Demo EP was a self-produced, four-song EP 10 inch vinyl record released by the southern California New Wave band Oingo Boingo.[1] Produced and recorded by Michael Boshears (who also produced and mixed the soundtrack album Forbidden Zone and recorded the title track) and Jo Julian (Only A Lad), often credited with Mr. Boshears' tracks due to a label credit mistake, this showcase record was intended for distribution to radio stations and recording industry A&R representatives in an attempt to help land a major label recording contract.
The effort paid off as the Oingo Boingo Demo EP caught the attention of I.R.S. Records and a slightly altered version was reissued by the label in 1980 as the bands first official public release, Oingo Boingo EP, also in the 10" vinyl format and then later as a 12" version as well. The songs "Only a Lad" and "I'm So Bad" on the Oingo Boingo EP were the same versions from the Demo EP, while an updated recording of the song "Ain't This the Life" was substituted on the 12" version. "Forbidden Zone" was also replaced with the band's version of bluesman Willie Dixon's song "Violent Love". "Forbidden Zone" has never been reissued anywhere else, although a vastly truncated version appears on the soundtrack for the film of the same name.
Production was limited to a total of 130 copies. Each cover was hand painted, initialled and numbered by the band and producer, and artists Charles Unkeless and Sean P. Riley created an airbrush and paint spritzing method, resulting in unique, different designs and colorful schemes for each copy, with the band and producer and friends doing the actual paintings. The Demo EP also included a lyric sheet with artwork of three dinosaurs wearing contemporary attire and a header which read "Modern Music For Modern Reptiles". Also notable was the humorous and memorable quip at the bottom of the lyric sheet, "Not for sale. If you sell this, you will be hunted and murdered.". Copies of the EP are considered extraordinarily rare, with only a few members of the band and the producer still possessing copies.