Great Songs from My Favorite Year in Music: 1985, Part 21

Oingo Boingo - "No One Lives Forever"



(Album Release: October 1985)
Growing up in Southern California has its share of great memories: amazing weather, Dodger Stadium, and more than anything else, Oingo Boingo. I've always said that Oingo Boingo was the biggest local band that ever existed. By 1985, they had finally broken through to the mainstream in several ways. They penned the title track to the film, Weird Science and appeared in the Rodney Dangerfield film, Back to School, playing what would be the title track to their landmark album, Dead Man's Party. But, at heart, Oingo Boingo was always a SoCal band and they rewarded their massive horde of fans in that area every year by playing a Halloween show, making it a must-see tradition. Boingo's blend of new wave, funk, ska, and gothic imagery made for one hell of a unique presentation, and I was captivated from their debut EP. I remained a fan all the way to their break up and then beyond, holding on to cherished memories. Though there are many great songs on Dead Man's Party, "No One Lives Forever" has to be my favorite. The alternating lyrics of cheating death and ultimately not being able to escape its inevitable grasp is universal, but Boingo does what others can't with this material, they make it a party. "Let's have a party, there's a full moon in the sky. It's the hour of the wolf and I don't want to die." Of course, I've already posted "Fly on the Windscreen" in an earlier post, which means that I'm well on my way to creating a 1985 mixtape based on Death.

P.S. I thought this video was well put together and kind of cute considering the topic, but the song was never released as a single and thus had no official video.