The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo was an American surrealist street theatre troupe, formed by performer and director Richard Elfman in 1972. The group was led by Richard until 1976, when his brother Danny Elfman took over. The group evolved into an experimental musical theatre group, performing songs from the 1930s-40s and original material.^[1][2]

In 1979, Danny Elfman wished to pursue a new direction as a dedicated rock band and the group reformed as Oingo Boingo. Several Mystic Knights band members continued with the new band including Steve Bartek, Leon Schneiderman, Dale Turner, Sam 'Sluggo' Phipps, and Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez.

History

The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, formed in late 1972 by Richard Elfman, was a musical theater troupe in the tradition of Spike Jones^[2] and Frank Zappa, performing an eclectic repertoire ranging from Cab Calloway covers to instrumentals in the style of Balinese gamelan and Russian ballet music. The name was inspired by a fictional secret society on the Amos 'n' Andy TV series called The Mystic Knights of the Sea. Most of the members performed in whiteface and clown makeup, and a typical show contained music ranging from the 1890s to the 1950s, in addition to original material. This version of the band employed as many as 15 musicians at any given time, playing over 30 instruments, including some instruments built by band members. The group under Richard's direction was almost exclusively known as a live act, though while it never issued any official recordings, a number of the groups songs of that period were recorded in demo form as early as 1974. Two of them, "Chederanian National Anthem" and a cover of Irving Berlin's "Monkey Doodle Doo" (from the Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts), were aired on the Dr. Demento radio show in August and September of that year, marking the ensemble's first radio exposure.^[3][4]

As Richard Elfman's interest shifted to filmmaking, he passed leadership of the band to younger brother Danny, who had recently returned from spending time in Africa playing violin and studying percussion instruments. They gained a following in Los Angeles, and appeared as contestants on The Gong Show in 1976, winning the episode they appeared on with 24 points out of a possible 30.^[5] The Gong Show presentation included an accordion, a purple dragon and a gaseous rocket-man.

Later in 1976, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo released "You Got Your Baby Back", a doo-wop style novelty single about kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst. Both this track and the B-side "Ballad of the Caveman" were written and sung by Danny Elfman. The band featured in the 1976 Martin Brest film Hot Tomorrows performing the songs "St. James Infirmary" and "42nd Street".^[6]

Under the younger Elfman's leadership, the troupe made a transition away from street theater into dedicated multimedia theatrical performance around 1977, performing in theaters and clubs around Los Angeles, which is depicted in the bulk of surviving video and audio footage. Musical performances were often augmented by humorous skits, costume changes, and projected short films and animations, including the original "Tender Lumplings", which was often shown in this period and would be revived many years later towards the end of Oingo Boingo's subsequent lifespan.^[7]

In interviews detailing his musical influences, Danny Elfman has maintained that during much of his years with The Mystic Knights, "I lived in my head back in the early part of the [20th] century, long before I was born; I didn't want to listen to music recorded after 1935."^[8] This is strongly evidenced in the original material he wrote and composed for the band during this time, taking cues from the music of Duke Ellington and Django Reinhardt in songs such as "Hold Tight(Because of You)" and "I Must Be Dreaming" (both recorded in demo form around 1978). Steve Bartek became a member of The Mystic Knights in 1975 partly due to his ability to play guitar in a Django Reinhardt style. Some of the earliest songs to become future Oingo Boingo staples began to appear around this time, including "Goodbye Goodbye" and early versions of their cover of Willie Dixon's "Violent Love". Cab Calloway songs such as "Minnie The Moocher" and "St. James Infirmary Blues" continued to be staples of Mystic Knights setlists; long after the band had transformed into Oingo Boingo, "Minnie The Moocher" even returned to the band's setlist for a short period in 1989-1990.

Richard Elfman produced Forbidden Zone in 1977-78 with a cast mostly comprising band members and friends, later released in 1980. In one scene, Danny, as Satan, sings a version of "Minnie the Moocher" with lyrics adapted for the movie plot.^[9] In another, Richard sings the 1920s novelty song "The Yiddishe Charleston". The movie attained cult status.^[10] The film's theme, "Forbidden Zone", was described by Danny Elfman as the first song he consciously wrote, composed and arranged for electric instrumentation, marking the beginning of a new artistic direction.^[11]

During 1978-79, Danny Elfman introduced more original songs into the band’s set, now being sometimes named just "The Mystic Knights", with a growing rock influence. The new songs specifically took after the then recent developments of punk("Marching In Time"), new wave("Cruisin"), ska("Ain't This The Life", a very fast and energetic cover of The Beach Boys' "California Girls", with revised and humorous lyrics), 2 tone and highlife("Louise", "Make It Right") all while still maintaining threads of the pre-rock musical idioms the troupe had been specializing in ("Nuclear Babies", written during this period, is a noticeable return to the doo wop sound of a few years previous). This was aided by the recent addition of drummer Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez in 1978, who would gain his "Vatos" nickname from a persona he would take on in performances of the song "Cruisin". In mid-1979, Danny decided to officially disband the Mystic Knights to form a dedicated rock band in this new musical style, shortening the name to just Oingo Boingo.

Discography

• "You Got Your Baby Back" / "Ballad Of The Caveman" (Pelican Records, 1976)

Filmography

• I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
• Hot Tomorrows (1977)
• Forbidden Zone (1980)

References