American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led since 1976 and written material for in the years previous. Oingo Boingo were known for their high energy live concerts and experimental music, which can be described as mixing rock, ska, pop, and world music. The band's body of work spanned 17 years, with various genre and line-up changes.
As a rock band, Oingo Boingo started as a ska and punk-influenced new wave octet, achieving significant popularity in Southern California. During the mid-1980s, the band changed line-ups, and adopted a more pop-oriented style, until a significant genre change to alternative rock in 1994. At that point, the name was shortened to simply "Boingo" and the horn section was dropped. The band retired after a farewell tour in 1995, for which they reverted to the name Oingo Boingo and readopted the horn section.
Line-up:
Danny Elfman (1979-1995) - composer, music director, lead vocals, brass, violin, guitar, percussion
Steve Bartek (1979-1995) - guitar, vocals, percussion, horn arrangements, accordion
Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez (1979-1995) - drums, percussion
Sam "Sluggo" Phipps (1979-1993, 1995) - tenor & soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute, percussion, backing vocals
Leon Schneiderman (1979-1993, 1995)- baritone & alto saxophones, flute, instrument design and construction, percussion, backing vocals
Dale Turner (1979-1993, 1995) - trumpet, trombone, percussion, guitar, backing vocals
Dan Schmitt (1979-1980) - keyboards
Jeff Breeh (1979) - bass
Kerry Hatch (1979-1984) - bass guitar, vocals, bass synthesizer, percussion, backing vocals
Richard "Ribbs" Gibbs (1980-1984) - keyboards, synthesizer, trombone, percussion, backing vocals
David Eagle (1980) - drums
Michael Bacich (1984-1987) - keyboards, backing vocals
John Avila (1984-1995) - bass guitar, bass synthesizer, percussion, accordion, backing vocals
Carl Graves (1987-1993) - keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals
Warren Fitzgerald (1993-1995) - guitar, backing vocals
