Oingo Boingo and engineer Michael Frondelli were mixing the album Dead Man’s Party at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles when the room started shaking.
“I said, ‘What happened? Did I do something wrong?’” Frondelli told Mix, recalling the concerned look on everyone’s face. “They said, ‘It’s an earthquake.’”
They worked through it, and Dead Man’s Party became the best’s highest-selling album. Released Oct. 28, 1985, it was eventually certified gold and spawned Oingo Boingo’s only two singles to crack the Billboard Hot 100: “Weird Science” (No. 45), the theme song to the movie and television series of the same name, and “Just Another Day” (No. 85).
Danny Elfman, Oingo Boingo’s founder, lead singer and songwriter, told Synth History he wrote “Weird Science” while driving after getting a call from John Hughes, the film’s writer and director. Though it became the band’s highest-charting single, Elfman grew to hate playing it live mostly because he didn’t like the video.
“At the time, a big chunk of the year was going to scoring films, as opposed to being in the band, and it was the first time doing a video that I didn’t have anything to do with. I just walked in and between the video and the song, I could never play it again. Even though people would call out ‘Weird Science’, I’d go, ‘Sorry, I just can’t do it.”’ Elfman said.
Oingo Boingo got involved with another movie when they played “Dead Man’s Party” during a party scene in 1986’s Back to School featuring Rodney Dangerfield.
“I personally hate that stuff. I did that because I had to. If ever I see Back to School on television, I cringe a thousand times,” he told Chaos Control Digizine.
Oingo Boingo released three more studio albums following Dead Man’s Party, with 1994’s Boingo being their last. They disbanded following a Halloween farewell concert in 1995.
Elfman became a successful film and television composer. A frequent collaborator with director Tim Burton, Elfman has won three Emmys and has been nominated for four Oscars and two Golden Globes.
