''Boingo Alive'' is a double album by American new wave band

Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo () was an 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 and written material for in the ...

, released in 1988. It was performed and recorded live in a rehearsal studio with no audience, with the band performing songs from previous albums and two previously unreleased songs to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band's beginning.

Background

According to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', as well as the album's sleeve sticker and promotional material, ''Boingo Alive'' was recorded live on a soundstage over nine nights in July 1988. The sticker and ads also read, "Hear our greatest hits the way they were meant to be heard—live". After Oingo Boingo migrated from

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new w ...

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wi ...

in 1984, A&M had retained ownership of the band's previous recordings, but by 1988 the band became legally able to re-record their old material. Frontman

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internatio ...

stated that ''Boingo Alive'' was a project the band had been planning for years, as they had been unhappy with the sound of their studio recordings, particularly with regards to the comparative lack of "energy". Elfman stated, "This is our 10th anniversary as a band and we wanted to present our songs in a way that our fans have grown accustomed to (when) seeing us." On the choice to eschew an audience, Elfman said at the time, "I hate the poor fidelity and the crowd noise from live albums. It made more sense this way. It's just us playing in a big room with a mobile truck outside—minus the 10,000 screaming teenagers." "Winning Side" peaked at No. 14 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart in November 1988.

Track listing

Disc 1

All tracks written and composed by

. Tracks marked with an asterisk do not appear on the LP and cassette versions of the album.

Disc 2

All tracks written and composed by Danny Elfman, except "Violent Love", by Willie Dixon.

Personnel

Oingo Boingo *

John Avila John Avila is an American bassist and music producer, best known for being in the new wave band Oingo Boingo from 1984 to 1995. Career Avila co-founded the music group ''Food for Feet'' in 1981, and played with them until 1991. In 1984, he j ...

– bass, vocals *

Steve Bartek Steve Bartek (born January 30, 1952, in Garfield Heights, Ohio) is an American guitarist, film composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He is best known as the lead guitarist in the band Oingo Boingo and for his orchestration work with composer Dan ...

– guitars *

– vocals, rhythm guitar * Carl Graves – keyboards, vocals * Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez – drums, percussion *

Sam Phipps Sam "Sluggo" Phipps (born 1953) is an American saxophone player, best known for being a member of the new wave band Oingo Boingo. Early life Sam Phipps was born in Los Angeles, California. He played piano and trombone from an early age, but a ...

– tenor and soprano saxophones * Leon Schneiderman – baritone saxophone *

Dale Turner Dale Turner may refer to: * Dale Turner (cricketer), Australian cricketer * Dale Turner (trumpeter), American trumpet player with the American new wave band Oingo Boingo * Dale Turner (songwriter), American singer-songwriter, rock musician, and ...

– trumpet, trombone Additional musician *

Bruce Fowler Bruce Lambourne Fowler (born July 10, 1947) is an American trombonist and composer. He played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart and in the Fowler Brothers Band. He composes and arranges music for movies, a ...

– trombone Technical * Danny Elfman – co-producer * Steve Bartek – co-producer * John Avila – co-producer * Bill Jackson – engineer, mixing * Jim Scott – additional mixing, additional recording * Laura Engel – live photos * Le Mobile – audio recording * Dean Burt – additional recording * David Roberts – assistant engineer * Greg Stevenson – monitors * Charlie Brocco – assistant engineer (mixing) * Robert Hart – assistant engineer (mixing) * Jeff DeMorris – assistant engineer (mixing) *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979. Biography Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...

– mastering * Vartan – art direction * DZN, The Design Group – design *

Georganne Deen Georganne Deen (born 1951 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American artist, poet and musician. She now lives and works in Joshua Tree, California. Solo exhibitions * 2013 Brand 10, Fort Worth, Texas, forever eve * 2012 Webb Gallery, Waxahachie, Texa ...

– illustration * John Scarpati – group photo * Steve Jennings – live photos * John Burlan – live photos * Sean Riley – live photos

References

{{Authority control Oingo Boingo albums Albums produced by Danny Elfman Albums produced by Steve Bartek 1988 compilation albums 1988 albums Albums with cover art by Gary Panter MCA Records live albums