80s Band Oingo Boingo Performs Acoustic Set At LA City Council Meeting

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Oingo Boingo performed acoustic versions of two of the band's biggest hits at Wednesday's Los Angeles City Council meeting, where they were also honored with a resolution.

The band -- which Councilman Jose Huizar said helped define the Southern California sound of the 80s and 90s with a mix of ska, punk, new wave, rock and funk – was honored for their continuing contributions to the music industry in Los Angeles.

Johnny "Vatos" Hernandez, John Avila, Steve Bartek, Sam "Sluggo" Phipps, Carl Graves and Richard Gibbs were on hand for the City Council presentation, and performed "We Close Our Eyes" and "Dead Man's Party."

Original band member Danny Elfman, an Oscar-winning film and television score composer, was not be able to make the meeting.

Oingo Boingo started as a performance art troupe called the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo in 1972. In 1979, the group morphed from semi-theatrical music and comedy troupe to ska-influenced new wave octet and shortened its name to Oingo Boingo.

The group has a string of hit recordings include "Weird Science" and "Little Girls." Oingo Boingo retired after a sold-out farewell concert on Halloween in 1995.