My introduction to Oingo Boingo technically came in 1985 with the movie and title track, Weird Science. However, I neither knew, nor cared at the time who the band was. Fast forward to around 1998 when I was working at a local Toys R' Us that a guy there was playing the band's 1996 double live Farewell album. While he professed how much he loved the band, I still didn't pay much attention.
A little later on, I got a larger introduction via a long time buddy of mine, who introduced me to the 1985 album, Dead Man's Party. From there, I took notice. This lead me to borrowing my sister's 1991 cassette of Best O' Boingo, which I proceeded to play to death.
When I switched jobs, and found myself traveling throughout the day quite a bit, Oingo Boingo became my go to source for entertainment. It was during this time that I started accumulating their complete discography, making frequent trips to Tower Records to do so. At the time, I had no intentions of collecting every Oingo Boingo album. It was just something that happened over a period of several years, and multiple trips.
Oingo Boingo would ultimately overshadow Queen as my most played band of that time, something I never thought would be possible, but which has balanced out over the years. But, in that moment, I lived, breathed, and slept their unique sounds and different approach to the 80's (and 90's).
Though I've heard it many times, today, I'm going back to their 1981 debut, Only A Lad.
It's been several years since I'd played this one from start to finish, and I must say, I'm glad that I did today. I know there are quite a few songs from this album that I loved, but every time I hear it, it feels like the first. I seem to always forget how much I like several songs, and in turn, needed to add them to my shuffle list; where they should have already have been.
For me, it was like sitting back and simply having a wonderful visit with an old friend. The memories associated with hearing these songs for the first time may be long gone, but it's easy to pick up where we left off, as if no time had passed at all. I suppose in a way, it took me back to a time of my life that was so different. A period where I was just starting to branch off into a career, taking my first true steps into adulthood and independence. There were good times, bad times, but always the music.
An interesting factor for me with the band is that if I was being one hundred percent honest, which I will, I actually prefer the 1990's re-recorded versions of many of their songs from their Alive and Best O' Boingo released compilations. This is because these were the first iterations of several of these songs that I was introduced to. As a result, it's weird to hear the original versions. They feel like demos when compared to the refined re-recordings.
With that said, I have grown to appreciate the originals more in retrospect, but I will probably always favor the updated versions.
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