Awesome Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman is one of our favorite musicians. From his groundbreaking work in Oingo Boingo to composing some of the most memorable film scores of all time, he is a true master of his craft. Elfman sat down with GQ to discuss his collaborations with Tim Burton on movies like Beetlejuice, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Edward Scissorhands. 

Multitalented composer, singer, and songwriter Danny Elfman stopped by Hollywood’s famed Amoeba Music for their What’s In My Bag? interview series. While there, he picked out some of the albums and artists that most influenced him. You can really hear the connections between his selections and his music.

During his show at Coachella 2022, composer Danny Elfman brought an orchestra and chorus to the stage, and among their eclectic and energetic performances was this incredible live version of The Simpsons theme. They also performed music from Batman and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Korean musical group MayTree continues to crank out perfect A Cappella versions of TV and movie soundtracks. Their latest is a wonderfully-layered version of Danny Elfman’s opening and closing themes from The Simpsons. We challenge them to do the Futurama theme next.

(PG-13) “Everything is crumbling.” The man behind Oingo Boingo and the music from The Nightmare Before Christmas among other things unwraps another Halloween present. Elfman created the track in 2020, saying “The cynical nature of the lyrics echo how I feel about living in a semi-dystopian world turned upside down.”

Ariana Flute has some pretty great covers up on her YouTube channel, including this version of Danny Elfman’s theme song to The Simpsons. It sounds pretty awesome played on the flute, and the piano accompaniment by Ella Piknjac ain’t too shabby either. The only thing missing is Lisa on the saxophone.

The talented Mariachi Entertainment System is here once again to fill our ears with wonderful music, this time bringing their South of the border sounds to Danny Elfman’s theme music from Beetlejuice. Best served with a shot of tequila.

Just in time for trick-or-treating, our church-bound pal Gud Nuse presents a fantastically dark and spine-chilling cover version of Danny Elfman’s classic This Is Halloween from Tim Burton and Henry Selick’s stop-motion masterpiece The Nightmare Before Christmas.

We’d like to grab up one of the 1000 piece limited edition Danny Elfman-Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music boxes, which includes 16 newly produced CDs, each with artwork by Burton. (Thanks Kyle!)