Oingo Boingo
EP by Oingo Boingo
Released	September 17, 1980
Recorded	October 1979 (A1, B2) June 1980 (A2, B1)
Genre	New wave ska
Length	10-inch – 14:05 12-inch – 13:49
Label	I.R.S.
Producer	Michael Boshears, Jo Julian
Oingo Boingo chronology
Oingo Boingo (1980) Only a Lad (1981)

Oingo Boingo is the debut EP by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1980.

Background

The EP was originally recorded as a promotional record—known as the Demo EP—distributed by the band on 10-inch vinyl prior to being signed by a record label. It was largely produced by Michael Boshears, with the exception of "Only a Lad," produced by Jo Julian. It was limited to 130 copies, each sleeve hand-painted by the band's team. The Demo EP and EP logos were designed by Charlie Unkeless. Sean Riley brought his artistic talents, and they collectively painted the covers using airbrushes, stencils, water sprayers, and mesh bags. They were able to create 130 separate signed and numbered covers.^{[citation needed]}

The EP was then picked up by I.R.S. Records and released publicly as the Oingo Boingo EP, with the track "Forbidden Zone" (recorded for the then-unreleased movie of the same name) replaced by a ska-inflected cover of Willie Dixon's "Violent Love". An edited version of "Forbidden Zone" was later released on the film's soundtrack album, but the complete original recording, as included on the Demo EP, has never been re-released.^{[citation needed]}

Oingo Boingo was initially issued on 10-inch vinyl, but later reissued on 12-inch vinyl and cassette. The reissue replaced "Ain't This the Life" with a new recording.

The song "Only a Lad" was subsequently re-recorded for the band's first album, Only a Lad (1981).^{[citation needed]}

The cover features an illustration of a cat by artist Louis Wain.^[1]

Track listing

All songs written by Danny Elfman, except "Violent Love", by Willie Dixon.

Side one

1. Only a Lad – 4:18
2. Violent Love – 2:38

Side two

1. Ain't This the Life – 3:30
2. I'm So Bad – 3:56

Personnel

Oingo Boingo

• Danny Elfman – lead vocals
• Steve Bartek – guitars
• Kerry Hatch – bass guitar
• Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez – drums
• Leon Schneiderman – baritone and alto saxophones
• Sam "Sluggo" Phipps – tenor and soprano saxophones
• Dale Turner – trumpet, trombone

Additional musicians

• David Eagle – drums (12-inch version of "Ain't This the Life")

Technical

• Michael Boshears – producer, engineer; mixing ("Only a Lad")
• Jo Julian – producer ("Only a Lad")