Daniel Robert Elfman is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his first studio film in 1985, Elfman has garnered international recognition for composing over 100 feature film scores, as well as compositions for television, stage productions, and the concert hall.
White Zombie was an American heavy metal band that formed in 1985. Based in New York City, they started as a noise rock band, releasing three EPs and one studio album in that style before changing to a heavy metal-oriented sound that broke them into the mainstream. The albums La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One (1992) and Astro-Creep: 2000 (1995) established them as an influential act in groove metal and industrial metal, respectively. Their best-known songs include "Thunder Kiss '65", "Black Sunshine" and "More Human than Human". The group officially disbanded in 1998. In 2000, White Zombie was included on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, ranking at No. 56. As of October 2010, the band has sold six million albums, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the years previous. Their highest-charting song, "Weird Science", reached No. 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest film composers. Alex Ross writes that "Over four decades, he revolutionized movie scoring by abandoning the illustrative musical techniques that dominated Hollywood in the 1930s and imposing his own peculiar harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary."
Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International is the debut solo studio album by American musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie. The album serves as his first release outside of the band White Zombie, with whom he released two multi-platinum studio albums. Hellbilly Deluxe was released on August 25, 1998, through Geffen Records. Musically, the project portrays Zombie's love for classic horror films with heavy metal and electronic music. The album's lyrics speak of murder, chaos, and supernatural forces. The majority of Hellbilly Deluxe was recorded in California, and was produced by both Zombie and Scott Humphrey; Zombie is credited as the sole writer on all of the songs.
American Made Music to Strip By is the first remix album released by American musician Rob Zombie. The album was released through Geffen Records on October 26, 1999. It is composed entirely of remixes of songs taken from Zombie's debut studio album, Hellbilly Deluxe (1998). Zombie worked with a number of musicians and producers to create updated versions of the songs, including Charlie Clouser, who had previously worked with Zombie on his debut solo effort. Ten of the original album's songs have been remixed, excluding three instrumental interludes. Two of the remixes featured on American Made Music to Strip By had previously been released on promotional discs for "Dragula" (1998) and "Living Dead Girl" (1999).
Psycho-Head Blowout is the third EP by American rock band White Zombie, released in May 1987 by Silent Explosion. The album was recorded with producer and composer Kramer and was the band's first to feature guitarist Tom Guay, who had a pivotal influence on the band's sound. It was also the debut release of the band's short-lived label Silent Explosion. The record was the band's first release to receive critical notice and garnered them notice in underground circles.
Psycho is a 1998 American psychological horror film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant, and starring Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, William H. Macy, and Anne Heche. It is a modern remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film of the same name, in which an embezzler arrives at an old motel run by a mysterious man named Norman Bates; both films are adapted from Robert Bloch's 1959 novel.
"Face to Face" is a song recorded by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was composed by the group along with Danny Elfman and was produced by Stephen Hague. The track was featured in the 1992 film Batman Returns and is included on its soundtrack. Film director Tim Burton asked the band to compose the main song of the movie. The track later appeared on the band 1992's compilation album Twice Upon a Time - The Singles and was remastered in 2002 for The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Upon its release in July 1992, the song entered the singles chart in the UK and in Europe.
Chicago: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture is a soundtrack album featuring all of the original songs of the 2002 Best Picture Academy Award-winning musical film Chicago starring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Mýa Harrison and Christine Baranski.
Beetlejuice (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 1988 film Beetlejuice directed by Tim Burton and stars Michael Keaton as the title character, alongside Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder. The album features the film's musical score composed by Danny Elfman and two original recordings performed by Harry Belafonte. The soundtrack was released through Geffen Records on June 7, 1988.
Batman: Original Motion Picture Score is the score album for the 1989 film Batman, composed by Danny Elfman. According to the Batman DVD Special Edition, Elfman said that producer Jon Peters was not sure about him as a composer until director Tim Burton made him play the main titles. Elfman admitted he was stunned when Peters announced that the score would be released on its own album. The score was widely acclaimed by the press and in many contemporary reviews is cited as the highlight of the film.
Hitchcock is a 2012 American biographical romantic drama film directed by Sacha Gervasi and based on Stephen Rebello's 1990 non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Hitchcock tells the story of the relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, during the filming of Psycho in 1959. Hitchcock premiered at the AFI Fest on November 1, 2012, and was released in the United States on November 23 by Fox Searchlight Pictures. It grossed $27 million against a $15 million budget.
Frankenweenie: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score for the Disney film, Frankenweenie by Danny Elfman, was released September 25, 2012.
Select commercially released recordings of Danny Elfman's music for film, television, stage and the concert hall. For a full list of Elfman's compositions, see List of compositions by Danny Elfman. For Elfman's recordings as lead singer/songwriter for Oingo Boingo, see the Oingo Boingo discography page.
Music for a Darkened Theatre: Film & Television Music Volume One is a compilation album of select film scores and television themes written by American composer Danny Elfman from the early 1980s to 1990.
Dr. Seuss' The Grinch: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Dr. Seuss' The Grinch: Original Motion Picture Score are the albums released for the 2018 animated Christmas fantasy comedy film The Grinch, released alongside the film, on November 9, 2018, by Columbia Records and Back Lot Music. The film score is composed by Danny Elfman, which consisted of 25 tracks. The soundtrack album consisted of 13 tracks, performed by several artists, including a re-created version of the Christmas song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" by Elfman and rapper Tyler, the Creator, released on October 24. Tyler also produced his debut extended play based on songs from the film, titled Music Inspired by Illumination & Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, and released by Columbia Records on November 16.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman: Music from the Motion Picture is the score album composed by Danny Elfman for the 2014 film of the same name. The soundtrack was released by Relativity Music Group on March 3, 2014. Peter Andre wrote and performed for the film a song titled "Kid", which is played during the British version of the end credits, instead of Grizfolk's "Way Back When". But unlike the latter, the former was not included in the soundtrack.
Hitchcock (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack accompanying the 2012 film Hitchcock directed by Sacha Gervasi. The film's original score is composed by Danny Elfman and released through Sony Masterworks on December 4, 2012. The score featured inspirations from the works of Bernard Herrmann, whom Elfman had been inspired by.
