James Ira Newborn (born December 26, 1949) is an American musician, actor, orchestrator and composer, best known for his work composing motion picture soundtracks.

Life and career

Newborn was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. References to him as James Ira are the result of a joke and incorrect. He has scored or written songs for films such as ''

Sixteen Candles ''Sixteen Candles'' is a 1984 American coming-of-age comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. Written and directed by John Hughes in his directorial debut, it was the first in a string of films Hughes ...

'', '' Weird Science'', ''

Ferris Bueller's Day Off ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' is a 1986 American teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes and co-produced by Tom Jacobson. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck with supporting roles by Jennifer Grey ...

'', ''

Uncle Buck ''Uncle Buck'' is a 1989 American comedy film written and directed by John Hughes, and starring John Candy and Amy Madigan with supporting roles by Jean Louisa Kelly (in her film debut), Macaulay Culkin, Gaby Hoffmann, Garrett M. Brown and Ela ...

'', ''

Planes, Trains and Automobiles ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' is a 1987 American comedy film written, produced and directed by John Hughes and starring Steve Martin and John Candy with supporting roles by Laila Robins and Michael McKean. It tells the story of a high-stru ...

'', ''

Mallrats ''Mallrats'' is a 1995 American buddy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jason Lee, Jeremy London, Shannen Doherty, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck, Jason Mewes, Joey Lauren Adams, Michael Rooker, and Smith as Silent Bob. ...

'', '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' and '' Into the Night'', for which he wrote music for

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

''.'' He frequently worked with director John Hughes. He also stepped in as musical director and producer for ''

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respective ...

''. Newborn's many film credits also include a small acting role in ''Xanadu'', in which he appears as a 1940s bandleader. Newborn may be best known for composing the soundtrack for the ''

Naked Gun Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to ...

'' series of police satires starring

Leslie Nielsen Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. Nielsen was bo ...

. Newborn's brassy big band/blues theme song for the franchise first appeared on the TV series that inspired the films, 1982's ''

Police Squad! ''Police Squad!'' is an American television crime comedy series that was broadcast on the ABC network in 1982. It was created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, starring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin. A spoof of police procedu ...

''. Newborn has also worked in concerts and commercials, on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and in the recording industry as a performer, arranger, composer and conductor. He is also an adjunct faculty member at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, from which he received his bachelor's degree in 1972. Influenced by an eclectic variety of composers, such as

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, as a guitarist Newborn led and played in several musical groups before signing on as the musical director for the vocal group

the Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award–winning vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music. There have been two editions of the Manhattan Transfer, ...

. Newborn has contributed to albums by many artists such as

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

and

the Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, b ...

As a songwriter

Newborn wrote two songs performed by B.B. King for the ''Into the Night'' soundtrack: "

My Lucille "My Lucille" is a 1985 song written for the 1985 John Landis film called '' Into the Night'', starring Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer. It was written by Ira Newborn and recorded by B.B. King. The title of the song is reference to B.B. King's ...

" and " Into the Night." Two songs co-written by Newborn appeared on the ''Into the Night'' soundtrack album, but not in the film: "Don't Make Me Sorry," co-written by Joe Esposito and performed by

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

, and "Keep It Light," co-written by Reginald "Sonny" Burke and performed by

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1946) Retrieved . is an American singer. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit record in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Gramm ...

. Newborn co-wrote " Clap Your Hands" for the Manhattan Transfer and "Get It On and Have a Party" for Patti Brooks on the ''

Dr. Detroit ''Doctor Detroit'' is a 1983 American comedy film directed by Michael Pressman with writing by Bruce Jay Friedman, Carl Gottlieb, and Robert Boris. The film stars Dan Aykroyd, Howard Hesseman, Lynn Whitfield, Fran Drescher, and Donna Dixon, wit ...

'' soundtrack. Both "Geek Boogie" from ''

'' and "Geek Romance" from '' Weird Science'' were credited to Ira and the Geeks. He co-wrote "I Guess I'm Just Screwed" for '' The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear'' with

David Zucker David Samuel Zucker (born October 16, 1947) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Associated mostly with parody comedies, Zucker is recognized as the director and writer of the critically successful 1980 film ''Airplane!'' ...

and Robert LoCash. With

Peter Segal Peter Segal (born 1962) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Segal has directed the comedic films ''Tommy Boy'' (1995), ''My Fellow Americans'' (1996), '' The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps'' (2000), ''Anger Managemen ...

, he co-wrote "The Food Song" for the '' Naked Gun : The Final Insult'' soundtrack.

Filmography

Film

Television

*'' SCTV'' (1981) (TV) *''

'' (1982) (TV) *''

Tales from the Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...

'' (1992) (TV) *'' The Late Shift'' (1995) (TV)

References

External links

*
Ira Newborn at soundtrack.net
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Newborn, Ira 1949 births 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians American film score composers American male voice actors Living people American male film score composers Musicians from New York City Varèse Sarabande Records artists