Filmmakers and new wave musicians: the story of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo
As can no doubt be inferred from the name, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo traded heavily in surrealism, with the street theatre act eventually giving rise to not only a musical offshoot and a feature film, but one of the most prominent movie composers of the modern era.
Originating in 1972, Richard Elfman was the group’s founder, creative director, and percussionist. In the beginning, a sprawling ensemble of 15 musicians regularly above played dozens of instruments to recreate music from the 1920s through to the 1940s, which inevitably gave them a cult following on the Los Angeles scene.
In 1976, they made an appearance on the popular series The Gong Show and won first place in their episode of the amateur talent competition before making a cameo appearance in an Academy Award-nominated movie when they appeared in ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ contender and literary adaptation I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.
Experimental and eclectic, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo were pretty much restricted to being a live act in order to maintain their signature manic, freewheeling performative style, although demos were recorded and widely circulated amongst the band’s increasing fanbase. However, Elfman eventually grew more interested in cinema, which instigated the group’s uniquely bizarre theatrical debut.
Co-written, produced, and directed by the Oingo Boingo originator, 1982’s Forbidden Zone was a truly strange piece of work. Both based on and designed to capture the magic of their live performances, the musical fantasy comedy follows “local pimp, narcotics peddler, and slum lord” Huckleberry P. Jones, who discovered a portal to another dimension in a stash house. This gives way to a mind-bending romp through multiple aesthetics, art styles, and references, soundtracked to the strains of the band’s emerging and bespoke twist on New Wave.
Unsurprisingly, it’s become something of a midnight favourite for those of a particular disposition who can get on the same wavelength, but it also doubled as Elfman’s swansong as the figurehead of Oingo Boingo. In his stead, he handed the reins over to his younger brother, who made his film composing debut on Forbidden Zone, which would eventually snowball into a career that’s yielded four Oscar nominations, two Golden Globe nods, three Emmy wins, and a Grammy victory.
That’s right. Danny Elfman was installed as the new driving force behind The Mystic Knights, and one of his first actions was to pivot away from the performative arena and focus the band’s energies on being a recording and touring act first and foremost. This coincided with their initial shift into New Wave territory in the late 1970s.
This version – which shortened its name to just Oingo Boingo – would release eight albums between 1981 and 1994 and power through a revolving door of musicians that included trumpeter Dale Turner (who contributed to the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull) and saxophonist Sam Phipps. In addition, it featured guitarist Steve Bartek (who would go on to compose the scores for Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho, among others), Richard Gibbs, John Avila, Carl Graves, Warren Fitzgerald of The Vandals fame, and many more.
In terms of longevity, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo were only around as a theatre troupe for seven years, so they hardly had enough time to make a major mark on either the art, film, or music industries. However, thanks to their enduring cult status and the accomplishments many of its members went on to achieve, it’s impossible to deny they still managed to leave behind a stellar legacy.