Xylophone

Raymond Scott on Mickopedia

Raymond Scott, as profiled on Mickopedia ("the feckin' free Irish encyclopedia"):

A 1931 graduate of the feckin' Juilliard School of Music, where he studied piano, theory and composition, Scott, under his birth name, began his professional career as an oul' pianist for the feckin' CBS Radio house band. Would ye swally this in a minute now? His older (by eight years) brother Mark conducted the oul' orchestra. Arra' would ye listen to this shite? Harry reportedly adopted the bleedin' pseudonym "Raymond Scott" to spare his brother charges of nepotism when the orchestra began performin' the bleedin' pianist's idiosyncratic compositions. In 1935 he married Pearl Zimney (1910-2001). Be the hokey, here's a quare wan.

Don't Knock The Rock

The new Raymond Scott documentary, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will be screened on August 5 at the DON’T KNOCK THE ROCK film & music festival in Los Angeles. The fest was founded by director Allison Anders (Sex and the City), produced in association with Cinefamily, and the venue is the historic Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax Ave.

The screening will be followed by historian/author Jerry Beck's "Secret Animated History of Raymond Scott," a chronicle of Scott's work as adapted in Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Animaniacs, and The Simpsons.

Deconstructing Dad's director, Stan Warnow, will attend, Raymond Scott's widow, Mitzi also plans to be there, and guitarist Skip Heller will spin Scott tunes before and after the show. 


P.S. From the new issue of: the LA WEEKLY.

another Facebook page

There's a Facebook page devoted to Raymond Scott, but we didn't create it (and won't link to it). We don't know who did, and all attempts to contact the admin have met with stony silence. Whoever launched it posted one lame status update in 2008 and nothing since. So we created the OFFICIAL Raymond Scott Archives page on Facebook. At some point ours will have more members than the bogus group and we'll be de facto rulers the internets. If you join our RS FB group now, in the future you will be allowed to continue using the web. Everyone else will be blocked by a China-sized firewall.

XII Festival Cinema Jueu Barcelona

The new Raymond Scott documentary, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will premiere in Spain on July 8th at the Barcelona Jewish Film Festival. Director Stan Warnow will attend and conduct a Q&A following the screening.

On Saturday night, July 10th, the band Racalmuto, who have developed an extensive Raymond Scott repertoire, will perform at the festival.

2010 Gold Medal Winner

DECONSTRUCTING DAD, the new Raymond Scott documentary, has been awarded the 2010 Park City Film Music Festival "Director's Choice Gold Medal for Excellence," in their Music Documentaries category. Congratulations to director Stan Warnow.

New Hope Film Festival

The new Raymond Scott documentary, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will be presented at the New Hope Film Festival on June 23rd, and director Stan Warnow will attend. Tickets: here

Hoboken International Film Festival

On June 8th, the Hoboken International Film Festival will feature the new Raymond Scott documentary, DECONSTRUCTING DAD. A Q&A will be conducted by director Stan Warnow. Tickets & details: here

Party Like It's 1999

Cartoon Network's round-the-clock bumper theme from 1997 to 2004 was Raymond Scott's classic "Powerhouse." Watch >>This montage presents more than 300 bumpers that Primal Screen produced for the network's programming. The montage's music bed is an arrangement of "Powerhouse" commissioned by the network. Long and short versions are available on the 1999 Rhino/WEA CD Cartoon Medley.

Rivertown Film Society

The Rivertown (New York) Film Society is featuring DECONSTRUCTING DAD, the new Raymond Scott documentary, on Friday, May 21, at 7:30 pm. There will also be a Q&A with director Stan Warnow, and admission is free. More info: here

Park City Film Music Festival

The new Raymond Scott documentary, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will be featured at the Park City Film Music Festival: "a ground-breaking event dedicated to all aspects of music in film — from music-based documentaries, to music videos and feature films that use music as an essential element." The documentary is being shown at the Egyptian Theater in Park City, Utah, on Wednesday, May 19th, at 6:15 pm, and director Stan Warnow will attend. Details: here

Jean Shepherd:"You'll Shoot Your Eye Out, Kid!"

Although best-known as writer and narrator of the classic 1983 holiday movie, A CHRISTMAS STORY, Jean Shepherd began a long radio career in 1948. He was not a traditional DJ who kept silent while playing records; he was a monologist who carefully chose music beds to underscore his unique narrative style. At least twice he pontificated over Raymond Scott:

 • In 1965 Shep, fascinated by Scott's SOOTHING SOUNDS FOR BABY electronic lullaby series, built an entire program theme around it, according SSFB perhaps its only airplay until the CD reissues more than 3 decades later.

 • The following year, Shep delivered one of his trademark rants about amusement parks as he spun "In An 18th Century Drawing Room," which Scott composed in 1937: listen here.

Electronium Restoration

Although Raymond Scott designed and built several versions of his automatic composing-performing machine, The Electronium, the only surviving model was one commissioned by Berry Gordy for Motown. Following Scott's death in 1994, the non-functioning instrument was purchased by Mark Mothersbaugh, who promised to restore it. That resurrection is now being attempted by engineer Darren Davison. 

THE WIRE Magazine Feature

The April 2010 print edition of THE WIRE magazine features an article/review about the new Raymond Scott film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, directed by Stan Warnow, Scott's son. (Also featured in this issue: Joanna Newsome, Edgard Varèse, DJ Stingray, & others. A free 20-track CD is also included.) Meanwhile, THE WIRE's site is hosting an exclusive, specially-edited clip from the documentary here.

"The insights afforded by Raymond Scott's own son add shades of intrigue and pathos not found in the average music documentary."

—Richard Henderson, THE WIRE

You're Invited To Spend New Year's Eve In A Haunted House

Like most of Raymond Scott's 1930s Quintette tunes, "New Year's Eve In A Haunted House" is a descriptive musical portrait of a specific fantasy. As Max "Bunny" Sparber observed, Scott "eschews the hammy organ and ghostly wailing typically associated with ghost-ridden mansions in favor of a sprightly horn-driven number. The piece could pass for a cheerful foxtrot, but for a single muted trumpet blast that interrupts the music with a moaning 'waah' sound and a percussion solo that includes an ominous chimes progression. There’s something haunting this song, that’s for sure; we should be grateful that it appears to be in a good mood." Welcome that good mood for the new year — watch > THIS < spirited live arrangement by Portland's Vagabond Opera.

Trouble With Hitchcock

For years I've asserted that Six Degrees Of Separation can be reduced to two or three if Raymond Scott is in the equation. Case in point: Alfred Hitchcock's 1955 feature, THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY. This morbid comedy/murder mystery connects Scott to numerous Hollywood heavies including Shirley MacLaine (in her debut role), John Forsythe, legendary Academy Award-winning soundtrack composer Bernard Herrmann, and even a young Jerry Mathers (later a TV icon in the title role on LEAVE IT TO BEAVER).

Scott's song "Flaggin' The Train To Tuscaloosa" is sung by Forsythe's character, Sam Marlowe, early in the movie. According to an April 1955 Daily Variety news item, Scott originally composed the tune as a commercial jingle for the YOUR HIT PARADE television series (on which he conducted the orchestra during the decade). Variety noted that the melody had different lyrics for the commercial, with new words penned by accomplished songsmith Mack David for the Hitchcock film. (Mack is the brother of Hal David, who co-wrote with Burt Bacharach — another legend three degrees from Scott.)

• Listen to the song, from a scratchy 45 single, performed by Ray McKinley & His Orchestra: here

ABOVE: from the opening credits

BELOW: Shirley MacLaine & John Forsythe are pictured on the cover of the piano sheet music

Totally Tubeular

Live concert footage, classic and contemporary cartoons, vintage movie clips, clever commercial interruptions, and low-brow home-brewed videos are just some of the cheap free thrills to be found among the 150 favorites collected at our official YouTube channel:

http://youtube.com/RaymondScottArchives

Reel News

Raymond Scott's son, Stan Warnow, with updates on his documentary about his father:

My film is now basically finished, and I will be in Amsterdam this week as it's been accepted into the International Documentary Film Festival (the 'Docs For Sale' component). It has shown in a few other festivals already, including Biografilm in Bologna last June, and the HHM Film & Music fest in Bay City, MI in September.

It gained world-wide publicity through the BBC — they've interviewed me three times in the past year — the most recent being a Front Row piece a couple of weeks ago, and a segment from BBC World Service last August.

Excerpts will be shown at the Northern Lights Film Festival in England as part of a linked event with Stu Brown's group, performing at the Sage Gateshead Jazz Festival, which runs concurrently. And the official UK premiere will be at the Sensoria Festival the following month in Sheffield.

Also, it is scheduled for a screening next April as part of the Jazz Film Series at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

Another relevant development — I recently sent Leonard Maltin, one of the country’s most recognized and respected movie critics and historians, a preview DVD in hopes he would screen the documentary. Very gratified to report that he has, and here’s his reaction:

''A fascinating look at a musical genius and the way he lived his life. Stan Warnow allows us to share his journey of discovery as he pieces together the story of his father. I throughly enjoyed it.''

It’s a real thrill for me to get such positive feedback from one of the best-known film critics in America!

—Stan Warnow

www.scottdoc.com

Bump In The Night

Adult Swim, the adult-oriented cable TV network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network at night, features shows and commercial breaks that are interrupted by creative bumpers that use short jokes or Internet fan feedback, usually broadcast in simple white letters over a black screen.

If you took a bathroom break and missed them, here's a trio of bumps featuring a mutated mix of Raymond Scott's "In The Hall Of The Mountain Queen" obsessively archived at BumpWorthy.com.

Hell's Half Mile

Director Stan Warnow, Raymond Scott's son, has an update about his documentary:

"Yes, the film is headed for another festival, the Hell’s Half Mile Film and Music Festival in Bay City, Michigan. If you are in the area I hope you can attend."

There will be two showings: Saturday, October 3rd at Delta College, 11 AM, & Sunday, October 4th at State Theatre, 3 PM. Details here.