What Do 80s New Wave Band Oingo Boingo And 'A Nightmare Before Christmas' Have In Common

TV & Film

Dec 7

Most people know Danny Elfman as the creator of The Simpsons theme, but if you’re a director in Hollywood with a quirky movie on the slate, he’s the composer you call. Elfman says he always saw music through the world of cinema.

“The movie that got me into film scoring was called The Day the Earth Stood Still. I saw it when I was about twelve. I learned later that The Day the Earth Stood Still had come out a decade before I saw it.”

But that isn’t where it all started.

The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo

In 1972, Danny Elfman joined his brother’s theater group, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. They performed elaborate shows on the streets of Los Angeles with acrobats, actors, drummers, and a multitude of musical instruments. Busking was illegal in LA, so the shows often migrated to the back of a police van. In an interview, Elfman described how his brother ‘gently’ recruited him as soon as he returned from travelling abroad.

“When I finally showed up [in LA], about eight or nine months later, he had this troupe. He said, “OK, you're gonna become our musical director and violin player,” and I said, “Well, you know, let me rest up a little.” I had gotten malaria three times, came back with hepatitis and a couple of other things that I don't even know the name of—really near killing me. He goes, “OK, you can take tomorrow and the next day off and then you can sit in on a rehearsal.”

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Danny Elfman heard ska music in the UK, and he formed a band from some of the members of the Mystic Knights, keeping the name Oingo Boingo. Elfman brought together reggae beats with synth to become one of the most unique bands of the 80s. They are best known for the Dead Man’s Party album, which, as well as the title track, contained Weird Science, No One Lives Forever, and Just Another Day.

They didn’t know it, but they had a famous fan, Tim Burton.

When Danny Met Tim

In 1985, Burton was searching for a composer to score his latest movie, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, and Elfman got the call. He was initially reluctant. However, he found a kindred spirit in the director, who not only shared his love of classic horror but also a creative language.

“The thing that I like most about working with Tim is that all of his responses to my music are visceral. He either feels it or he doesn’t. But he’s never going to hit me with ‘logic.’ If there’s one thing that’s a music destroyer, it’s logic: too thought-out, too intellectual, about what it should or shouldn’t be doing.”

Tim Burton kept calling Danny Elfman back, Beetlejuice, Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands (to date, he’s done seventeen movies). When Burton approached him to work on A Nightmare before Christmas, Elfman ended up voicing the lead, Jack Skellington.

During this time, he was still touring with Oingo Boingo; he remained in the band until 1995 (and made a total of 11 albums). The loud concerts had started to take a toll on his hearing, and Danny states that he simply never saw himself as having the same passion for performing that he did for composing. The stress of working on A Nightmare Before Christmas caused a brief falling out with Burton, but the two pals weren’t separated for long. Elfman was back for Mars Attacks! He continues to be Tim Burton’s first phone call, and Elfman credits him with his success frequently.

Danny The Composer

Since Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Danny Elfman has expanded his range; there is no method to his IMDb credits. From Fifty Shades of Grey to Spider-Man 3, he has covered every genre.

“I learned early on that romantic comedies were torture for me. They have to be kind of twisted for me to get into it. Just a straight romantic comedy was as close to a film scoring nervous breakdown I'd had in my life. Generally, I was happiest no matter what the genre was as long as I kept switching gears.”