New Wave Outpost Forum

Just how popular were these guys? Did they sell a lot in their time? Am I correct in assuming that Oingo Boingo sold more (or were more popular)?

Just curious.

Max

The music you listen to is the soundtrack of your life.

I think Oingo Boingo sold alot more. They certainly deserve to. Oingo Boingo are great fun. Wall Of Voodoo are a bit ...meh.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Max Murdoc[/i]
<br>Just how popular were these guys?[/quote]

Outside of "Mexican Radio," not very.

[quote]Did they sell a lot in their time?[/quote]

"Call of the West" sold well. "Sammystown" tanked, and that was that.

[quote]Am I correct in assuming that Oingo Boingo sold more (or were more popular)?[/quote]

That's like asking which did better at the box office - "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" or "Cutthroat Island?"

Both are high on my list of favorites....I figured that OB was more popular.

Back in the day we never paid attention to who sold what or who was more popular than who.....in my eyes, Dane Conover (Trees to those who don't know)was just as important as Wall of Voodoo, Oingo Boingo, Tuxedomoon and anything from England. I was just interested in WOV popularity.

Any thoughts on Cowboys International or Monochrome Set? Again, not big sellers but what about the popularity aspect. You can't always compare sales to popularity. Anyone from England here? Were these guys big over there?

[That's like asking which did better at the box office - "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" or "Cutthroat Island?"]

Pretty much lost me on that one....haven't been to the movies in years and what little television I watch is regulated to repeats of "Whose Line is it Anyways"

The music you listen to is the soundtrack of your life.

Some chart numbers from www.allmusic.com:

Oingo Boingo Albums:

1980 Oingo Boingo Pop Albums 163
1981 Only A Lad Pop Albums 172
1982 Nothing To Fear Pop Albums 148
1983 Good For Your Soul Pop Albums 144
1985 Dead Man's Party The Billboard 200 98
1986 Dead Man's Party The Billboard 200 113
1987 Boi-ngo The Billboard 200 77
1988 Boingo Alive The Billboard 200 90
1989 Best of Oingo Boingo: Skeletons in the Closet The Billboard 200 150
1989 Best Of Oingo Boingo: Skeletons In The Closet The Billboard 200 150
1990 Dark at the End of the Tunnel The Billboard 200 72
1994 Boingo The Billboard 200 71
1996 Farewell The Billboard 200 188

Oingo Boingo Singles:

1985 Weird Science Hot Dance Music/Club Play 21
1985 Weird Science Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 45
1985 Weird Science The Billboard Hot 100 45
1986 Just Another Day The Billboard Hot 100 85
1988 Winning Side Modern Rock Tracks 14
1990 When the Lights Go Out Modern Rock Tracks 15
1994 Hey! Modern Rock Tracks 23

Wall of Voodoo Albums:

1981 Dark Continent Pop Albums 177
1983 Call Of The West Pop Albums 45

Wall of Voodoo Singles:

1982 Mexican Radio Mainstream Rock 41
1983 Mexican Radio Pop Singles 58

It looks like Oingo Boingo was much more popular.

Cool, that's just what I was looking for.

Thanks


The music you listen to is the soundtrack of your life.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Max Murdoc[/i]
<br>Both are high on my list of favorites....I figured that OB was more popular.

Any thoughts on Cowboys International or Monochrome Set? Again, not big sellers but what about the popularity aspect. You can't always compare sales to popularity. Anyone from England here? Were these guys big over there?
[/quote]

.... neither did any chart action here in the UK, although I've heard at least of the Monochrome Set. As for Wall Of Voodoo, I remember the track Mexican Radio (might have been on rotation on MTV Europe as opposed to radioplay) but it wasn't a hit, unlike Stan Ridgeway's Camoflague which was a massive hit back in the day (and in them days, you had to shift some serious product to get to the top of the charts - I think Camoflague got to No. 2 or 3). Heh heh I can still remember some of the lyrics - "And a bullet with my name on it came whizzing out the bush and that big marine just caught in in his hand!"

BR
Freaky Trigger

Who cares about the charts? They're just a big popularity contest anyway.

That's the way we felt back in the day. Charts didn't mean a thing to us. I was curious about WOV and their popularity in regards to fans.

I thought Ken Lockie (Cowboys International) were brilliant. I was disappointed with his solo stuff and his remastering of Cowboys International wasn't as good as the original release. The vinyl "Original Sin" is the one to get.

The Monochrome Set are unique to say the least. I have 3 or 4 of their releases and have found a couple of good tracks on each one. There's even some pseudo Marc Moreland (WOV) guitar here and there.

Oingo Boingo....excellent but I am more of an early release fan. Everything up to "Boi-ngo" is fantastic. I kinda lost interest after that...maybe my tastes changed at that point but I prefer the earlier stuff.

Stan's "The Big Heat" is his best solo (my opinion). It's cool that he had a hit over there. I bought his DVD with all of the videos (his and WOV) plus live footage. There's some stuff from his European tour. Favorite DVD. I'm waiting for him to come east so I can see him. I missed WOV back then and I would go out of my way to see Stan.

Max

The music you listen to is the soundtrack of your life.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Max Murdoc[/i]
<br>

I'm waiting for him to come east so I can see him. I missed WOV back then and I would go out of my way to see Stan.

Max

The music you listen to is the soundtrack of your life.
[/quote]Looks like your options are London on Oct. 24 or San Francisco on Dec. 2. Go to stanridgway.com

[quote]Originally posted by Max Murdoc
[br]Just how popular were these guys? Did they sell a lot in their time? Am I correct in assuming that Oingo Boingo sold more (or were more popular)?

Just curious.

[/quote]

OB definitely is more well-known, but I never really liked their songs![:D] Wall of Voodoo is way better for my taste![:p] "Call of the West" has to be one of my favorite albums.