Oingo Boingo - Ain't This the Life - Non-Album Tracks (1976-1979)

Oingo Boingo is a very underrated band, in my opinion. Their first three albums in particular are solid all the way through. They were extremely popular in Southern California in the 1980s, but on the rare occasions they got nationwide recognition, it was for some of their lesser efforts, like the song "Weird Science."

They also are a band that has been more or less ignored since they broke up. Their main singer and songwriter Danny Elfman has gone off to great fame and fortune composing movie soundtracks, and it seems he's put the entire Oingo Boingo experience behind him. There have been no rereleases with bonus tracks, or deluxe editions, or box sets, or rarities compilations, or the like. And that's a shame, because it turns out the band recorded all sorts of good songs that never got on any of their albums, and many of them never even got officially released at all.

It took a long time for the band to hit it big. The group was actually formed in 1972, and for a long time it was a surrealist performance art theatrical troupe led by Danny's brother, Richard Elfman. This album covers the tail end of the early years, mostly after they morphed into a new wave band led by Danny. (Up until 1979, they went by the name "The Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo," but for simplicity's sake I'm just using "Oingo Boingo" for everything here.) The band put out two EPs and had lots of good songs that never even got released at all before their first album "Only a Lad" came out in 1981.

I think this album is as good or better than most of their other albums. It's a shame that the group's recordings have been so neglected by their record company.

The second and third songs, "You Got Your Baby Back" and "Ballad of the Caveman," are from an obscure 1976 single. "You Got Your Baby Back" is a 1950s parody song that comments on the strange kidnapping saga of Patty Hearst (look it up if you don't know her story). Three more songs towards the end of the album, "Forbidden Zone," "I'm So Bad," and "I'm Afraid," also have been officially released, but on very obscure releases. The rest of the songs are officially unreleased. But all but one of them are studio demos and sound very good.

The one song demoted to a bonus track, "Only a Lad," sounds great. It was the band's first hit. However, this is an earlier EP version. I've only included it as a bonus track since it's the same song as the hit. But I figure some people might want to hear the alternate version. 

This album is 52 minutes, not including the bonus tracks.

The bonus tracks are "Goodbye, Goodbye," "Only a Lad [EP Version]," and "Wolverine." The band would later release "Goodbye, Goodbye" on a movie soundtrack in 1982, but this is a fairly different demo version. It sounds fine and is only a bonus track because I put other versions on other albums. That's the same situation with "Only a Lad," this version sounds fine, but it's just an alternate to the more famous version. "Wolverine" is a nice original. The sound quality was a bit rough, which is why it's a bonus track. But I used the audio editing program X-Minus to boost the vocals and hopefully improve the sound somewhat.

01 Acapella Ditty (Oingo Boingo)
02 You Got Your Baby Back (Oingo Boingo)
03 Ballad of the Caveman (Oingo Boingo)
04 Don't Go in the Basement (Oingo Boingo)
05 St. James Infirmary (Oingo Boingo)
06 Nuclear Babies (Oingo Boingo)
07 California Girls (Oingo Boingo)
08 Make It Right (Oingo Boingo)
09 I Must Be Dreaming (Oingo Boingo)
10 Marching in Time (Oingo Boingo)
11 Because of You (Oingo Boingo)
12 Ain't This the Life (Oingo Boingo)
13 Forbidden Zone (Oingo Boingo)
14 I'm So Bad (Oingo Boingo)
15 I'm Afraid (Oingo Boingo)
16 Gotta Get Out (Oingo Boingo)

Goodbye, Goodbye [Demo Version] (Oingo Boingo)
Only a Lad [EP Version] (Oingo Boingo)
Wolverine [Edit] (Oingo Boingo)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16088606/OINGBO1976-1979_AintThsLfe_atse.zip.html

The cover art is based on the cover of their 1979 EP. Apparently, that EP had a number of different covers, mostly with different coloring. I picked one I liked, and also changed the text.