Boingo Alive is a double live album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1988. During recordings, the band performed live in a studio with no audience; hence it is not a traditional "live" album. Released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band's inception, the song selection spans the group's entire discography, as well as including several previously unreleased pieces.
Background
In 1984, following a dispute with their label A&M Records, Oingo Boingo had migrated to MCA Records, which resulted in A&M retaining ownership of Oingo Boingo's first three album masters. Since 1982, the band had found success in licensing their songs for use in film and television, but earlier songs could not be licensed without the involvement of A&M. Boingo Alive gave the band an opportunity to re-record songs originally recorded under A&M, which could then be licensed out under their arrangement with MCA. Because of this, the 1991 MCA compilation Best O' Boingo, despite featuring no pre-1984 recordings, was able to present a "career-spanning" track listing by including the re-recorded versions of earlier songs such as "Only a Lad" and "Wild Sex (in the Working Class)."
"Winning Side" peaked at #14 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in November 1988.[1]
Track listing
Disc 1
All tracks written and composed by Danny Elfman.
| No. | Title | Original release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dead Man's Party" | Dead Man's Party (1985) | 6:22 |
| 2. | "Dead or Alive" | Good for Your Soul (1983) | 4:04 |
| 3. | "No Spill Blood" | Good for Your Soul (1983) | 4:32 |
| 4. | "Stay" | Dead Man's Party (1985) | 3:57 |
| 5. | "Cinderella Undercover" | Previously unreleased; originally recorded for Only a Lad (1981) / BOI-NGO (1987) | 4:37 |
| 6. | "Home Again" | BOI-NGO (1987) | 5:24 |
| 7. | "Help Me" | Dead Man's Party (1985) | 3:56 |
| 8. | "Just Another Day" | Dead Man's Party (1985) | 5:07 |
| 9. | "It Only Makes Me Laugh" | So-Lo (1984) | 3:41 |
| 10. | "My Life" | BOI-NGO (1987) | 4:46 |
| 11. | "Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself)" | Nothing to Fear (1982) | 3:48 |
| 12. | "Not My Slave" | BOI-NGO (1987) | 4:08 |
| 13. | "We Close Our Eyes" | BOI-NGO (1987) | 3:29 |
| 14. | "Elevator Man" | BOI-NGO (1987) | 4:26 |
| 15. | "Return of the Dead Man" (instrumental) | Reprise version of "Dead Man's Party" | 1:46 |
Disc 2
All tracks written and composed by Danny Elfman, except for "Violent Love" by Willie Dixon.
| No. | Title | Original release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Winning Side" | Previously unreleased | 3:57 |
| 2. | "Wild Sex (In the Working Class)" | Nothing to Fear (1982) | 4:16 |
| 3. | "Grey Matter" | Nothing to Fear (1982) | 5:42 |
| 4. | "Private Life" | Nothing to Fear (1982) | 3:09 |
| 5. | "Gratitude" | So-Lo (1984) | 4:47 |
| 6. | "No One Lives Forever" | Dead Man's Party (1985) | 4:06 |
| 7. | "Mama" | Released on the 7" box set version of BOI-NGO (1987) | 4:52 |
| 8. | "Capitalism" | Only a Lad (1981) | 4:12 |
| 9. | "Who Do You Want to Be" | Good for Your Soul (1983) | 3:20 |
| 10. | "Sweat" | Good for Your Soul (1983) | 4:29 |
| 11. | "Violent Love" | Oingo Boingo EP (1980) | 2:21 |
| 12. | "On the Outside" | Only a Lad (1981) | 3:43 |
| 13. | "Only a Lad" | Only a Lad (1981) / Oingo Boingo EP (1980) / Demo EP (1979) | 3:50 |
| 14. | "Goodbye, Goodbye" | Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Music from the Motion Picture (1982) | 3:32 |
| 15. | "Country Sweat" | Country rearrangement of "Sweat" | 5:13 |
| 16. | "Return of the Dead Man 2" (instrumental) | Reprise version of "Dead Man's Party" | 2:40 |
Personnel
Oingo Boingo
- John Avila – bass, vocals
- Steve Bartek – guitars
- Danny Elfman – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Carl Graves – keyboards, vocals
- Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez – drums, percussion
- Sam Phipps – tenor & soprano saxophones
- Leon Schneiderman – baritone saxophone
- Dale Turner – trumpet, trombone
Additional musician
- Bruce Fowler – trombone
Inclusions in other media
- The Boingo Alive version of "Who Do You Want to Be" is featured on the soundtrack of the video games Tony Hawk's American Wasteland and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land.
- The Boingo Alive version of "Stay" was used as the theme song of the Brazilian telenovel Top Model, which increased Oingo Boingo's popularity in Brazil.
- The Boingo Alive version of "Home Again" is featured in the movie Home Alone 3.
- Boingo Alive is seen in a scene of the 2007 romantic comedy Knocked Up.