November 28 - Randy Newman

Image courtesy of Twitter.com

On this day, in 1943, Randall Stuart Newman was born in Los Angeles, California. Born on his father's 30th birthday, Randy spent some of his youth living in New Orleans before his family returned to Los Angeles at the age of 11. You could say that he later went into the family business: three of his uncles (Alfred, Lionel and Emil) and four of his cousins (Thomas, Maria, David and Joey) are also film composers. Although Randy didn't start out that way.

At the ripe old age of 17, Randy became a professional songwriter. He released a single, Golden Gridiron Boy, in 1962 as a performer but it was a flop and he wouldn't perform again for several years because of it. The same year, Randy gained exposure (and the royalties that come with it) when The Fleetwoods released his song They Tell Me It's Summer as the B-side of one of their hits. For those of you kids who don't know what a B-side is, go ask your grandparents. Throughout the rest of the Sixties, Randy's songs were recorded by such artists as Dusty Springfield, Gene Pitney and Petula Clark. He even saw several of songs become top 40 hits in the United Kingdom during this time.

Photo lifted from Wikipedia.com

In 1968, Randy released his first album as a performer, the self titled Randy Newman. It didn't catch on with audiences but was a critical success and many of its songs were covered by other groups, so he still made money. The track I Think It's Going to Rain Today became something of a standard (the best known version is perhaps Bette Midler's on the Beaches soundtrack). Throughout the Seventies, Randy continued to write songs for other groups (like Mama Told Me Not to Come for Three Dog Night) while occasionally putting out albums of his own. The early albums never really became great commercial successes, but Randy built a large following anyways.  In 1974, he had his first success when the album Good Old Boys reached number 36 on the charts. Three years later, he cracked the top ten with Little Criminals featuring the hit song Short People.

Image copyright HBO Films

Randy's work composing for film actually began in 1971 when he penned the score to Norman Lear's Cold Turkey. It would be ten more years, though before he did it again. The wait was worth it. For 1981's Ragtime, Randy was nominated for two Academy Awards. Thus began his second career of composing both film scores and songs used in those films. His work can be heard on such movies as Pleasantville, Awakenings and Meet the Parents. Not only did he write songs for The Three Amigos, he co-wrote the script and provided the voice for the singing bush.

Image copyright Disney

Randy has become a staple for Pixar releases. Starting with their first feature, Toy Story, Randy has not only scored a total of eight Pixar films so far, but also written and performed songs for some of them: A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 and 3, Monsters, Inc., Cars, Monsters University and Cars 3. He will return next year as the composer on Toy Story 4. His work on those eight movies garnered him several Oscar nominations, including two wins for Best Original Song for Monsters, Inc and Toy Story 3. The win for Monsters, Inc. actually ended his unwanted distinction for the most nominations without a win after losing 15 times. He still quips that his percentages aren't great as he's only won twice in 20 nominations.

Image copyright Disney

Randy also has the honor of scoring the last traditionally animated Walt Disney Pictures feature, 2009's The Princess and the Frog. Set in Louisiana, the mix of jazz, zydeco and blues was perfectly suited to Randy's style and he even got an animated version of himself in the film, albeit as a firefly. Two more Oscar nominations came his way for the songs Almost There and Down in New Orleans. Randy had previously written the music for Disney's version of James and the Giant Peach as well.

At the age of 75, Randy continues to write new songs, provide the scores for new movies and perform. He released an album just last year called Dark Matter. He scored last year's The Meyerowitz Stories and has at least one coming out next year.  In 2002, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, became a Disney Legend in 2007, and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honoree in 2013. In short, he shows no signs of slowing down much. And for fans of his quirky songs and style, that's a very good thing.