{"id":888,"date":"2015-11-10T09:58:57","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T14:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bandsiusetalike.com\/biul\/?p=888"},"modified":"2018-02-01T12:57:58","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T17:57:58","slug":"oingo-boingo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bandsiusetalike.com\/biul\/oingo-boingo\/","title":{"rendered":"Oingo Boingo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BIUL_OingoBoingo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hey, you know when depicting any female consort in a comic strip is a good idea? Never. You know who wants to read comics about you and your spouse (if you have one), past or present? No one. Other than yourself, do you know who thinks comics about your relationships are funny? Nobody. (Now, putting buddies in strips? Gold. Who doesn’t love that?<\/em>)<\/p>\n

As if it weren’t patently obvious, this is one of the earliest strips. That lettering is a style I developed for the fourth issue of Mike The Pod Comix<\/em>, where\u00a0BIUL<\/em> first bowed. Sometime later I reverted fully to the Groening G, which I prefer to the less-squiggly version here. Earlier in the ’90s, I used an adapted Groening G in Lemmings<\/em> and\u00a0Drop Dead<\/em><\/a>, hence I was trying to break from it by 1998. So much for that.<\/p>\n

Something else no one notices; I had a more “Jughead” type shnoz in the early strips. My nose evolved over the years into a sharp 45\u00b0 angle. I draw myself with a prominent proboscis not because I have a huge honker in reality, but because<\/p>\n

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  1. Despite having been in a half-dozen fistfights, give or take, my nose has never been broken. I’m like Vanity Smurf, so I protect it instinctively, and on average, attackers tend to sock me in the teeth, anyhow.<\/li>\n
  2. My sense of smell is\u00a0excruciatingly acute<\/em>. Remember the envelope-sniffers from\u00a0Hannibal<\/em>? Mine is better.\u00a0I can smell lies.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How’s this for something less narcissistic and dull? Let’s talk about COCAINE!!!<\/p>\n

    (Cocaine is still pretty narcissistic, but let’s get this ox moving already.)<\/p>\n

    Cocaine was quasi-legal for a chunk of the 20th century. In my view, it can be fun for a night with a gaggle of girls. But with regular use, it drains chemicals your brain can’t afford to spare, and gives you the personality of shattered glass. Before long, you can’t walk the tightrope anymore, and you’re done for. Everyone who rides the white pony, falls.<\/p>\n

    Now, I’m not going to launch into another tirade about reaping the whirlwind, but it’s a poorly-kept secret that cocaine was an ingredient in a substantial portion of classic jazz.<\/p>\n

    Here’s why it’s more or less still secret; in the early 1900s, the U.S. Government openly demonized both black people and jazz musicians as degenerate drug abusers. It does no good to surmise that this person might have been on coke, this person might have been on heroin, etc.; those are issues personal to the artists, and not part of the recorded work (unless they actually are). It’s an insult to any artist to imply that their talents are the result of a drug.<\/p>\n

    So, I’m not implying that Oingo Boingo was a better band when they were on cocaine. I’m not implying that any band member ever touched cocaine.<\/p>\n

    All I’m saying is… Oingo Boingo’s discography and sound\u00a0remind me<\/em> of someone who used cocaine. That’s all. Got it?<\/p>\n

    Coke has been used by countless entertainers who need to sustain a\u00a0manic energy<\/em>. Gyms weren’t a part of American life until the 1980s, and we take for granted nowadays how much we know about our health. Entertainers rarely took care of themselves until fairly lately; it was all full speed ahead, pay the piper tomorrow. The competition is fierce, and you’ve got to keep up. Kinda like\u00a0The Gong Show<\/em>.<\/p>\n