New "Looney Tunes: Platinum Collection Volume Two" 3-DVD Blu-ray set

Is there a cartoon geek on your holiday shopping list? The new "LOONEY TUNES: PLATINUM COLLECTION Volume Two" 3-DVD Blu-ray set is released today. Watch side-by-side remastering comparison of "Canned Feud" — featuring Raymond Scott's hit tune, "Huckleberry Duck" — below:

New "Looney Tunes: Platinum Collection"3-DVD Blu-ray set

Just in time for the cartoon geeks on your holiday shopping list, the new "LOONEY TUNES: PLATINUM COLLECTION" 3-DVD Blu-ray set includes 2 Raymond Scott "Behind the Tunes" featurettes with movie-music maestro, John Williams, and Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh:

• "Powerhouse in Pictures"

• "Twilight in Tunes: The Music of Raymond Scott"

More info: here

Yes And Also Yes

''I had a big thing for Raymond Scott loops. Hell, I could probably eke out a living producing hiphop records, using nothing but breakbeats and Raymond Scott compositions.''

—MIKE DOUGHTY

Today Mike Doughty dropped his new album, YES AND ALSO YES. There's no connection to Raymond Scott on this record, but we wanna plug it anyway. Irwin and I are big fans of Doughty's music and his 1990s band Soul Coughing — and not just because they released three tracks with Raymond Scott samples.

"Bus To Beelzebub," from their first album RUBY VROOM, was based on adapted loops from Scott's "Powerhouse," as heard in numerous Bugs Bunny cartoons. "Uh, Zoom Zip," from the same album, uses samples from the RS Quintette's recording of "The Toy Trumpet" that are so distorted they went unidentified for years. By contrast, the loops from the RSQ's "The Penguin" heard throughout SC's "Disseminated," on their 2nd album, IRRESISTIBLE BLISS, are easy to spot. I love the track and think it's one of the coolest uses of Scott samples by any artist, but Doughty is ambivalent. "The lyrics are not my proudest," he explained for SCUG.net. "Don’t get me wrong, I’m pro-nonsense, but at the time we were sequencing the record I dismissed the song as 'harmelodic vaudeville.' Democracy won out, the song made the record, and it ended up being the only damn song on the record that Robert Christgau liked when he reviewed it in Spin."

Doughty has been busy — he also released an album of loop-based electronic music this month called DUBIOUS LUXURY. He explains, "I wasn’t noisy about it, at the time, but much of the sampled stuff in Soul Coughing was my work: the crazed Bugs Bunny sample on 'Bus to Beelzebub,' the peculiar Raymond Scott sample on 'Disseminated'." But don't expect more Raymond Scott samples. "After the first record, my bandmates were increasingly unreceptive to loops I brought in from other people's music. Maybe they were right, we woulda been poorer, giving our money away to other composers," he said at MikeDoughty.com. "I could only use the majority of the loops live — gone are the days when Warner Bros. would write a fat check to pay off the Raymond Scott estate and Toots Hibbert for their unsuspecting contributions! Even rappers are too smart to use samples these days."

ADDED BY I.C.: Doughty just confirmed he'll perform live on my WFMU program on Weds. September 21, between 5-6pm (Eastern). MD also performed a couple of songs on WFMU's snarky SEVEN SECOND DELAY, hosted by Ken Freedman and Andy Breckman, broadcast from the UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE on July 27.

Urban Dictionary

Finally, Raymond Scott has hit the big-time:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Powerhouse+B

Warner Bros. cartoon scores

Raymond Scott's melodies permeate countless scores of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons from the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. Scott never worked for WB; a dozen of his compositions were adapted dozens of times by WB music director Carl Stalling (at right), who also composed the majority of the original music heard in the classic cartoons. Over the years, we're often asked about the availability of original WB cartoon scores, and we've never had a satisfactory answer to provide. However, we recently received the following news from a visitor to RaymondScott.com:

I'm writing from Laramie, Wyoming, USA - not sure if you'd be interested, but the American Heritage Center in Laramie is home to a large volume of lost/disorganized Warner Brother/Looney Tunes original arrangements and drafts. The history of the music is that it was given to the Heritage Center in unlabeled, mixed-up boxes. Dr. Anne Guzzo has been sorting and cataloging the music - sorta like a gigantic puzzle. Hardly anyone other than Dr. Guzzo has really utilized the collection (other than an occasional piece by the local University).

We're passing along this info and a link to the Carl W. Stalling Papers at AHC/Laramie. If you have any additional information or discoveries to share, please drop us a note.

Bugs is back

Warner Bros. has announced plans to produce new TV and theatrical cartoons featuring Bugs, Daffy, Sylvester & Tweety and their cohorts. WB apparently feels compelled to roust the company's legacy luminaries out of their gated retirement communities and foist them on unsuspecting hordes of Justin Bieber fans. Wanna bet the violence and mayhem will be less … violent? We can just imagine the PC Police getting their hands on old Tex Avery scripts and red-penciling certain strains of insensitive behavior.

When this New York Times article appeared last week, someone in the Scott family asked me if Warner might use Raymond Scott music in the soundtracks. I'm not optimistic. When WB peppered their classic 1940s and '50s 'toons with RS themes, they owned Scott's publishing (under their Advanced Music publishing arm). Modest user fees were paid from the Warner film division to Advanced, but I'm sure there was cooperation and that requests for usage were pro forma. In fact, all non-Carl Stalling compositions adapted for the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies from the 1930s thru the 1960s were owned by one of Warner's publishing affiliates (Remick, Harms, Witmark, or Advanced).

When the Scott copyrights reached the 28-year renewal term (since extended by law) in the early 1960s, US rights reverted to the composer, and title by title the catalog began slipping out of WB's grasp. The last instance of a Scott melody ("Powerhouse") heard in a WB score (Sheep in the Deep) was in 1962. In 1964, Scott sold the catalog to Music Sales Corp.

In the 1980s, a friend of ours was hired to direct new WB 'toons with the classic characters, and he tried to include a few Scott melodies for historical continuity. He was given budgetary grief from the executive suites and managed to prevail in only a few instances.

Music Sales knows about this project and will make an attempt to place Scott's melodies—especially "Powerhouse." But it will all come down to whether the studio considers it worth the expense. I suspect licensing non-WB music will be a distant consideration.

The Dought Abides

''I had a big thing for Raymond Scott loops. Hell, I could probably eke out a living producing hiphop records, using nothing but breakbeats and Raymond Scott compositions.''

—MIKE DOUGHTY

Today Mike Doughty dropped his new album, SAD MAN HAPPY MAN. There's no connection to Raymond Scott on this record, but we wanna plug it anyway. Irwin & I are big fans of Doughty's music & his 1990s band Soul Coughing — & not just because they released three tracks with Raymond Scott samples.

"Bus To Beelzebub," from their first album RUBY VROOM, was based on adapted loops from Scott's "Powerhouse," as heard in numerous Bugs Bunny cartoons. "Uh, Zoom Zip," from the same album, uses samples from the RS Quintette's recording of "The Toy Trumpet" that are so distorted they went unidentified for years. By contrast, the loops from the RSQ's "The Penguin" heard throughout SC's "Disseminated," on their 2nd album, IRRESISTIBLE BLISS, are easy to spot. I love the track & think it's one of the coolest uses of Scott samples by any artist, but Doughty is ambivalent. "The lyrics are not my proudest," he explained for SCUG.net. "Don’t get me wrong, I’m pro-nonsense, but at the time we were sequencing the record I dismissed the song as 'harmelodic vaudeville.' Democracy won out, the song made the record, and it ended up being the only damn song on the record that Robert Christgau liked when he reviewed it in Spin."

Doughty is currently working on a new batch of loop-based electronic music, but don't expect more Raymond Scott samples. "After the first record, my bandmates were increasingly unreceptive to loops I brought in from other people's music. Maybe they were right, we woulda been poorer, giving our money away to other composers," he said at MikeDoughty.com. "I could only use the majority of the loops live — gone are the days when Warner Bros. would write a fat check to pay off the Raymond Scott estate and Toots Hibbert for their unsuspecting contributions! Even rappers are too smart to use samples these days."

Raymond Scott 101: Happy Birthday

Today is the 101st anniversary of Raymond Scott's birth. But before we eat cake & ice cream, let's review some basics for the kids who were late to class.

Q: When was Raymond Scott born?

A: On September 10, 1908.

Q: Is Raymond Scott still alive?

A: He passed away in 1994 at the age of 85.

Q: Did Raymond Scott write music for cartoons?

A: No, but 20 of his compositions have been immortalized in countless classic animations, from BUGS BUNNY to THE SIMPSONS.

Q: Did BOB MOOG, the inventor of Moog Synthesizers, work for Raymond Scott?

A: Although Bob Moog was more than 25 years younger than Raymond, they were professional colleagues & friends for nearly two decades. Bob acknowledged Ray as an early influence during the 1950s & '60s. Details about Scott-Moog connections here.

Q: Was Johnny Williams, drummer for the 1930s Raymond Scott Quintette, related to JOHN WILLIAMS, the famous film score composer of music for JAWS, STAR WARS, INDIANA JONES, HARRY POTTER, etc.?

A: Yes, they are father & son.

Q: Did Raymond Scott work for MOTOWN?

A: During the 1950s & '60s, Scott perfected his 'Electronium,' an electronic music machine which attracted the attention of Motown owner Berry Gordy, who purchased an Electronium for Motown in September 1970. Scott then became Motown's Director of Electronic Research and Development for several years. Following a serious heart attack in 1977, Scott retired from Motown at age 69.

Q: I've heard that Raymond Scott worked with MUPPETS creator JIM HENSON. Fact or fiction?

A: Henson was more than a quarter-century younger than Scott when they met in the mid-1960s, and they collaborated on experimental art films, industrial reels, and TV projects. Many of the Scott-Henson collaborations are showcased in the 2-CD/144-page book package MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC.

HOMEWORK & FURTHER STUDY:

• Raymond Scott Timeline

• Raymond Scott FAQ

• RaymondScott.com

OK, now it's time for the birthday party!

BBC Radio Interview

The BBC World Service radio arts program, The Strand, recently aired an interview with Raymond Scott's son, Stan Warnow, about his forthcoming documentary film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD. Listen to the feature, which also utilizes generous portions of Stu Brown's new CD: here<<

photo of Stan Warnow

by: Gert-Jan Blom

The Cartoon Gene

AllAboutJazz.com reveals:

"Scientists working diligently in a laboratory somewhere recently discovered a DNA strand and have identified it as the Cartoon Gene. This revelation proves the visual link between animation and sound. What they found is that cartoons permanently imprint sounds on your brain, for instance the sound of a character sneaking up stairs is a quickly rising pizzicato violin. That is why exposure to the music of Raymond Scott, adapted for Warner Brothers, brings automatic memories to anyone over forty."

Whirled Chamber Music

Jazz violinist Jeremy Cohen, leader of the Quartet San Francisco, whose forthcoming album, Whirled Chamber Music, contains seven classic Raymond Scott compositions:

"I was introduced to Raymond Scott by a stagehand pushing a broom. It was 1995, at the Theatre on the Square in San Francisco (now the Post Street Theatre), and I was lead violinist for a 22-month run of Forever Tango. The stagehand was Peter Palermo, now director of the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts in Lebanon, IL. Peter brought me a Scott CD called Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights. It set off in me a Raymond Scott fever that still burns! Now, as 2008 marks the one-hundredth anniversary of Raymond Scott’s birth, we have dedicated a large portion of Whirled to this brilliant composer, inventor, bandleader, and pioneer of electronic music."

Samples of Whirled can be heard here.

Over the next few months, the QSF will perform in Los Angeles, Columbus, Pasadena, Louisville, NJ, NYC, Berkeley, Natick, and elsewhere.

Whirled's cover art may not look familiar, but it features details of an uncirculated mid-1960s painting by LP cover illustration icon Jim Flora.

Update (06 DEC 07): Grammy nomination!