of bands that had released an album.

---

And I'd add that they are probably less successful than 99.5% of bands that have released an album. Putting them right at the median of success of every band that's ever released an album.

So yeh, half empty, half full.

I am also the demographic. I've known about Danny Elfman for decades including his start with Oingo Boingo. I thought it was an interesting band name as I scanned the CDs at the record store in the mall in the 80s. But until this thread, I could not have named a single song by them, and I am considered an expert on the subject of 80s and 90s music. That makes them....... Mildly Unsuccessful.

Fun fact- Sweet Child o' Mine is an accidental ripoff of "Unpublished Critics" by Australian Crawl. Youtube it and be amazed. Now there is an obscure freakin' band.

Oingo Boingo definitely deserves a place in the list of 80s bands. They were awesome.

If you're an expert in 80s music and couldn't name a song of theirs but I can name 2 off the top of my head. What does that make me?

But thinking more on it, perhaps it's because I'm an 80s movie expert?

you just called yourself an expert on 80s music and dont know an Oingo Boingo song? Thats hilarious.

http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_dance-80s.html
http://www.billt.com/top200dancehitsofthe80s.htm

Didn't make a list of best 200 songs.
http://www.soundsentertainment.com/lists/80s.html

Didn't even make a one hit wonders list
http://www.vh1.com/news/1243/100-greatest-one-hit-wonders-of-the-80s/


Someone help me out here..

This band is a dud.

Final ruling - obscure.

quote:

---

http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_dance-80s.html
http://www.billt.com/top200dancehitsofthe80s.htm

Didn't make a list of best 200 songs.
http://www.soundsentertainment.com/lists/80s.html

Didn't even make a one hit wonders list
http://www.vh1.com/news/1243/100-greatest-one-hit-wonders-of-the-80s/


Someone help me out here..

This band is a dud.

Final ruling - obscure.

---

Dude. It's okay to admit you're wrong.
They weren't Duran Duran but they were hardly "obscure".

do the resident 80s expert know who Kelly LeBrock is?

quote:

---

quote:

---

http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_dance-80s.html
http://www.billt.com/top200dancehitsofthe80s.htm

Didn't make a list of best 200 songs.
http://www.soundsentertainment.com/lists/80s.html

Didn't even make a one hit wonders list
http://www.vh1.com/news/1243/100-greatest-one-hit-wonders-of-the-80s/


Someone help me out here..

This band is a dud.

Final ruling - obscure.

---

Dude. It's okay to admit you're wrong.

---

Back at you.. this band is obscure.. no way I am conceding. I have presented way too much evidence to show that they were a minuscule blip on the radar. Haven't made any best of 80s lists (not even 'best 200 songs'.. come one, 200 f-in songs.. most people couldn't name 200 songs from the 80s, and this band ain't on it), no chart performance, lackluster album sales, rarely played outside of So-Cal, only 'hit' song (used very loosely) was in a less than well known 80s teen movie that has lived in the shadows of all the more successful 80s teen movies with huge hit songs.

Everyone here seems to think because Elfman went on to bigger and better things that it translates to this band having success. If their entire back catalog went on to sell gold and platinum after he became famous, that would be a different story, but that hardly seems to be the case.

Look I understand the song may be nostalgic to some of you who played the tape in your '81 ford escort while you finger-banged your high school sweetheart. I have similar sentiments with the likes of Poe or The Murmurs. But that doesn't make it well known.

It's official... The Great Entertainment Board Debate of 2016:


Was Oingo Boingo An Obscure Band Or Not???

This is embarrassing, but I need to also mention that I'm also highly regarded as an expert on 80s movies, as well as music. That being said, I would have needed multiple choice to name the band at Dead Mans' Party in Back to School.

Yes, I know who Kelly LeBrock is. She's large now, by the way.

I have many leather bound books, I'm personal friends with Merlin Olson..... let me start over.

Sorry dude. You fail.

If you were an 80s expert, you would know them.

I agree an 80s 'expert' should know who they are. I mean it sounds like their music entirely existed in movies that are of the 80s culture era. But Weird science was not nearly as huge as other works by Hughes, in the context of staying power anyway (They all did pretty similar at box office after a quick search).

I regularly see the vacations, planes trains, breakfast club, ferris bueller, great outdoors, uncle buck on sunday afternoon tv.. Weird science not so much. Even still, just because they have a song there doesn't mean everyone knows who they are.. lots of people couldn't name simple minds either, which means they are one (massive) #1 hit away from obscurity. OB takes this to the next level towards obscurity. There is music all throughout this type of movie still to this day, and most bands are never known. Blue October had a song in american wedding, which did $250 million box office, yet they still didn't become very known until later with 'hate me'

OB is def. obscure to the casual 80s fan, which most of us are. I've given way too much evidence to support their obscurity, and no one seems to have any rebuttal other than 'you're wrong dude'
Until someone in here shows some sort of factual evidence otherwise, this argument is over.

Even reading back at the first responses in this thread, most immediately point to Danny Elfman and what he did past OB.. not what oingo boingo did and their success. And the comment (by G Martin 87) that they were one of the biggest party band of the 80s and had one of the decade's biggest hits is totally laughable, considering all the searching I did for best-ofs and they didn't come up once. If I'm ever gonna admit I'm wrong here, this guy has to do it first. One of the biggest bands/hits of the 80s my ass.

Movie soundtracks featuring Oingo Boingo:

The Last American Virgin (1982)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Surf II (1984)

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Bachelor Party (1984)

Weird Science (1985)

That Was Then... This Is Now (1985)

Back to School (1986)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

Something Wild (1986)

Wisdom (1986)

Down Twisted (1987)

Summer School (1987)

My Best Friend Is a Vampire (1987)

Teen Wolf Too (1987)

She's Out of Control (1989)

Ghostbusters II (1989)

Nightbreed (1990)

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)

Shrunken Heads (1994)

The Immortals (1995)

Home Alone 3 (1997)

Donnie Darko (2001)

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)

And we are not arguing whether they are obscure or not.
We are arguing if they are relatively unsuccessful or not.

quote:

---

less than well known 80's teen movie

---

Keep digging.

quote:

---

quote:

---

Well, unfortunately for your arguments, I'm just at half way between 25 and 55. So right in what appears to be the range of someone who should know who this is, according to a few of you.

I grew up in the 80s in a household that had radio on all day every weekend, and top 40 radio at that. My older brother had a cd collection that hit 1000 by the mid the 90s, and it was all 60s-80s. I've been in bands for over 10 years that played a huge variety of rock, pop and 80s.

I know a lot more about popular music than most. I have had several 80s compilation CDs in the past, and OB is not on any of them. I have made 80s playlists based on best of website lists, and OB has never shown up, and it's never come across my pandora stations either.

You're not gonna convince me this band is a household name. They are very mildly successful. Relatively obscure one might say.

---

One, 80's radio sucked. Especially early 80's radio. Did your household listen to stations "left of the dial". And having several 80's compilation CDs doesn't mean jack. Oingo Boingo was played on college radio stations including KANM. It was played at parties and before concerts that I attended at A&M. MTV is a better guide to the 80's than 80's radio and Oingo Boingo was in regular albeit not frequent rotation.

---

quote:

---

And we are not arguing whether they are obscure or not.
We are arguing if they are relatively unsuccessful or not.

---

that's right.. i mispoke there.

relatively unsuccessful is quite an interesting term isn't it?

quote:

---

Movie soundtracks featuring Oingo Boingo:

The Last American Virgin (1982)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Surf II (1984)

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Bachelor Party (1984)

Weird Science (1985)

That Was Then... This Is Now (1985)

Back to School (1986)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

Something Wild (1986)

Wisdom (1986)

Down Twisted (1987)

Summer School (1987)

My Best Friend Is a Vampire (1987)

Teen Wolf Too (1987)

She's Out of Control (1989)

Ghostbusters II (1989)

Nightbreed (1990)

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)

Shrunken Heads (1994)

The Immortals (1995)

Home Alone 3 (1997)

Donnie Darko (2001)

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)

---

So you're saying they are basically the 'band' version of this thread:
http://texags.com/forums/13/topics/2775692


Exactly what I'm kind of trying to say; your average person could not name them. Because of that fact, I'd say they are relatively unsuccessful, especially in getting their name out there.

I asked a 40 year old coworker who is also a music expert (primarily classic rock and 90s with limited expertise in 80s pop). He also like Radiohead a lot. He's never heard of Oingo Boingo. Holy crap! I'd like to hear anyone explain that one to me.

By the way, several of the movies listed above are made up titles. Nice try, white guy.

quote:

---

quote:

---

Movie soundtracks featuring Oingo Boingo:

The Last American Virgin (1982)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Surf II (1984)

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Bachelor Party (1984)

Weird Science (1985)

That Was Then... This Is Now (1985)

Back to School (1986)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

Something Wild (1986)

Wisdom (1986)

Down Twisted (1987)

Summer School (1987)

My Best Friend Is a Vampire (1987)

Teen Wolf Too (1987)

She's Out of Control (1989)

Ghostbusters II (1989)

Nightbreed (1990)

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)

Shrunken Heads (1994)

The Immortals (1995)

Home Alone 3 (1997)

Donnie Darko (2001)

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)

---

So you're saying they are basically the 'band' version of this thread:
http://texags.com/forums/13/topics/2775692


Exactly what I'm kind of trying to say; your average person could not name them. Because of that fact, I'd say they are relatively unsuccessful, especially in getting their name out there.

---

How many times must you be paid to include your music in a movie soundtrack before you are considered to have reached some measure of success?

quote:

---

By the way, several of the movies listed above are made up titles. Nice try, white guy.

---

Oh really? Which ones?

quote:

---

quote:

---

By the way, several of the movies listed above are made up titles. Nice try, white guy.

---

Oh really? Which ones?

---

I see seven titles that you obviously made up. Hint: There was never a "Surf 2". Ha!

this **** has to be a troll

By the way, I can create a fake Wikipedia page, too, so don't bother. Post a pic of you holding a VHS copy of "Surf II" with an Aggieland and today's front page of the New York Times, and maybe you'll gain a little credibility around here.

quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

By the way, several of the movies listed above are made up titles. Nice try, white guy.

---

Oh really? Which ones?

---

I see seven titles that you obviously made up. Hint: There was never a "Surf 2". Ha!

---

You're either joking or an idiot.

Surf Ii starring Eric Stolz and Eddie Deezen.