Monday, February 27, 2017

4. Clowns of Death by Keith T. Breese

I was a huge Oingo Boingo fan in high school (still am, just don't listen to music as much as I used to).  I have had this book sitting on my shelf for decades and was prompted to read it when a friend of mine mentioned how it was actually Danny Elfman's older brother who started the group The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo when they were doing crazy theatre shows in LA.  I am really really not a fan of writing about music and books about bands (the deep disappointment of actually listening to REM after reading Rolling Stone going on and on about how intelligent and groundbreaking their sound was has never really left me), so I sort of surprised myself when I cruised through this book.

The first part is a biography of the band, with information collected from other articles and interviews and the author's own personal knowledge. The rest is basically a very detailed discography with brief reviews of each of the songs.  They style is breezy and definitely from a fan's perspective, but Breese doesn't take himself too seriously.  He just seems to have wanted to get this information written down and shared with the world and it is a very useful reference guide for a fan of the band.

Here's a great Oingo Boingo song for your listening and viewing pleasure:


Makes you think, don't it folks!


3 comments:

Alexa said...

Hi! I’m trying to track down this book but it seems impossible to track down. It seems like you purchased it when it came out but if you have any info on where to find a copy now I would love to know!

OlmanFeelyus said...

Hi Alexa,

I actually got this so long ago, I honestly can't remember. It was somewhere in the SF Bay Area and might have been a gift. Quite probable that I found it used as well. It was published by xlibris and they have an email orders@exlibris.com, unfortunately their website is long gone. You might be able to do some sleuthing using the wayback machine and look for a contact person. Could be somebody has a box of these unsold in their basement. Happy hunting!

Alexa said...

Amazing! This info is so helpful tysm!