Popular Post Disco Stu 15,495 Posted August 21, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted August 21, 2018 He didn't have an official thread and I wanted to post this fairly recent video interview with Burlingame. I'll probably be the only one to ever bump this thread, haha. Me and @Marian Schedenig appear to be the biggest fans of his on the board. Randy Newman Interviewed by Jon Burlingame from Patrick Russ on Vimeo. Thor, SteveMc and The Illustrious Jerry 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,508 Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Thanks for the interview! I used to really dislike Randy Newman back in the day. Didn't care for his quirky songs, and I thought he was a 'one trick pony' as a film composer -- always churning out the same raw Americana and folksy, simplistic melodies. Well, I've come to embrace this particular sound of his in later years. True, he doesn't have the range as other composers, but what he does, he does so very well. So I've grown very fond of quite a bit of his film work. I think my favourite remains THE NATURAL. Disco Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 The only cue I can find from his very first film score, Cold Turkey This film also has the first appearance of his "He Gives Us All His Love" over the main title. The song later appeared on his 1972 masterpiece pop album, Sail Away. 7 minutes ago, Thor said: I think my favourite remains THE NATURAL. Pleasantville for me. His true genius lies in his pop music, but I love many of his film scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMc 2,674 Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 I like his Pixar scores, especially Cars. His song Its Money That Matters is a (not) guilty pleasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 7 minutes ago, Steve McQueen said: I like his Pixar scores, especially Cars. His song Its Money That Matters is a (not) guilty pleasure. Probably my least favorite of his pop albums, but I still have a lot of love for it. Randy's best if he mostly ignores pop production trends, and that's his most "of its time" sounding album. It certainly has nothing up to the par of his first 4 or 5 albums, which are the foundation of his reputation. I have some affection for "Falling in Love" a very simple but irresistible little love song he recorded with Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMc 2,674 Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Yeah, I couldn't get really into the rest of the album. Falling in Love and Money That Matters being the exceptions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Disco Stu 15,495 Posted August 21, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 21, 2018 As I'm making my way through the interview in my OP, there's so much interesting stuff about his career there. But this line made me laugh out loud, he was speaking to how the songs he writes for movies would never be songs he'd write for his own solo work, generally. Quote When I'm writing for a movie, I'm writing for them. "You've Got a Friend in Me"? You don't have a friend in me..... I sound like a used car salesman. ----- He was talking about how composers for animation and comedy don't get as much recognition Quote My cousin David, who's tremendously good, does Doctor Dolittle 6 and you don't get the recognition.... unless you're Giacchino with Up when he had that Italian tune It amused me to hear him refer to "Married Life" as 'that Italian tune' SteveMc, Not Mr. Big, The Illustrious Jerry and 1 other 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,200 Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 I saw this linked earlier today on my way to work and had completely forgotten about it already. Thanks for posting it, Disco. Will watch. In the meantime, I still think Faust might be his magnum opus: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 He likes Faust a lot too. He comes across a little bitter about its failure. Of course he comes across as bitter about most things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,200 Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Fascinating interview! And also we now have confirmation: The LA musicians are the most versatile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 6 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said: Fascinating interview! And also we now have confirmation: The LA musicians are the most versatile. @Thor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted August 22, 2018 Author Share Posted August 22, 2018 Randy actually says nothing has given him greater professional pride than being appreciated by the LA session musicians. Of course he has been surrounded by them since he was a small boy with his musical family. Makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,338 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Of Randy Newman I have Ragtime The Natural Avalon Awakenings Pleasantville Then he became a composer for cartoons ... Sigh ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 He's alright sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted August 22, 2018 Author Share Posted August 22, 2018 5 hours ago, Alexcremers said: Of Randy Newman I have Ragtime The Natural Avalon Awakenings Pleasantville Then he became a composer for cartoons ... Sigh ... No Seabiscuit? It's his last dramatic score at this point (20 minutes of piano noodling for The Meyerowitz Stories doesn't count) and it's pretty good! Not as great as Pleasantville, his previous collaboration with the director, but still pretty good. Although, as he mentions in the interview, he had severe disagreements with the director and William Ross wrote two cues as a consequence of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,338 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 I shall check it out and see if they have it on spotify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuzzLightyear 143 Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Two days until we get his Toy Story 4 score!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demondm810 399 Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 I can't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Illustrious Jerry 3,356 Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 In 2019, we will be getting Randy Newman's fourth Toy Story score. In 2019, we wil be getting John Williams' ninth Star Wars score. It's a good year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Gruesome Son of a Bitch and DarthDementous 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted June 20, 2019 Author Share Posted June 20, 2019 I thought those sketches were funny when I first saw them, but now I think they actively detract from his legacy as a true songwriting genius. It'd be one thing if people of my generation widely recognized him as such, but for many the Family Guy bit is the main thing they seem to know about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 I think they’re hilarious. He’s probably only known as a film composer in the public conscious because of his success with Pixar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted June 20, 2019 Author Share Posted June 20, 2019 The Family Guy one is funny but not especially apt. He's an incredibly precise lyricist, his songs are often very short because of how good he is at communicating in few words Like in "Old Man" in under 3 minutes he communicates what seems like 100 different conflicting emotions of a son saying goodbye to his dying father. Quote Everyone has gone away Can you hear me? Can you hear me? No one cared enough to stay Can you hear me? Can you hear me? You must remember me old man I know that you can if you try So just open up your eyes, old man Look who's come to say goodbye The sun has left the sky, old man The birds have flown away And no one came to cry, old man Goodbye, old man, goodbye You want to stay, I know you do But it ain't no use to try 'Cause I'll be here and I'm just like you Goodbye, old man, goodbye Won't be no God to comfort you You taught me not to believe that lie You don't need anybody, nobody needs you Don't cry, old man, don't cry Everybody dies Smeltington 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 2,835 Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 So the Toy Story 4 score is basically a lot of music from all the other scores mashed together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasey Kockroach 2,344 Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 It’s what the movie deserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 5 hours ago, Alex said: So the Toy Story 4 score is basically a lot of music from all the other scores mashed together The Last Toy Kasey Kockroach 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasey Kockroach 2,344 Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Oh, but when John Williams does it, it’s brilliant! Five stars! bruce marshall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted April 15, 2020 Author Share Posted April 15, 2020 I just read a neat little story by the rock critic Robert Christgau about his personal dealings with Randy Newman. In particular I was amused that Randy thinks Kanye West's album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" is a masterpiece. Agree with that or not, credit Randy with having an open mind about current pop music into his 70s, not something everyone manages to do. Here's the excerpt, along with a typical Randy observation about how rock music changed everything in the 50s. Quote I was nonetheless astonished when [Randy Newman] phoned me out of the blue in 2014, or did he maybe email me first? Anyway, that was in June—he told me how much he liked my criticism and credited me in particular with having opened him up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, a masterpiece [according to] him. Then when he was in NYC in October he invited me to a rehearsal and a concert and then set up a lunch at a Japanese place where he ordered the best sashimi. We had a great conversation about all kinds of things including family and got along very well... The big thing I remember him saying was how the whole semi-classical Tin Pan Alley palette—which he knows well because it’s in his blood with two uncles big-time Hollywood composers as he now is as well—was blown away by four chords circa 1954. Oh yeah, and I figure that Randy's tossed off song about social distancing during the pandemic should be posted in this thread as well Omen II 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted April 27, 2021 Author Share Posted April 27, 2021 I just love this gorgeous theme that Randy wrote for Toy Story 4 wrote for Toy Story 2 and used extensively in 4. It's so delicate and heartbreaking in that way only Randy can do, going all the way back to 60s/70s songs like "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" and "Marie". "Parting Gifts and New Horizons" has got to be one of the best score cues of the last 5 years. 3:40 - 4:20 0:35 - 1:10 0:56 Not Mr. Big and mstrox 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 What a great funny music video. He wrote the song for a Tom Selleck movie and then opens the video very meta about how he has to write a song for the movie. The girl asks "What's the matter? Phil Collins busy?" @SteveMc I trust you have seen this video before? SteveMc and Marian Schedenig 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMc 2,674 Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 3 minutes ago, Disco Stu said: @SteveMc I trust you have seen this video before? I have! The same redhead character as in his "I Love LA" and "It's Money That Matters" videos. All great. Disco Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted April 29, 2021 Author Share Posted April 29, 2021 The big nasty redhead at his side! SteveMc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,508 Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 I was supposed to have attended his concert here in Oslo last year, but it was obvioulsy postponed. I hope he gets to return once this mayhem is over. Tom Guernsey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share Posted May 14, 2021 On 4/27/2021 at 9:18 AM, Disco Stu said: I just love this gorgeous theme that Randy wrote for Toy Story 4. It's so delicate and heartbreaking in that way only Randy can do, going all the way back to 60s/70s songs like "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" and "Marie". "Parting Gifts and New Horizons" has got to be one of the best score cues of the last 5 years. 3:40 - 4:20 0:35 - 1:10 0:56 I definitely forgot that this theme had been originally written for a cue in Toy Story 2 and re-used for a cue in Toy Story 3. In my defense, those cues were inexplicably left off of their respective OSTs! Funny that it became like THE central emotional theme of the fourth one. I won't hold it against Randy, it's a fantastic melody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce marshall 1,315 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 On 8/21/2018 at 9:01 AM, Thor said: Thanks for the interview! I used to really dislike Randy Newman back in the day. Didn't care for his quirky songs, and I thought he was a 'one trick pony' as a film composer -- always churning out the same raw Americana and folksy, simplistic melodies. Well, I've come to embrace this particular sound of his in later years. True, he doesn't have the range as other composers, but what he does, he does so very well. So I've grown very fond of quite a bit of his film work. I think my favourite remains THE NATURAL. One of the all-time great scores But.... You have to see the film also or its power is lost! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share Posted May 14, 2021 Pleasantville is my personal favorite of his film scores, but The Natural is definitely one of the greatest. Not Mr. Big and Arpy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce marshall 1,315 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Certainly, one of the.most effective marriages of image to film! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbellamy 6,287 Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 4 hours ago, Disco Stu said: I definitely forgot that this theme had been originally written for a cue in Toy Story 2 and re-used for a cue in Toy Story 3. In my defense, those cues were inexplicably left off of their respective OSTs! Funny that it became like THE central emotional theme of the fourth one. I won't hold it against Randy, it's a fantastic melody. Those first three phrases always make me wanna start singing "Part of Your World" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 Oscar-Winning Songwriter Randy Newman Cancels Tour After Surgery For Broken Neck Disco Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted March 2, 2022 Author Share Posted March 2, 2022 Whoa! I'm glad he's doing ok. I had definitely noticed how much more hunched over he had gotten in the last couple of years. I assumed he was just developing a humped back in his old age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once 605 Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 Man, that headline gave me quite a scare! I like this quote, though: Quote “Recently, I noticed I was shrinking,” Newman writes. “People over whom I had towered now towered over me. Could this be payback for having written Short People? Turns out, my neck was broken. “They operated on me successfully, I think,” he continues. “For even now, I look less like an anteater and more like a folk rock artist from the early sixties. But the doctor said I’m not quite ready to tour. I was really looking forward to coming to Europe to perform. I miss performing a great deal and I look forward to a time when I can come. I’m sorry I won’t see you this time but I will see you soon.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,200 Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 2 minutes ago, Disco Stu said: Whoa! I'm glad he's doing ok. I had definitely noticed how much more hunched over he had gotten in the last couple of years. I assumed he was just developing a humped back in his old age. I've been long wondering about his health because of it. Rather relieved to hear it's "just" a broken neck. I read the statement earlier today. It's easily the funniest concert tour postponement announcement I've ever read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,338 Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 Don't people die in movies when someone snaps their neck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433 Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 24 minutes ago, AC1 said: Don't people die in movies when someone snaps their neck? Not necessarly. Look at 0:51 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once 605 Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 3 hours ago, AC1 said: Don't people die in movies when someone snaps their neck? I thought so too, but my great-grandma fell and broke her neck at the age of 104 and she recovered just fine. I thought a broken neck meant instant death up to that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted March 3, 2022 Author Share Posted March 3, 2022 I guess the difference is between a fracture and an actual severed spinal column (which is what is supposed to be happening in movies when a neck is “snapped”) Once 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Guernsey 2,286 Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 http://www.randynewman.com/2023/01/spring-2023-european-tour-postponement/ Bad news... he is still recovering from surgery so has had to further postpone his tour. Had tickets for the Palladium in London on 15 February 2023 and hope he recovers well enough to come back another time. Get well soon Randy! Marian Schedenig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,508 Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 Ah, shame. He was set to visit Oslo in less than two weeks. Oh well, hope he recovers quickly. This is the second postponement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bespin 8,483 Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 Hang on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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