Rick Rhodes (July 28, 1951 – November 2, 2005) was an American

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 ...

and television

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. His music for TV shows including ''Santa Barbara'', ''Another World'' and ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'' won a total of five

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 ...

. In 2005, he died of brain cancer at the age of 54.

Life

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on July 28, 1951, Rhodes learned to play the trombone and the piano during his teen years. As an adult, he toured the U.S. with his band, Wonder, but eventually settled with a television career in composing. He married

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

Vivian Rhodes in 1982; they had two children, a son and a daughter. Rick and Vivian, together, produced two songs, "Let's Be Lovers Again" and "Fasten Your Seat Belts", which both received

nominations. They also co-wrote the musical ''Ug''; which was performed in California and off-Broadway in 2004. Rhodes' songs have been recorded by many musicians, including

Patti Austin Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter. Music career Austin was born in Harlem, New York, to Gordon Austin, a jazz trombonist. She was raised in Bay Shore, New York on Long Island. Quincy ...

Diane Schuur Diane Joan Schuur (born December 10, 1953), nicknamed "Deedles", is an American jazz singer and pianist. As of 2015, Schuur had released 23 albums, and had extended her jazz repertoire to include essences of Latin, gospel, pop and country music ...

, Tom Scott, Bill Champlin, and Joey Scarbury. Rhodes was partners with actor Lane Davies, with whom he produced many productions for The

Santa Susanna Repertory Company Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

. Rhodes is perhaps best remembered for co-founding, with Davies, The Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

. He was also the founder of The Performing Arts Department at Oak Park High School in Oak Park, California. During his career, Rhodes won six Emmy awards for his work on '' Santa Barbara'', ''

'', and '' Another World''. Rhodes was most famous for his work on the 1996 children's

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

game, '' Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside'', notably his piece in the dancing furniture scene with a disco-esque song that goes "Dyuewwwww" in four-bar increments. This musical enigma has perplexed many music theorists over the course of 14 years and it would appear that Rhodes took the answer to the grave with him. Rhodes had planned to release another in the summer of 2004, but was unable to because of a malignant

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

he had removed on September 5, 2003. Rhodes died on November 2, 2005, of

, at age 54. He was survived by his wife and children, his mother, and his sister. His memorial service was held on Nov. 19th, at The Samuelson Chapel at

California Lutheran University California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...

Filmography

Composing

* ''

Some Mother's Son ''Some Mother's Son'' is a 1996 film written and directed by Irish filmmaker Terry George, co-written by Jim Sheridan, and based on the true story of the 1981 hunger strike in the Maze Prison, in Northern Ireland. Provisional Irish Republican A ...

'' (1996) * '' Power and Beauty'' (2002) * ''

'' (1983) * '' Family Ties'' (1982) * '' Day by Day'' (1988) * '' Peter Pan'' (1993) * '' World of Aden: Thunderscape'' (1995) * ''

Fantasy General ''Fantasy General'' is a fantasy computer wargame published by Strategic Simulations in 1996. Its structure was taken from the game ''Panzer General'' with some modifications to the base system. It was the third in the ''Five Star General'' serie ...

'' (1996)

Soundtrack

* '' Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside'' (1996) * '' Wild Things'' (1998) * '' The Big Kahuna'' (1999) * '' Drowning Mona'' (2000) * '' Amy's Orgasm'' (2001) * '' Rollerball'' (2002) * '' Messengers'' (2004) * '' Seed of Chucky'' (2004)

Discography

Albums

* ''Now You See It'' (1994; original release) * ''Now You See It'' (European release; 1994) * ''Indian Summer'' (1995; original release) * ''Indian Summer'' (European release; 1995) * ''Deep In The Night'' (US re-release of Indian Summer; 1998)

Singles

# Now You See It # Rumors # Let's Be Lovers Again # Promise In The Dark # Lies # Guardian Angel # People Like Us # Tropical Postcard # Don't Throw It All Away # The First Move # Unconditional Love # Deep In The Night # Hold Me # I On U # Eurotica # Hotstage Of Love # Indian Summer # Here Comes Another Fool # King Of Hearts # Touch Of Heaven

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

: * Won, 1988, Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: '' Santa Barbara'' (shared with

Liz Lachman Liz Lachman is an American writer, director, and composer. She has worked on such award-winning short films as '' Getting to Know You'', ''Pandora's Box'', and ''Puppy Love''. Born in Detroit, she currently lives in Los Angeles. Her partner is th ...

and

Dominic Messinger Dominic Messinger is an American television composer. He began his work in soap opera music on ''General Hospital'', and has since composed for reality series and documentaries including '' Intervention'', '' Brace for Impact'', and for Nickelodeo ...

) * Won, 1993, Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: ''Santa Barbara'' (shared with

and Jonathan Firstenberg) * Won, 1995, Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: '' Another World'' (shared with Carole Severson Weiss,

Ron Brawer Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

, Susan-Beth Markowitz, John Henry Kreitler, Wes Boatman, Barry De Vorzon, Richard Hazard, Robert Sands, and Edward Dzubak) * Won, 1996, Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: ''

'' (shared with Jonathan Firstenberg, Robyn Cutler, Michael Licari, Ron Cohen, John Henry Kreitler, Wes Boatman, Danny Lawrence, John E. Young, David Grant, Barry De Vorzon, Richard Hazard, Edward Dzubak, and Alan Bellink) * Won, 1998, Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: ''Guiding Light'' (shared with

Barbara Miller-Gidaly Barbara Miller-Gidaly, sometimes credited with her maiden name, Barbara Miller, is an American music supervisor and director. She was married to attorney and theatrical producer Walter Gidaly, until his death from a heart attack at age 75, on Feb ...

, Robyn Cutler,

Brian Siewert Brian D. Siewert, alternatively credited with or without his middle initial, is an American public speaker, multiple Emmy Award-winning concert and television composer, producer, songwriter, musician, arranger and visual artist. He has worked on ' ...

, Ron Cohen, Richard Hazard, Barry De Vorzon, Michael Licari,

Chieli Minucci Chieli Minucci (born April 17, 1958) is an American guitarist who co-founded the band Special EFX. Career His father, Ulpio Minucci, was a concert pianist and composer who wrote the music to the 1955 song " Domani." Chieli Minucci started Spec ...

, Jamie Lawrence, John Henry, and Wes Boatman) * Nominated, 1999, Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: G''uiding Light'' (shared with Robyn Cutler, Rhoda Farkas Rhodes, Robert Israel, Christina Loeb, Elizabeth Loeb,

, Ron Cohen, Richard Hazard, and Barry De Vorzon) * Nominated, 1999, Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: '' As the World Turns'' (shared with

Sybil Costello Sibyls were oracular women believed to possess prophetic powers in ancient Greece. Sybil or Sibyl may also refer to: Films * ''Sybil'' (1921 film) * ''Sybil'' (1976 film), a film starring Sally Field * ''Sybil'' (2007 film), a remake of the 19 ...

, Gary Deinstadt, Robert Bard, Billy Barber, Earl Rose, Danny Lawrence, and Jon E. Young) * Nominated, 1999, Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: ''Another World'' (shared with

James Kowal James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

Lanny Meyers Lanny Meyers is an American composer, orchestrator, principal arranger and musical director. He has composed the ballet ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'' (Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Oklahoma City Ballet), '' The Hunt of the Unique-Horn ...

, John Henry, Wes Boatman,

, Robert Sands, Richard Hazard, Barry De Vorzon,

Allan Bellink Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...

, Ed Dzuback,

Mark Breeding Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

, and

) * Nominated, 2000, Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition in a Drama Series for: ''As the World Turns'' (shared with

Pamela Magee Pamela may refer to: *''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 *Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname *Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela" *MSC Pamela, MSC ' ...

, Gary Deinstadt, Robert Bard, Billy Barber, Earl Rose, David Nichtern, Robert Sands, Ed Dzubak, Kevin Bents, Jamie Lawrence, and Bette Sussman) * Nominated, 2000, Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition in a Drama Series for: ''Another World'' (shared with

, Robert Sands, Ed Dzubak,

Frederic Hand Frederic Hand (born 1947) is a classical guitarist and composer. Career A native of Brooklyn, New York, Hand was attracted to the music of Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis in his teens. Most of his career has been spent in classical m ...

Chieli Minnucci Chieli Minucci (born April 17, 1958) is an American guitarist who co-founded the band Special EFX. Career His father, Ulpio Minucci, was a concert pianist and composer who wrote the music to the 1955 song "Domani." Chieli Minucci started Speci ...

, Richard Hazard, Barry De Vorzon,

, John Henry, and Wes Boatman) * Nominated, 2001, Outstanding Achievement in Music Directing and Composition in a Drama Series for: ''Guiding Light'' (shared with Robyn Cutler, Gary Deinstadt, Robert Israel,

, Robert Sands, Robert Firpo-Cappiello,

, and

Birch Johnson Birch "Crimson Slide" Johnson (born 1953 in Dublin, Georgia) is an American trombonist. He is a first call studio trombonist, Emmy-nominated composer, producer and songwriter based in New York City. He graduated from the University of Alabama, rec ...

) * Nominated, 2002, Outstanding Achievement in Music Directing and Composition in a Drama Series for: ''Guiding Light'' (shared with Robyn Cutler, Gary Deinstadt,

, Robert Sands,

, Ron Cohen, Robert Firpo-Cappiello,

, and Robert Israel) * Nominated, 2003, Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition in a Drama Series for: ''Guiding Light'' (shared with Robyn Cutler, Gary Deinstadt,

, Robert Sands,

, and Robert Israel) * Nominated, 2004, Outstanding Original Song for: ''Guiding Light'' (shared with Vivian Rhodes) * Nominated, 2004, Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition in a Drama Series for: ''Guiding Light'' (shared with Robyn Cutler, Gary Deinstadt,

, Robert Israel, Daniel Pelfrey, Jamie Lamm, Billy Barber, Ron Cohen,

, Gabriele Solarino, and Ron Komie) * Nominated, 2005, Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: ''Guiding Light'' (shared with Robyn Cutler, Gary Deinstadt, Daniel Pelfrey,

, Jamie Lamm, Mark Stephen Ross, Kenneth Eberhard, Gabriele Solarino, Ron Komie, Daniel O. Baker, Billy Barber, Robert Israel, and

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Rick 1951 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians American male composers Musicians from Los Angeles Place of death missing