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A Profile ~by Greg Camilleri~ Danny Elfman. What a name huh? I mean listen to it: Danny Elfman. No, it's NOT a "showbiz" name. Which is weird because.......how can I put this........man oh man does it suit him! To all who have come to know this man's music, you could never know how much this title suits him. He IS an elf. If there was such a thing. He's (oh....how can I put this) a virtual MAGICIAN with music. Gleefully playing with as if it were a child's toy. Music came as naturally to Danny as walking, or rather, singing. He once responded to a commentary regarding his singing on an America Online chat that read "I've never had any singing lessons. If I did, I might know what I'm doing." That pretty much sums up Danny. His music is as original as himself. There will NEVER be anyone like quite like him. Let's just hope he lives for a long long time. Not that much is known on Danny in his early years. I found out he was born in 1954, and when he was around 13, went to Africa and became engrossed in the ethnic music there. Some people feel that this trip (he stayed there a year) really influenced his musical style. It is known that ever since then he collects rare African and other ethnic instruments and has often incorporated them into his music, most notably so on the Boingo song "Insanity", which really uses different instruments!!!! For the song "Gray Matter" in concert an etnhic instrument called a Balafon, which greatly helped that song reach a new level of "differentness". Danny really started toying with music in the early 70's when himself, his brother and friends formed a kind of cult-like club called “The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo". This spurned of a very popular somewhat underground L.A. band, which would come to accept much larger success in the future. The following from the internet sums it up well: "Boingo (formerly known as Oingo Boingo) is an eclectic musical group from Southern California that could never really be categorized, though people have often tried. They have recorded 11 albums since 1980, but have been together since the mid-1970's. The names 'Boingo', 'Oingo Boingo', 'Mystic Knights', and 'The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo' are all synonymous (essentially the longer the name, the older the reference); On occasion they have also used the alias "The Clowns of Death" (usually for private or "secret" shows).". Although now recently disbanded after more then 15 years, Oingo Boingo enjoyed varying success, touring even as far as Europe and Brazil. Totally eceltic, the band consisted of several members, with Elfman at the lead. Elfman wrote every song, was the lead guitarist, and the incredible voice behind the music. Some times, there were even more than 20 people performing in the band at one time. Definitely different! The bottom line to all of this, of course, is if the music was actually good, and listenable. Well, the music and songs were excellent, as loyal L.A. fans flocked to buy every one of their 11albums. One Oingo Boingo album "Dead Man's Party", with the title hit, Weird Science, and Just Another Day went forth to go Gold. A tremendous success for the band. But the band's extreme popularity seemed to be in the L.A. concerts, filling and selling out absurdly crowded concert halls such as the huge Universal Amphitheater in a matter of 10 minutes. In 1994, the band released their final album, and dropped the "Oingo", signifying a musical change. And was that ever true! The selftitled album "Boingo" was one of the most unique and incredible musical pieces I've ever heard, with over 80 solid minutes of music. From the extremely dark and disturbing "Insanity", involving society's need to sanitize, and censor entertainment, and even thoughts and feelings, "Mary" which involved a young girl departing from her parents to live a life wild and free in despite of them, to "Change" a virtual musical roller coaster in which a happy dinner party turns maliciously evil. This album presented a fascinating side of Elfman, much darker and disturbing then anything he had ever put out before. And truly, it was the most amazing album of the year, actually receiving good reviews from music critics, yet never got enough airplay (like every other Boingo album) outside of L.A. to really sell. (Which it would have if it did). Still, selling 250,000 albums, "Boingo" wasn't a complete disaster and was, at least for me, Boingo at their ultimate best. A farewell concert in L.A. on Halloween day, 1995 was attended in tears by tens of thousands of screaming fans from around the world who screamed for a solid half hour after the show screaming "WE LOVE YOU!!!" as the band stood in silence, signifying the death of a truly original band. A double CD and live video is planned for release this year from the live concert. But most of all, Danny Elfman is famous for his music scores for movies. He's done an incredible amount of scoring, all varying in style. As a complete eclectic, his style ranges from complex, dark images, to jazzy, to light and airy, to absolutely beautiful. Inspired by Gershwin, Elmer Bernstein, among others. His style is very very hard to pinpoint. It takes much disipline and an extreme amount of listening to his music so you can identify his music by listening to it. He's scored the following film scores: "Forbidden Zone"(1980); "Pee-wee's Big Adventure"(1985); "Wisdom"(1986); "Back To School"(1986); "Summer School" (1987); "Face Like a Frog"[animated short](1987?);"Scrooged"(1988); "Midnight Run"(1988); "Big Top Pee-Wee" (1988); "Hot to Trot"(1988); "Beetlejuice"(1988); "Batman"(1989); Darkman"(1990); "Dick Tracy"(1990); "Edward Scissorhands" (1990); "Nightbreed"(1990); "Article 99" (1991); "Pure Luck"[theme] (1991); "Batman Returns"(1992); "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993);"Sommersby" (1993); "Army of Darkness" [theme] (1993); "Shrunken Heads"[theme] (1994); "Black Beauty" (1994); "Dolores Claiborne" (1994); "To Die For" (1995); "Dead Presidents" (1995). As you can see, Danny has had a major range in styles. "Edward Scissorhands" is considered by many to be his best score. Blending dark surrealistic images, with incredible gentleness and beauty, this score came straight from the heart, and is considered the favorite score by Danny himself. More popular scores include "Batman", "Batman Returns", and "The Nightmare Before Christmas", all of which he scored for his former friend Tim Burton. (Unfortunately, during the "Nightmare" filming, something must've happened as from now on they are not working with each other again, therefore killing a very long friendship, and an incredible film team {much like Steven Speilberg and John Williams. Imagine if THEY broke up!!}). The
TV scores/themes he's composed include: "Amazing Stories: Mummy
Daddy" (1985); "Amazing Stories: Family Dog" (1985);
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The
Jar"(198?);"Sledgehammer" (1986); "The
Simpsons"(1989); "Tales From The Crypt"(1989);Pee-Wee's
Playhouse" (19??); "Oh No, Not Them" [MTV] (19??);
"The Flash" (1990); "Beetlejuice" [animated] (199?);
"Batman"[animated] (1992). Danny once said: "After I'm dead and gone........the thing I will most likely be remembered for is my &@*# Simpsons theme!!!!"Not much is known of Danny's life. He's so busy all of the time, you hardly wonder if he has time for a family life. However, he does have two daughters. I believe he has been married twice, but is not married now. He seems to working on three scripts now: "Little Demons", "The World of Jimmy Calicut", and "Julian", which he hopes to direct. Considering his co-direction on the video for "Insanity" (which featured a bizarre scene where children go insane at a doll tea party, and start ravenously ripping apart and eating the dolls, while the camera spins around in a memorizing and surprisingly powerful and poetic scene) Danny shows us another glimpse in his enormous talent. Danny is totally, and fully unpredictable. His music is something that cannot be explained unless you hear it, much like himself. When I saw him at a concert in 1994, he seemed wild and unhinged, and very out of character. Later, when I saw him on TV and he was the same way I realized that this is who he is. A wacky and wonderful amazing genius of music, that (having absolutely NO musical training whatsoever) must be a total lover of life. He's the kind of artist that doesn't care whatsoever WHAT anyone says about him. He could care less. He does his music for one reason. The pure love of music. (Not to mention......it's a great living!). As far as the media is concerned, he could care less, as in the ponizing portrayals of it in his songs, he realizes how corrupt and plagued the world is. And like any master poet, he expresses it, in his own very unique way. I like him not only for his music, but for what he represents. Which is simply someone who had music in his head, and went outside, cracked his head open, and scooped it out, just for the love of doing it...... Quotes follow: "Here it comes just like a storm. Bathe in it and be reborn. Time to let the world know. Welcome madness..........say hello." -D. Elfman "Insanity" Boingo (1994) "I'll take you from this hell hole to the promised land. But don't blame me, oh children, if those promises don't keep, 'cause promises like lives can be bought so very cheap." -D. Elfman "Tender Lumplings" Boingo (1994) "Don't be afraid......it's only me" -D. Elfman "Dead Man's Party" Dead Man's Party (1985) "Do you feel the power? Baptized in electronic water. Prodigal sons and beautiful daughters with smiles and rosy cheeks, and the righteous bath The death of the freaks. Do you feel the power? From morality to diamond rings to genocide to magazines From religion to cosmology to the end of a democracy It's a lasting impression" -D Elfman "New Generation" Boingo (1986) "Countless long nights while I stare at the wall......I ask myself over again. How did I end up in this little hell? How did it ever begin?!" -D. Elfman "Helpless" Boingo (Tape Version only) (1994).
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