Billy Straus is an American music producer and songwriter. He is known for his work in children's television including the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

series ''

Little Einsteins ''Little Einsteins'' is an American animated children's television series based on the Baby Einstein line of videos. It was produced by The Baby Einstein Company (which, at the time, was owned by Disney) and animated by Curious Pictures. The ser ...

,'' '' Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?,'' the two

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

children's

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

television series ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along with ...

'' and ''

WordWorld ''WordWorld'' (also sometimes referred to as ''Word World'') is an American children's CGI animated television series that is based on the books and the wooden puzzles of the same name. ''WordWorld'' debuted on PBS Kids and was created by Don Mo ...

.'' He produced and mixed original Broadway cast albums for ''

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is s ...

'' and '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'', both of which earned him Grammy Award nominations. He won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for his work on '' Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'' He founded Rock River Communications to introduce the concept of non-traditional music distribution into the retail marketplace.

Career

Straus was raised in New York City. While enrolled at Brown University in 1978, Straus started working as a recording engineer, recording live albums and broadcasts for artists such as

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

and

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

. He was a member of the band Redline during the early 1980s and toured with U2 in 1981. Straus worked as an engineer at

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, a singer, record producer, and one of the principal owners of the Record Plant Studios New York, purchased the ...

recording studio in Manhattan, working with artists including

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

and

Julian Lennon Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon. Julian i ...

. In 1985 he started ''The Manhattan Recording Company'', where he created The Manhattan Jazz Hour radio series, hosted by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' jazz critic, John S. Wilson, and syndicated nationally by

American Public Radio Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmin ...

. Straus also composed and produced jingles for

Miller Brewing Company The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the M ...

and

Mars, Incorporated Mars, Incorporated is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services, with US$40 billion in annual sales in 2021. Mars was ranked as the fourth-largest priva ...

. He produced for the

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

musical group

Rockapella Rockapella is an American a cappella musical group formed in 1986 in New York City. The group's name is an amalgam of "rock" and "a cappella". Rockapella sings original vocal music and a cappella covers of pop and rock songs; and over time, their ...

in the late 1980s and 1990s including two albums spun off from the PBS television series, ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'' for which he won an Emmy Award. Straus founded Rock River Communications in 1995 in Manhattan. The company later moved to Brattleboro, Vermont and also has an office in California. Rock River was an innovator in non-traditional music distribution, creating music collections for sale through non-music retailers. Rock River's first such music collection, ''Pottery Barn: A Cool Christmas'', was released in 1995. Straus subsequently produced 44 additional collections for Pottery Barn and, through the Rock River label, released over 124 compilations. Straus produced ''Street Mix'' for

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

as well as music for other retailers such as

Gap Inc. The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap (stylized as GAP), is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The c ...

W Hotels W Hotels is an American upscale lifestyle hotel chain owned by Marriott International that is marketed towards a younger age group. History W Hotels was launched in 1998 with W New York, a conversion of the former Doral Inn hotel on Lexingto ...

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars ...

and

Jose Cuervo Jose Cuervo is the best-selling brand of tequila,Dana Cimilluca, Paul Sonne and Simon Zekaria“Diageo Ends Its Attempt to Buy Jose Cuervo Tequila,”''Wall Street Journal'', December 11, 2012. selling a fifth of the tequila consumed worldwide. ...

. Straus has composed and produced music for children's television series on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

, PBS and

Walt Disney Television Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enter ...

, including ''

Dora the Explorer ''Dora the Explorer'' is an American children's animated television series and multimedia franchise created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner that premiered on Nickelodeon on August 14, 2000, went on hiatus on June 5, 20 ...

'', '' Out of the Box'' and

Gullah Gullah Island ''Gullah Gullah Island'' is an American musical children's television series that was produced by and aired on the Nick Jr. programming block on the Nickelodeon network from October 24, 1994, to April 7, 1998. The show was hosted by Ron Daise - n ...

. Straus wrote the songs for the animated television series, ''

'', in 2005, ''

'' and ''

''. In 2003, Straus wrote music and lyrics for ''Rock Odyssey'', a musical adaptation of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

''. His song, ''Change in My Life'', originally recorded by Rockapella, appeared in the Steve Martin film, ''

Leap of Faith A leap of faith, in its most commonly used meaning, is the act of believing in or accepting something outside the boundaries of reason. Overview The phrase is commonly attributed to Søren Kierkegaard; however, he never used the term, as he ...

'', in 1992. In 2007, Straus served as executive producer of ''Roots, Rock, Remixed'', a collection of remixes of reggae legend

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

's earliest recordings, and two volumes of ''Christmas Remixed: Holiday Classics Re-Grooved''. In 1999 Straus launched Websound to provide internet radio for websites. He is a co-founder of the non-profit, Next Stage Arts Project.

Awards and recognition

In 2001 Straus and collaborator

David Yazbek David Norman Yazbek (born 1961) is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''The Full Monty'' (2000), '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' (2005), ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Bre ...

were nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for producing the original Broadway cast album, ''The Full Monty'', in the category of Best Musical Show Album. ''Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'', which Straus also produced with Yazbek, was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the same category in 2005. Straus won an

for Outstanding Achievement in Live and Direct To Tape Sound Mixing for ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'' in 1996.

Personal life

Straus currently lives with his family in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. He is a volunteer emergency medical technician. He is the brother-in-law of economist and policy maker Paul Weinstein.

Works

Selected Discography

* ''Russell Kaback: Message of Love'' (2013) – Producer, engineer * ''Bob Marley: Roots, Rock, Remixed'' (2007) – Producer * ''Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - Broadway Cast Recording'' (2005) Producer, mixer * ''Shawn Colvin: Oh Little Town of Bethlehem'' (2003) – Producer, arranger with T-Bone Wolk * ''Sean Altman: alt.mania'' (2002) – Producer, engineer * ''The Full Monty - Broadway Cast Recording'' (2000) – Producer, mixer * ''Rockapella: Out Cold'' (1999) – Producer, engineer * ''Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'' (1996) - Songwriter, producer, engineer * ''Falling Over You'' (1995) - with Sean Altman - Songwriter * ''XTC: Cherry In Your Tree'' (1994) - Engineer, mixer * ''Carmen Sandiego: Out of this World'' (1994) – Songwriter, producer, engineer * ''Leap Of Faith: Soundtrack'' (1992) – Songwriter, arranger * Donald Brown: Early Bird (1988) – Engineer * ''The Hanoi Hilton Soundtrack'' (1987) – Engineer * ''Bruce Springsteen: Born In The USA'' (1984) – Engineer

Filmography

* ''

License to Wed ''License to Wed'' is a 2007 American romantic comedy film directed by Ken Kwapis. Starring Robin Williams, Mandy Moore and John Krasinski with Christine Taylor, Eric Christian Olsen and Josh Flitter in supporting roles, the film tells the story o ...

'' (2007) - Songwriter * '' Office Killer'' (1997) - Song performer * ''

Joe's Apartment ''Joe's Apartment'' is a 1996 American musical black comedy film written and directed by John Payson (in his feature directorial debut), based on his 1992 short film of the same name, and starring Jerry O'Connell and Megan Ward. The first MTV Films ...

'' (1996) - Actor * ''Leap of Faith'' (1992) - Songwriter * ''

The Hanoi Hilton ''The Hanoi Hilton'' is a 1987 Vietnam War film which focuses on the experiences of American prisoners of war who were held in the infamous Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi during the 1960s and 1970s and the story is told from their perspectives. It was ...

'' (1987)

Television

* ''

'' (2000-2002) - Composer/lyricist * ''Little Einsteins'' (2005-2006) - composer/lyricist * ''Out of the Box'' (1998) - Composer/lyricist * ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'' (1996) * ''Gullah Gullah Island'' (1995–1997) – composer/lyricist * Capitol Steps Comedy Campaign - Composer/lyricist * ''

'' * ''Bob the Builder'' (1998-2004) - composer/lyricist (Uncredited)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Straus, Billy American audio engineers American film score composers American male film score composers Record producers from New York (state) Emmy Award winners Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Musicians from New York City Brown University alumni Engineers from New York City