All of Rubellan Remasters' titles are a labor of love, but special care was taken when the label expanded a section of the Oingo Boingo catalogue in 2021. The seminal California alt-punk band, which first catapulted film composer Danny Elfman to the national stage, never got their due in peak reissue eras - but Rubellan corrected that record with expanded CDs (and colored vinyl reissues) of the band's first four albums, issued on the I.R.S. and MCA labels.

With the Day of the Dead just passed, Rubellan has lifted the lid on a second batch of Boingo discs. The label will expand So-Lo - a 1984 Boingo album disguised as an Elfman solo album - plus Boi-ngo (1987) and Dark At the End of the Tunnel (1990), along with colored vinyl reissues of all three plus the beloved Dead Man's Party (1985) and even a triple-vinyl edition of the must-hear Boingo Alive (1988). The CDs are ready to pre-order from Rubellan as a bundle, with individual orders available soon and the vinyl due in early 2023.

"Its general tone is much more laid-back than an Oingo Boingo album," Elfman told the Los Angeles Times of So-Lo when it was released. "It was fun to do some ballads and try to snap out of that image that a lot of people have of me just writing real fast, fast, fast, fast tunes." But So-Lo, anchored by the lead single "Gratitude" (heard on the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop), with standouts like "It Only Makes Me Laugh" slotting nicely alongside classic Boingo material. Still, the album (featuring the members of the band as well as fellow L.A. upstarts like Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea) planted the seeds for Elfman's next solo rock effort, the delirious Big Mess (2020). Rubellan's CD issue includes no less than five versions of "Gratitude" as bonus cuts.

From there, it's back to Dead Man's Party for its first color vinyl versions from Rubellan. The closest thing Boingo had to a "hit" thanks to key placements in film (the title track was lip-synced by the group in the Rodney Dangerfield comedy Back to School, one of Elfman's first film score jobs, and "Weird Science" propelled the John Hughes comedy of the same name), the album also includes solid cuts like "Just Another Day" and "Stay." That same frenetic energy can be heard on Boi-ngo, and great songs like "Pain," "Not My Slave," "We Close Our Eyes" and "Home Again." The CD includes five bonus remixes, including a promo version of "Weird Science" that didn't land on the expanded Dead Man's Party disc.

After Boi-ngo, the band took time to celebrate their career with a greatest hits album of sorts. With early material distributed by I.R.S./A&M - ironically, nearly all the band's studio material is now owned by Universal Music Group - the MCA release Boingo Alive recreated a typical live set on a soundstage over several nights to create a pristine yet spontaneous career summary. Now spread over three LPs, it's sounding better than ever.

Rubellan's last Boingo adventure follows the group's final MCA album, Dark At the End of the Tunnel. By now, Elfman was an in-demand presence in Hollywood, having scored Tim Burton's Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice and the smash hit Batman as well as the demented theme to the still-running FOX cartoon The Simpsons. Fans were divided on the album's move to a more straightforward, less experimental pop, though once again the highlights had been heard on screen before the needle even hit the groove: "Try to Believe" had been recorded for the cult comedy classic Midnight Run in 1988, while "Flesh 'N Blood" had landed on the soundtrack to Ghostbusters II a year later. Four bonus tracks are included here, including the original soundtrack version of "Believe."

Rubellan's full track lists are printed below, and the bundle of CDs is available to order here.

Danny Elfman, So-Lo (Remastered & Expanded Edition) (Rubellan RUBY37CD/41LP, 2022/2023)

1. Gratitude
2. Cool City
3. Go Away
4. Sucker for Mystery
5. It Only Makes Me Laugh
6. The Last Time
7. Tough As Nails
8. Lightning
9. Everybody Needs
10. Gratitude (Original Version)
11. Gratitude (Extended Dance Version)
12. Gratitude (Single Version)
13. Gratitude (Tornado Version)
14. Gratitude (Short Version)

Tracks 1-9 released as MCA Records 5535, 1984
Track 10 released on Beverly Hills Cop: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack - MCA Records 5553, 1984
Tracks 11 and 13-14 released on MCA 12" single 23532, 1984
Track 12 released on MCA 7" single 52560, 1985

Oingo Boingo, Dead Man's Party (released as MCA Records 5665, 1985 - reissued Rubellan RUBY42LP, 2023)

Side A

1. Just Another Day
2. Dead Man's Party
3. Heard Somebody Cry
4. No One Lives Forever

Side B

1. Stay
2. Fool's Paradise
3. Help Me
4. Same Man I Was Before
5. Weird Science

Oingo Boingo, Boi-ngo (Expanded & Remastered Edition) (Rubellan RUBY39CD/43LP, 2022/2023)

1. Home Again
   
2. Where Do All My Friends Go
   
3. Elevator Man
   
4. New Generation
   
5. We Close Our Eyes
   
6. Not My Slave
   
7. My life
   
8. Outrageous
   
9. Pain
10. Mama
11. Pain (Extended Dance Mix)
12. Not My Slave (Extended Remix)
13. Weird Science (Boingo Dance Version)
14. Pain (A Cappella Version)
15. Not My Slave (Club Dub Mix)

Tracks 1-9 released as MCA Records 5811, 1987
Track 10 released on box set edition of album - MCA Records MCAB-42013, 1987
Tracks 11 and 14 released as MCA 12" single 23696, 1986
Track 13 released on MCA 12" promo L33-17048, 1985
Tracks 12 and 15 released as MCA 12" single 23752, 1987

Oingo Boingo, Boingo Alive (released as MCA Records 2-8030, 1988 - reissued as Rubellan RUBY44LP, 2023)

Side A

1. Dead Man's Party
2. Dead or Alive
3. No Spill Blood
4. Stay
5. Cinderella Undercover

Side B

1. Home Again
2. Help Me
3. Just Another Day
4. It Only Makes Me Laugh
5. My Life

Side C

1. Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself)
2. Not My Slave
3. We Close Our Eyes
4. Elevator Man
5. Return of the Dead Man

Side D

1. Winning Side
2. Wild Sex (in the Working Class)
3. Grey Matter
4. Private Life
5. Gratitude

Side E

1. No One Lives Forever
2. Mama
3. Capitalism
4. Who Do You Want to Be
5. Sweat

Side F

1. Violent Love
2. On the Outside
3. Only a Lad
4. Goodbye Goodbye
5. Country Sweat
6. Return of the Dead Man 2

Oingo Boingo, Dark at the End of the Tunnel (Expanded & Remastered Edition) (Rubellan RUBY40CD/45LP, 2022/2023)

1. When the Lights Go Out
   
2. Skin
   
3. Out of Control
   
4. Glory Be
   
5. Long Breakdown
   
6. Flesh 'N Blood
   
7. Run Away (The Escape Song)
   
8. Dream Somehow
   
9. Is This
   
10. Right to Know
    
11. Try to Believe
12. Out of Control (Funky Vocal Mix)
13. Flesh 'N Blood (Extended Version)
14. Try to Believe (Soundtrack Version)
15. Out of Control (Power Mix)

Tracks 1-11 released as MCA Records 6365, 1990
Tracks 12 and 15 released on MCA 12" single 24022, 1990
Track 13 released on MCA 12" promo L33-18005, 1989
Track 14 released on Midnight Run (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - MCA Records 6250, 1988