Weird Science (song)

"Weird Science"
Single by Oingo Boingo
from the album Dead Man's Party
B-side"Weird Mama" (Ira and the Geeks)
Released1985
RecordedAugust 1985
Genre
Length6:10 (album version)
3:45 (single version)
LabelMCA
Songwriter(s)Danny Elfman
Producer(s)
Oingo Boingo singles chronology
"Gratitude"
(1984) 		"Weird Science"
(1985) 		"Just Another Day"
(1986)

"Weird Science" is a song by American new wave band Oingo Boingo. Written by frontman Danny Elfman, it is the theme song to the Weird Science film and television series. It was released on the film's soundtrack, as well as Oingo Boingo's fifth studio album, Dead Man's Party (1985), in a longer mix. The song reached No. 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100,[1] No. 21 on the US Dance Club Charts,[2] and No. 81 in Canada.[3] It is Oingo Boingo's most successful single.

Recording

The song was written spontaneously by Elfman in the car, while driving home to Los Angeles, after a phone call from director John Hughes asking him to write a song for his movie of the same name. Elfman claimed to have "heard the whole thing in [his] head" by the time he ran home to his studio to record his demo.[4]

Music video

The music video for "Weird Science" features the band performing in an abstract laboratory. The video appeared in a number of different edits when broadcast, some featuring clips from the John Hughes film and other versions without. Elfman later expressed embarrassment at the video, stating that he was "horrified" by the outcome and that it was the only Oingo Boingo music video in which he had not been involved with production. Elfman had long felt that the song, a more commercial musical style than most of the band's previous releases at the time, was "not really a part of [the band's] repertoire".

The video would later be parodied on TV show Beavis and Butt-Head, where it was described by the titular characters as "complicated" and Elfman himself poked fun at with "How come they didn't let that dude back in Duran Duran?" Elfman claimed that following this broadcast he decided he "never [wanted] to play this song again!"[4]

Track listing

7-inch single

  1. "Weird Science" – 3:45
  2. "Weird Mama" by Ira and the Geeks – 2:50

12-inch single

  1. "Weird Science (Extended Dance Version)" – 6:38
  2. "Weird Science" – 3:45

12-inch promo single

  1. "Weird Science (Weird Dub Bonus Beats)" – 6:00
  2. "Weird Science (Boingo Dance Version)" – 5:38
  3. "Weird Science (Extended Dance Version)" – 6:38

Charts

Chart (1985/86) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] 39
Canada 81
United States (Billboard Hot 100) 45
United States (Cashbox Top 100) 42

See also

References

  1. ^ "Oingo Boingo | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "Oingo Boingo - Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  3. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - October 12, 1985" (PDF).
  4. ^ a b Sean O'Neal (October 27, 2014). "Danny Elfman on Oingo Boingo, film scores, and the Beatles almost ruining Batman". AV Music. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  5. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book. p. 222. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.