Randy Edelman
| Randy Edelman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 10, 1947 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop music, Film score |
| Occupations | Composer, conductor |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1973–present |
Randy Edelman (born June 10, 1947) is an American film and television score composer.
Life and career
Edelman was born in Paterson, New Jersey.[1] He was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, the son of a first-grade teacher and an accountant.[2] He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before heading to New York where he played piano in Broadway pit orchestras. He produced several solo albums of songs (some of which were later recorded by The Carpenters ("I Can't Make Music", "Piano Picker" and "You"), Barry Manilow ("Weekend in New England"), "If Love Is Real" from Olivia Newton-John's Making a Good Thing Better and others) before moving to Los Angeles. It was there where Edelman started to work in television and film scoring.
Musical scores
One of his first film scores was for the 1973 movie Executive Action which put forward an additional version of some theories concerning the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1963. In the mid-1980s, Edelman wrote the theme to, and scored many episodes of MacGyver, a popular television series starring Richard Dean Anderson.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, he also collaborated with Ivan Reitman, producing scores for several of his comedies, including Ghostbusters II, Twins and Kindergarten Cop. He also contributed to Beethoven, The Last of the Mohicans, The Mask, Daylight, Anaconda and xXx.
Randy Edelman was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 2003 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.[3]
He produced the scores for the 2008 film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
Scores reused elsewhere
While some of the films scored by Edelman were not commercial successes, the music was often reused elsewhere. Themes he wrote for Dragonheart, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (particularly the movie's love theme Bruce and Linda), Gettysburg and other films have been widely used in television advertising, film trailers, countless Disney movies including Mulan, and during the Academy Awards. In particular, the rousing yet heartwarming theme of Dragon, featured in "The Premiere of THE BIG BOSS" and "The Dragon's Heartbeat" have become synonymous with tear-jerking films of bittersweet yet triumphant rises to glory, featuring prominently in trailers of films like Patch Adams, The Truman Show, In Love and War and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone film. Themes from his score for Come See the Paradise have been used in film trailers more than cues from any other film soundtrack.[4][5]
NBC Sports
His music from The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. is featured during NBC's Olympic Games coverage when announcing upcoming events. In addition, it was used during NBC's coverage of the 1997 World Series. At the end of the 1996 Summer Olympics, it used the closing music of Gettysburg. In the 1990s, Edelman composed the popular theme music for NBC's NFL telecasts which was used for the 1995–97 seasons through Super Bowl XXXII.[6]
Personal life
Edelman has been married to singer Jackie DeShannon since June 3, 1976. Jackie DeShannon is famous for such 1960s hits as "When You Walk in the Room", "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" and "What the World Needs Now Is Love". He is Jackie's second husband. Together they have a son, Noah D. Edelman.
Hit records
Edelman has also achieved chart success with several songs:[7]
- "Everybody Wants to Find a Bluebird" (March 1975) – No.92 US
- "Concrete and Clay" (March 1976) – cover version of the hit for the British pop group Unit 4 + 2 – No.11 UK, US "Easy Listening" survey
- "Uptown Uptempo Woman" (September 1976) – No.25 UK
- "You" (January 1977) – No.49 UK
- "Nobody Made Me" (July 1982) – No.60 UK
Randy Edelman Solo Song CD's:
- The Pacific Flow To Abbey Road- CherryRed (UK) VareseSarabande (US)
- Randy Edelman- MGM Records
- The Laughter and the Tears- MGM Records
- Prime Cuts- 20th Century Records
- Farewell Fairbanks- 20th Century Records
- If Love is Real- Arista Records
- You're the One- Arista Records
- On Time- Rocket Records
- Switch of the Seasons-PRT Records(Polar)
- Randy Edelman and his Piano- PRT Records
- Uptown Uptempo Woman(Compilation)- Warwick Reflection Records
- Uptown Uptempo, The Best Of Randy Edelman- RCA Ltd. Records
- The Very Best of Randy Edelman- Cherry Red Records
A partial list artists who have covered Randy Edelman songs: (both music and lyrics)
- The Carpenters- I Can't Make Music, You, Piano Picker
- Barry Manilow- Weekend in New England
- Labelle- Isn't it a Shame
- Olivia Newton John- If Love is Real
- Nelly- My Place
- Dionne Warwick- You are the Sunlight, I am the Moon, The Laughter and Tears, Give a Little Laughter
- Blood Sweat and Tears- Blue Street
- Jackie DeShannon- Sunny Days, Let the Sailors Dance
- Agnetha Faltskog (ABBA)- Turn The World Around
- The Fifth Dimension- Everybody Wants to Call You Sweetheart
- Kool and the Gang- Amore Amore
- Bing Crosby- The Woman On Your Arm
- Shirley Bassey- Isn't It a Shame
- Nancy Wilson- The Laughter and the Tears
- Rosemary Clooney- You
- Petula Clark- Make a time for Lovin'
Filmography
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | episode: All the Kids Do It |
| 1985–87 | MacGyver | seasons 1–2 |
| 1986 | Mr. Sunshine | episode: Pilot |
| 1988 | ABC Afterschool Special | episode: A Family Again |
| 1993 | The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. | episode: Pilot |
References
- ↑ Randy Edelman, FilmReference.com. Accessed September 27, 2011.
- ↑ Sheff, David. "Jackie Deshannon Wrote the Tune but Randy Edelman Put a Little Love in Her Heart", People, May 5, 1980. Accessed September 27, 2011. "Edelman, in fact, was scarcely 22, just out of Cincinnati's Conservatory of Music and still living part-time in Teaneck, N.J. with his parents (an accountant and a first-grade teacher)."
- ↑ "Randy Edelman, Merv Griffin, Eminem Among Honorees at BMI Film/TV Awards". bmi.com. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
- ↑ "Top 100 Frequently Used Cues". soundtrack.net. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
- ↑ Sella, Marshall (July 28, 2002). "The 150-Second Sell, Take 34". New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ↑ 1995–1997 NFL on NBC Theme
- ↑ UK Chart Stats
External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|