Before the release of "Forbidden Zone", Elfman had taken over The Mystic Knights as lead singer-songwriter in 1979, paring the group down to eight players, shortening the name to Oingo Boingo, and recording and touring as a ska-influenced new wave band. Their biggest success among eight studio albums penned by Elfman was 1985's "Dead Man's Party", featuring the hit song "Weird Science" from the movie of the same name. The band also appeared performing their single "Dead Man's Party" in the 1986 movie "Back to School", for which Elfman also composed the score. Elfman shifted the band to a more guitar-oriented rock sound in the late 1980s, which continued through their last album "Boingo" in 1994.