Depending on your age group, the name Danny Elfman may ring a bell-  take a look at the guy’s film score and TV credits:  Pee-Wees Big Adventure… The Simpsons…  Batman…  Beetlejuice…  The Nightmare Before Christmas (theme music AND the singing voice of Jack Skellington).  But for those of us that grew up in the 80s we were first exposed to the manic genius of Elfman as leader of Oingo Boingo, who, interestingly enough, had some of their songs included as part of the soundtracks from movies ranging from Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Weird Science, Teen Wolf Too, and my first taste as part of the band in the classic Rodney Dangerfield movie Back To School.  That song on prominent display is the extremely catchy and unforgettable “Dead Man’s Party”.

Kicking off with a snakily distorted and echoey guitar line, the song hits a comfortable groovy stride early with various percussive elements, Elfman’s utter cool vocal, and the return of that guitar.  What’s great about this song is the various melodic lines that flow throughout and how it’s offset by the stabbing horn arrangement, insistent, ping pong-y bass groove, and insanely catchy verse and chorus.  Toss in a few funky and sinuous keyboard lines that intertwine with the guitar and horns in an extended instrumental section and you’re in ska/new wave heaven!  You want to get people up and moving on the dance floor for your next Halloween party, make sure to toss this on the turntable 🙂

One other quick note…  the band released a “live in the studio” version found on Boingo Alive that’s a bit more uptempo plus it kicks off with the horn part before the guitar and vocal comes in.  A bit of a different feel overall but just as impressive and fun as the original.  You can’t go wrong with either option for your next soiree.