John Trivers (born 1946) is an American songwriter and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

, the recipient of gold and platinum records for his involvement with Blue Öyster Cult and Tina Turner, and the co-writer with his wife and partner Elizabeth Myers of several popular themes for commercials, television programs, and film scores.

Biography

Trivers was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Julian Trivers, a marketing consultant, and Patricia Culver, a homemaker. The third of five children, he was educated at The Hill School, an exclusive boarding school in Pennsylvania from which he graduated in 1965, and

Hobart College Hobart College may refer to: * Hobart and William Smith Colleges Hobart and William Smith Colleges are Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts colleges in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to G ...

, where he received a bachelor's degree in music in 1969. While at Hobart, he played bass for the band Lost and Found, fronted by Eric Bloom, with whom he would later collaborate on songs for Bloom's band Blue Öyster Cult. From 1972 to 1979, he played for Broadway shows such as '' Grease'' which is where in 1976 he met his future wife, fellow musician Elizabeth (Liz) Myers. In 1980, he went on to study Film and Television Post-Production at UCLA, In the early 1980s, he was also a member of the Vancouver-based band Prism, signed with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. He has played with four Grammy award winners, Janis Ian, Mary Travers, Peter Allen and Tina Turner with whom he recorded on "Private Dancer". His playing is featured in the Turner song "Total Control" from the " We Are the World" record. Trivers and his wife relocated to Los Angeles and started a commercial music business, Trivers-Myers Music, which has written well-known themes such as that used on the CBS Evening News, and the award-winning

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

Macintosh campaign which was directed by

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

and Adrien Lyne. In 2004, they scored an animated commercial for United Airlines which was first broadcast during the Academy Awards and has since been displayed on exhibit at various art museums. The music was an arrangement of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and was recorded at

with 40 members of the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

orchestra. In 2008, they composed the soundtracks for five United Airlines commercials created especially for the Beijing Games. "Heart" featured a two-piano composition performed by

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

and Chinese classical musician Lang Lang. The music was written and produced by Trivers and Myers. In 2011, Trivers and Myers music was featured on national broadcasts of Major League Baseball and the National Football League. In 2015, author J.K. Rowling, in her crime novel '' Career of Evil'', quoted lyrics from songs co-written by Trivers that appeared on albums by Blue Oyster Cult. Trivers is the father of Julian Trivers, the drummer in the Montreal band Busty and the Bass.

Awards

* 1998, Composer (with

Liz Myers Elizabeth Myers is an American musician, composer, pianist and singer. She co-wrote the Eddie Money song " Shakin'", but is best known for her collaborations with her husband, John Trivers on the music for several award-winning commercials and f ...

and Jim Cox) for Best Western International "Manhattan" commercial, Clio Award, Television/Cinema, Certificate * 1997, Composer (with Mark Isham) for Saturn Corporation ads "The Lift", "Tourist Attraction", "Secret Car". Clio Award, Television/Cinema * 1996, Arranger/Composer (with Liz Myers), Blue Cross / Blue Shield "The Delivery", Clio Award, TV/Cinema * 1988, Composer, Olympic Stain "Blueprint", U.S. Television/Cinema, Clio Winner * 1986, Composer, Sunkist "Stamp Factory", U.S. Television, Clio Winner

Works

*(playing bass) '' Private Dancer'' - Tina Turner, 1982 **"Rock'n Roll Widow", "When I Was Young" *(playing bass) USA for Africa - "We Are the World" **"Total Control" with Tina Turner * (playing bass) "Dark Angel", 1972, with Donald Roeser (Buck Dharma), Albert Bouchard and Les Braunstein from "Soft White Underbelly"

with Blue Öyster Cult

* '' Mirrors'', 1979 ** "The Great Sun Jester" (with Michael Moorcock and Eric Bloom) * '' Cultosaurus Erectus'', 1980 ** "Black Blade" (with Michael Moorcock and Eric Bloom) * '' Fire of Unknown Origin'', 1981 ** "Sole Survivor" (with Eric Bloom and L. Myers) ** "After Dark" (with Eric Bloom and L. Myers) *'' Curse of the Hidden Mirror'', 2001 ** "Showtime" (with Eric Bloom)

with Elizabeth Myers

* Score for the film ''Birch Street Gym'', directed by Steven Kessler for Chanticleer Films and nominated for an Academy Award in 1993 in the "Short Film" category * Theme for the " CBS Evening News with Dan Rather" (with Alan Pasqua) * 1998, Score for ''Norma Jean, Jack & Me'', directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh for New Path Pictures * 2000, Score for ''Broke Even'', directed by David Feldman, which won the award for Best Drama at the 2000 New York Independent Film festival * 2001, Score for the

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

-produced TV movie ''The Day Reagan Was Shot''

References

External links

Official website
*
BOC FAQ

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trivers, John 1946 births Living people American rock bass guitarists American television composers American film score composers Musicians from Buffalo, New York The Hill School alumni Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni Prism (band) members Songwriters from New York (state)