Album · Oingo Boingo
Nothing to Fear by Oingo Boingo
Nothing to Fear is an album by Oingo Boingo, released in 1982. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 13 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Private Life”, on 6 lists with a best position of #82.
Nothing to Fear, Oingo Boingo's second album, came out on A&M in 1982 with Joe Chiccarelli producing, and it's the sound of Danny Elfman's former surrealist theater troupe, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, turned into a ska- and punk-fired new wave octet and cranked up hard. The guitars are louder, the percussion heavier, the synthesizers busier, and sequencers show up for the first time, alongside odd instruments the band built themselves.
It's a tight, twitchy machine: Elfman's yelping vocals and guitar, Steve Bartek's guitar, a horn section of Leon Schneiderman, Sam "Sluggo" Phipps and Dale Turner, Richard Gibbs on keyboards, Kerry Hatch on bass and Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez on drums. "Wild Sex (In the Working Class)" is all jittery nerves and honking brass, and "Private Life" and "Grey Matter" crackle with the same wired energy. Trouser Press's Ira A. Robbins found it more likable than the debut, and Elfman revisited "Insects" decades later on his 2021 album Big Mess.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Nothing to Fear on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Private Life | 6 | #82 | – | 1989–2003 | |
| 2 | Wild Sex (In the Working Class) | 4 | #47 | – | 1982–2003 | |
| 3 | Grey Matter | 3 | #75 | – | 1988–2003 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.