Boingo Alive

Boingo Alive is a double live album by Oingo Boingo, released on September 26, 1988. During recordings, the band performed live in a studio with no audience; hence it is not a traditional "live" album. It was released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band's inception. The song selection spans the group's entire discography, as well as including several previously unreleased pieces.

Background

In 1984 Oingo Boingo had moved from A&M Records to MCA Records under dispute, and at the conclusion, A&M retained ownership of Oingo Boingo's first three album masters. Since 1982, the band had found success in licensing their songs to film & TV, but earlier songs could not be licensed without the involvement of A&M. Boingo Alive gave the band an opportunity to re-record songs originally recorded under A&M, which could then be licensed under their arrangement with MCA. Additionally, the 1991 MCA compilation Best O' Boingo was able to present a "career-spanning" tracklist despite featuring no pre-1984 recordings by including the re-recorded versions of earlier songs such as "Only a Lad" and "Wild Sex (in the Working Class)".