Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow; September 10, 1908 – February 8, 1994) was an American composer, band leader, pianist, record producer, and inventor of electronic instruments. Though Scott never scored cartoon soundtracks, his music is familiar to millions because

Carl Stalling Carl William Stalling (November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972) was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts produced by War ...

adapted it in over 120 Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and other Warner Bros. ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' and ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' cartoons. His compositions may also be heard in ''

The Ren and Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Dece ...

'' (which uses Scott's recordings in twelve episodes), ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'', ''

Duckman ''Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man'' is an American adult animated sitcom that aired on the USA Network from March 5, 1994, through September 6, 1997. It was created and developed by Everett Peck, and is based on characters he created in his 19 ...

'', ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...

'', ''

The Oblongs ''The Oblongs'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Angus Oblong and Jace Richdale. It was Mohawk Productions' first venture into animation. The series premiered on April 1, 2001 on The WB, and was removed on May 20th, leaving the la ...

'', ''

Batfink ''Batfink'' is an American animated television series, consisting of five-minute shorts, that first aired in April 1966.David Mackay published a filmography of Batfink in the Sept. 1993 issues oFarmes per Second magazine, and also provided a comp ...

'', and '' Bluey''. The only time he composed to accompany animation was three 20-second commercial jingles for County Fair Bread in 1962.

Early life and career

Scott was born in Brooklyn, New York to Russian Jewish immigrants, Joseph and Sarah Warnow. His older brother, Mark Warnow, was a conductor, violinist, and musical director for the CBS radio program ''

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year ru ...

'' and encouraged his musical career. A 1931 graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied piano, theory and composition, Scott, under his birth name, began his professional career as a pianist for the

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

house band. His brother, Mark, older by eight years, conducted the orchestra. He adopted the pseudonym "Raymond Scott" to spare his brother charges of nepotism when the orchestra began performing the pianist's idiosyncratic compositions. In 1935, he married Pearl Zimney. In late 1936, Scott assembled a band from among his CBS colleagues, calling it the Raymond Scott Quintette. It was a six-piece group, but he thought "Quintette" (his spelling) sounded "crisper"; he also told a reporter that he feared "calling it a 'sextet' might get your mind off music." His sidemen were Pete Pumiglio (clarinet);

Bunny Berigan Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the ...

(trumpet, replaced by Dave Wade); Louis Shoobe (double bass); Dave Harris (tenor saxophone); and Johnny Williams (drums). They made their first recordings in New York on February 20, 1937, for Master Records, owned by

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

/impresario

Irving Mills Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 16, 1894 – April 21, 1985) was an American music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz artist promoter. He sometimes used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose. Personal Mills was ...

(

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

's manager). The Quintette represented Scott's attempt to revitalize swing music through tight, busy arrangements that reduced reliance on

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

. He called this style "descriptive jazz" and gave his works unusual titles like "New Year's Eve in a Haunted House", "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals" (recorded by the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

in 1993), and "Bumpy Weather Over Newark". Although his songs were popular with the public, jazz critics disdained them as novelty music. Besides being a prominent figure in recording studios and on radio and concert stages, Scott wrote and was interviewed in ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'', ''

Metronome A metronome, from ancient Greek μέτρον (''métron'', "measure") and νομός (nomós, "custom", "melody") is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a regular interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats pe ...

'', and ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''. Scott believed in composing and playing by ear. He composed not on paper but "on his band"—by humming phrases to his sidemen or by demonstrating riffs and rhythms on the keyboard and instructing players to interpret his cues. It was all done by ear with no written scores, a process known as head arrangements. Scott, who was also a savvy sound engineer, recorded the band's rehearsals on discs and used the recordings as references to develop his compositions. He reworked, re-sequenced, and deleted passages, and added themes from other discs to construct finished works. During the developmental process, he let his players improvise, but once complete, he regarded a piece as relatively fixed and permitted little further improvisation. Scott controlled the band's repertoire and style, but he rarely took piano solos, preferring to direct the band from the keyboard and leave solos and leads to his sidemen. He also had a penchant for adapting classical motifs in his compositions. The Quintette existed from 1937 to 1939 and recorded bestselling discs such as "Twilight in Turkey", "Minuet in Jazz", "War Dance for Wooden Indians", "Reckless Night on Board an Ocean Liner", " Powerhouse", and "The Penguin". One of Scott's popular compositions is "The Toy Trumpet", a cheerful pop confection that is instantly recognizable to many people who cannot name the title or composer. In the 1938 film ''

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm ''Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her aunts, one stern and one kind, in the fictional village of Riverboro, Maine. Rebecca's joy ...

'',

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

sings a version of the song. Trumpeter

Al Hirt Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java" and the accompanying album '' Honey in the Horn'' (1963), and for the them ...

's 1964 rendition with

Arthur Fiedler Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one ...

and

the Boston Pops The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symp ...

performed a version. "In an Eighteenth-Century Drawing Room" is a pop adaptation of the opening theme from Mozart's Piano Sonata in C, K. 545. ToyTrumpetFinale

In 1939, Scott turned his Quintette into a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

. When he was named music director by CBS radio three years later, he organized the first racially integrated radio band. Over the next two years, he hired saxophonist

Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Career Early life and career A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from ...

, trumpeter

Charlie Shavers Charles James Shavers (August 3, 1920 – July 8, 1971) was an American jazz trumpeter who played with Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmie Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams, Tommy Dorsey, and Billie Holiday ...

, bassist

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the ...

, trumpeter

Emmett Berry Emmett Berry (July 23, 1915 – June 22, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter. Berry was born in Macon, Georgia, United States. He began to study classical trumpet in Georgia, but by 18 had switched to jazz and moved to New York City. He bec ...

, trombonist

Benny Morton Benny Morton (January 31, 1907 – December 28, 1985) was an American jazz trombonist, most associated with the swing genre. Career He was born in New York, United States. One of his first jobs was working with Clarence Holiday, and he appea ...

, and drummer

Cozy Cole William Randolph "Cozy" Cole (October 17, 1909 – January 9, 1981) was an American jazz drummer who worked with Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong among others and led his own groups. Life and career William Randolph Cole was born in East Or ...

. In 1942, Scott relinquished his keyboard duties so he could concentrate on hiring, composing, arranging, and conducting. He returned to the keyboard with some of his bands. In 1941, he led a 13-piece orchestra to produce what he termed "silent music" in New York, making a great show of performing with very little sound. This was one of the earliest performances of the silent or near-silent music canon.

Middle career

After serving as music director for programs '' Broadway Bandbox'' from 1942 to 1944, Scott left the network. He composed and arranged music (with lyrics by

Bernie Hanighen Bernard D. Hanighen (April 27, 1908 in Omaha, Nebraska – October 19, 1976 in New York City, New York) Attended Hackley School (Tarrytown, New York) - Class of 1926, also attended Harvard University - Class of 1930. He was an American songwrit ...

) for the 1946 Broadway musical ''

Lute Song The term lute song is given to a music style from the late 16th century to early 17th century, late Renaissance to early Baroque, that was predominantly in England and France. Lute songs were generally in strophic form or verse repeating with a h ...

'' starring

Mary Martin Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in '' South Pacific'' (194 ...

and

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in th ...

. In the late 1940s, contemporaneous with guitarist

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

's studio work with

Mary Ford Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers; July 7, 1924 – September 30, 1977) was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hit ...

, Scott began recording pop songs using the layered multi-tracked vocals of his second wife, singer

Dorothy Collins Dorothy Collins (born Marjorie Chandler;
''

Herb Shriner Herbert Arthur "Herb" Shriner (May 29, 1918 – April 23, 1970) was an American humorist, radio personality, actor, and television host. Shriner was known for his homespun monologues, usually about his home state of Indiana. He was frequently co ...

Time''. The group made studio recordings, some of which were released on Scott's short-lived Master Records label. This was not the Irving Mills-owned label of the same name; Scott allegedly named his label in tribute to the defunct Mills enterprise. When his brother Mark Warnow died in 1949, Scott succeeded him as orchestra leader on the CBS Radio show ''Your Hit Parade'' . During the following year, the show moved to NBC Television, and Scott continued to lead the orchestra until 1957. Collins was a featured singer on ''Your Hit Parade''. The high-profile position paid well, but Scott considered it strictly a "rent gig" and used his salary to finance his electronic music research out of the limelight. In 1950 Scott composed his first—and only known—classical work, entitled ''Suite for Violin and Piano''. The five-movement suite was performed at Carnegie Hall on February 7, 1950, by violinist

Arnold Eidus Arnold Eidus (28 November 1922 – 3 June 2013) was a concert violinist and recording artist. Life Eidus's father (Harry Eidus, 1897–1984), a Jewish immigrant from Dvinsk, Latvia, was a violinist; his mother (Sadie "Sonia" Birkenfeld, 190 ...

and pianist Carlo Bussotti, who recorded the work.) In 1958, while serving as an A&R director for

Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heigh ...

, Scott produced singer

Gloria Lynne Gloria Lynne (born Gloria Wilson; November 23, 1929 – October 15, 2013), also known as Gloria Alleyne, was an American jazz vocalist with a recording career spanning from 1958 to 2007. Career Lynne was born in Harlem in 1929 to John and Mary W ...

's album ''Miss Gloria Lynne''. The sidemen included many of the same session players (e.g.,

Milt Hinton Milton John Hinton (June 23, 1910 – December 19, 2000) was an American double bassist and photographer. Regarded as the Dean of American jazz bass players, his nicknames included "Sporty" from his years in Chicago, "Fump" from his time on the ...

, Sam Taylor, George Duvivier,

Harry "Sweets" Edison Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard bac ...

Eddie Costa Edwin James Costa (August 14, 1930 – July 28, 1962) was an American jazz pianist, vibraphonist, composer and arranger. In 1957, he was chosen as ''DownBeat'' jazz critics' new star on piano and vibes – the first time that one artist won two ...

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

Wild Bill Davis Wild Bill Davis (November 24, 1918 – August 17, 1995) was the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William Strethen Davis. He is best known for his pioneering jazz electric organ recordings and for his tenure with t ...

) who participated in Scott's 1959 Secret 7 recording project.

Electronics and research

Scott, who attended

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of t ...

, was an

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

pioneer and adventurous sound engineer. During the 1930s and 1940s, many of his band's recording sessions found the bandleader in the control room, monitoring and adjusting the acoustics, often by revolutionary means. As Gert-Jan Blom and Jeff Winner wrote, "Scott sought to master all aspects of sound capture and manipulation. His special interest in the technical aspects of recording, combined with the state-of-the-art facilities at his disposal, provided him with enormous hands-on experience as an engineer." In 1946, he established Manhattan Research, a division of Raymond Scott Enterprises. As well as designing audio devices for personal use, Manhattan Research provided customers with sales and service for a variety of devices, including components such as

ring modulator In electronics, ring modulation is a signal processing function, an implementation of frequency mixing, in which two signals are combined to yield an output signal. One signal, called the carrier, is typically a sine wave or another simple w ...

s, wave, tone, and envelope shapers, modulators, and filters. Of interest were the "keyboard theremin", "chromatic electronic drum generators", and "circle generators". Scott described Manhattan Research as "More than a think factory—a dream center where the excitement of tomorrow is made available today."

Bob Moog Robert Arthur Moog ( ; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthe ...

, developer of the

Moog Synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

, met Scott in the 1950s, designed circuits for him in the 1960s, and considered him an important influence. Relying on several instruments of his invention, such as the

Clavivox The Clavivox was a keyboard sound synthesizer and sequencer developed by American composer Raymond Scott beginning in 1952. He applied for a patent in December 1956 and was granted on Feb. 3, 1959. Scott had earlier built a theremin as a toy fo ...

and

Electronium The Electronium, created by Raymond Scott, is an early combined electronic synthesizer and algorithmic composition / generative music machine. Its place in history is unusual, because while in intention it is analogous to the digital algorithmic ...

, Scott recorded futuristic electronic compositions for use in television and radio commercials and records of electronic music. A series of three albums designed to lull infants to sleep, his work ''

Soothing Sounds for Baby ''Soothing Sounds for Baby'' (1962) is a three-volume set of ambient electronic music by American composer, musician, and inventor Raymond Scott. Scott originally intended to lull infants to sleep with the music, but later generations have found v ...

'' was released in 1964 with the Gesell Institute of Child Development. The public showed little interest in it. But Manhattan Research provided ear-catching sonic textures for commercials. Scott developed some of the first devices capable of producing a series of electronic tones automatically in sequence. He credited himself as the inventor of the polyphonic

sequencer Sequencer may refer to: Technology * Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically * DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...

. His

electromechanical In engineering, electromechanics combines processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focuses on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems ...

devices, some with motors moving photocells past lights, bore little resemblance to the all-electronic sequencers of the late Sixties. He began working on a machine he said could compose by artificial intelligence. The Electronium, as Scott called it, with its array of knobs, buttons, and patch panels is considered the first self-composing synthesizer. Some of Raymond Scott's projects were less complex but still ambitious. During the 1950s and 1960s, he developed and patented electronic telephone ringers, alarms, chimes, and sirens,

vending machines A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fir ...

, and

ashtray An ashtray is a receptacle for ash from cigarettes and cigars. Ashtrays are typically made of fire-retardant material such as glass, heat-resistant plastic, pottery, metal, or stone. It differs from a cigarette receptacle, which is used speci ...

s with accompanying electronic music scores, an electronic musical baby rattle, and an adult toy that produced varying sounds dependeding on how two people touched each another. He believed these devices would "electronically update the many sounds around us – the functional sounds." While these devices foreshadowed the future of electronic music, they were not commercially successful. As Mark Brend wrote at

Reverb.com Reverb.com is an online marketplace for new, used, and vintage music gear. It was founded in 2013 by David Kalt, shortly after he purchased the musical instrument store Chicago Music Exchange and became frustrated with then-available options f ...

Hindsight reveals Scott as more ideas-man than business-man. Glossy brochures advertised a dizzying array of his inventions: electronic doorbells, multitrack tape recorders, rhythm machines, sequencers, and instruments such as the Clavivox, a kind of keyboard theremin. But these rarely sold. It’s possible that didn’t bother Scott too much, as through the ‘50s he was still earning well from the first phase of his career and had a new income stream composing electronic jingles—for Sprite,
Nescafé Nescafé is a brand of coffee made by Nestlé. It comes in many different forms. The name is a portmanteau of the words "Nestlé" and "café". Nestlé first introduced their flagship coffee brand in Switzerland on 1 April 1938. History Nestl� ...
, and Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, among others.

Scott and Dorothy Collins divorced in 1964, and in 1967 he married Mitzi Curtis (1918–2012). During the second half of the 1960s, he became isolated and secretive about his inventions; he gave few interviews, made no public presentations, and released no records. In 1966–67, Scott (under the screen credit "Ramond Scott") composed and recorded electronic music soundtracks for experimental films by Muppets creator

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

. During his big band period, Scott endured tense relationships with musicians he employed. But when his career became immersed in electronic gadgetry, he preferred the company of technicians, such as Bob Moog, Herb Deutsch,

Thomas Rhea Thomas Stockdale Rhea (1871–1946) was a Democratic politician from the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. He served as Kentucky State Treasurer in 1912 and was state highway commissioner in the administration of Governor Ruby Laffoon.''200 Years o ...

, and Alan Entenmann. Scott welcomed curious visitors to his lab, among them French electronic music pioneer

Jean-Jacques Perrey Jean Marcel Leroy (; 20 January 1929 – 4 November 2016), popularly known as Jean-Jacques Perrey, was a French electronic music performer, composer, producer, and promoter. He is considered a pioneer of pop electronica.Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

visited Scott at his Long Island labs to witness the

in action. Impressed by the possibilities, Gordy hired Scott in 1971 as director of Motown's electronic music and research department in Los Angeles, a position Scott held until 1977. No Motown recordings using Scott's electronic inventions have yet been publicly identified. Guy Costa, Head of Operations and Chief Engineer at Motown from 1969 to 1987, said about Scott's hiring: :He started originally working n the Electroniumout of Berry's house. They set up a room over the garages, and he worked there putting stuff together so Berry could get involved and see the progress. At one point Scott worked out of a studio. The unit never really got finalized—Ray had a real problem letting go. It was always being developed. That was a problem for Berry. He wanted instant gratification. Eventually his interest started to wane after a period of probably two or three years. Finally Ray took the thing down to his house and kept working on it. Berry kind of lost interest. He was off doing

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 ...

movies. Scott later said he "spent 11 years and close to a million dollars developing the Electronium." After leaving Motown he was mostly unemployed, though hardly inactive. He continued to modify his inventions, adapting computers and primitive

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

devices to his systems. He suffered a series of heart attacks, ran low on cash, and became a subject on ''Where Are They Now?'' Largely forgotten by the public by the 1980s, he suffered a stroke in 1987 that left him unable to work or engage in conversation. His recordings were largely out of print, his electronic instruments were cobweb-collecting relics, and his royalty stream had slowed to a trickle.

Secret Seven

In 1959, Scott organized a band of top-tier jazz session musicians and recorded an album entitled ''The Unexpected'', credited to The Secret Seven, and released on the

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

label.

The cartoon connection

In 1943, Scott sold his music publishing to Warner Bros., who allowed

, music director for ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'', to adapt anything in the Warner music catalog. Stalling began peppering his cartoon scores with Scott quotes, such as in ''

The Great Piggy Bank Robbery ''The Great Piggy Bank Robbery'' is a 1946 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' theatrical cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The cartoon was released on July 20, 1946, and stars Daffy Duck. The short is Clampett's penultimate Warner cartoon, produced s ...

''. Scott's tunes have been licensed to ''The Simpsons'', ''The Ren and Stimpy Show'', ''Animaniacs'', ''The Oblongs'', ''Batfink'', and ''Duckman''. "Powerhouse" was quoted ten times in the Warner Brothers feature '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' (2003).

Obscurity and rediscovery

Interest in his work revived in the early 1990s, after

Irwin Chusid Irwin Chusid (born April 22, 1951 in Newark, New Jersey) is a journalist, music historian, radio personality, record producer, and self-described "landmark preservationist". His stated mission has been to "find things on the scrapheap of history t ...

met Raymond and his wife Mitzi at their home in California and discovered a collection of unreleased recordings of rehearsals and studio sessions. In 1992, the release of ''Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights'' by Columbia, produced by Irwin Chusid with

Hal Willner Hal Willner (April 6, 1956 – April 7, 2020) was an American music producer working in recording, films, television, and live events. He was best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical sty ...

as executive producer, was the first major-label compilation by his 1937–39 six-man quintet. A year earlier, Chusid and

Will Friedwald Will Friedwald (born September 16, 1961) is an American author and music critic. He has written for newspapers that include the ''Wall Street Journal'', ''New York Times'', ''Village Voice'', '' Newsday'', '' New York Observer'', and ''New Yor ...

produced an album of quintet broadcasts titled ''The Man Who Made Cartoons Swing'' for Stash. The director of ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'',

John Kricfalusi Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, voice actor and former animator. He is the creator of the animated television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', which was ...

, began using quintet recordings. In the late-1990s,

The Beau Hunks The Beau Hunks are a Dutch revivalist music ensemble who have performed and recorded the vintage works of composers Leroy Shield, Marvin Hatley, Raymond Scott, Edward MacDowell, Ferde Grofé, and others. They have been referred to as a "document ...

, a Dutch ensemble that performed music written by

Leroy Shield Leroy Bernard Shield (October 2, 1893 – January 9, 1962) was an American film score and radio composer. He is best known for the themes and incidental music he wrote for the classic Hal Roach comedy short films of the 1930s, including the ''Our ...

for

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

movies, released two albums of by Scott's sextet: ''Celebration on the Planet Mars'' and ''Manhattan Minuet'' (both released by Basta Audio-Visuals). Members of The Beau Hunks (reconfigured as a "Saxtet", then a "Soctette") performed and recorded Scott works, sometimes in collaboration with the

Metropole Orchestra The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...

. The posthumously released '' Manhattan Research Inc.'' (Basta, 2000, co-produced by Gert-Jan Blom and Jeff Winner) showcases Scott's pioneering electronic works from the 1950s and 1960s on two CDs (the package includes a 144-page hardcover book). ''Microphone Music'' (Basta, 2002, produced by Irwin Chusid with Blom and Winner as project advisors), explores the original Scott Quintette's work. The 2008 CD release ''Ectoplasm'' (Basta) chronicles a second (1948–49) incarnation of the six-man "quintet" format, with Scott's wife Dorothy Collins singing on several tracks. In June 2017, Basta issued a 3-LP/2-CD set entitled ''Three Willow Park: Electronic Music from Inner Space'', featuring 61 unreleased electronic recordings made by Scott between 1961 and 1971 (Basta, 2017, produced by Gert-Jan Blom, Irwin Chusid, and Jeff Winner). AllMusic named the set one of the "Best Compilations of 2017".

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

founding member

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...

, through his company

Mutato Muzika Mutato Muzika is an American music production company established and owned by Devo co-founder and lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh in 1989. The name is a portmanteau of the words ''mutant'' and ''potato'', a nod to Mothersbaugh's longstanding fascina ...

, purchased Scott's only (non-functioning) Electronium in 1996 with the intention of restoring it.

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...

sampled "Lightworks" and "Bendix 1: The Tomorrow People" for the track "Lightworks" and "Sprite: Melonball Bounce" for the track "Workinonit" on his final album ''

Donuts A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fra ...

''.

Death

On February 8, 1994, Scott died of pneumonia in North Hills,

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' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Films and television

In addition to Warner Brothers cartoons (which were intended for theatrical screening), the following films include recordings or works composed or co-composed by Scott: '' Nothing Sacred'' (1937, various adapted standards); ''

Ali Baba Goes to Town ''Ali Baba Goes to Town'' is a 1937 musical film directed by David Butler and starring Eddie Cantor, Tony Martin, and Roland Young. Cantor plays a hobo named Aloysius "Al" Babson, who walks into the camp of a movie company that is making th ...

'' (1938, "Twilight in Turkey" and "Arabania"); ''Happy Landing'' (1938, "War Dance for Wooden Indians"); ''

'' (1938, "The Toy Trumpet"; with special lyrics by Jack Lawrence); '' Just Around the Corner'' (1938, "Brass Buttons and Epaulettes" erformed by Scott's Quintette, but not composed by Scott; '' Sally, Irene and Mary'' (1938, "Minuet in Jazz"); ''

Bells of Rosarita '' Bells of Rosarita '' is a 1945 American musical Western film starring Roy Rogers and directed by Frank McDonald. Plot Cowboy balladeer Roy Rogers meets Sue Farnum (Dale Evans), a girl returning from back East, who is cheated out of her inhe ...

'' (1945, "Singing Down the Road"); ''Not Wanted'' (1949, theme and orchestrations); '' The West Point Story'' (1950, "The Toy Trumpet"); ''

Storm Warning At sea, a storm warning is a warning issued by the National Weather Service of the United States when winds between 48 knots (89 km/h, 55 mph) and 63 knots (117 km/h, 73 mph) are occurring or predicted to occur soon. The wi ...

'' (1951, "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals"); ''

The Trouble with Harry ''The Trouble with Harry'' is a 1955 American Technicolor black comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes was based on the 1950 novel by Jack Trevor Story. It starred Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Mildred N ...

'' (1955, "Flagging the Train to Tuscaloosa"; words by

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

); ''

Never Love a Stranger ''Never Love A Stranger'' is a 1958 crime and gangster film that is based on Harold Robbins' 1948 debut novel with the same title. The film was shot in black and white starring John Drew Barrymore and Robert Bray, and featuring a young Steve McQ ...

'' (1958, score); ''

The Pusher "The Pusher" is a rock song written by Hoyt Axton, made popular by the 1969 movie ''Easy Rider'' which used Steppenwolf's version to accompany the opening scenes showing drug trafficking. The lyrics of the song distinguish between a ''dealer ...

'' (1960, score); ''

Clean and Sober ''Clean and Sober'' is a 1988 American drama film directed by Glenn Gordon Caron and starring Michael Keaton as a real estate agent struggling with a substance abuse problem. This film served as Keaton's first dramatic departure from comedies. Th ...

'' (1988, "Singing Down the Road"); ''

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' is a 1989 American comic science fiction film. It is the first installment of a film franchise and served as the directorial debut of Joe Johnston. The film stars Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman, and Kri ...

'' (1989, "Powerhouse" ncredited, affirmed in out-of-court settlement; ''

Search and Destroy Search and destroy, seek and destroy, or simply S&D is a military strategy best known for its employment in the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War. The strategy consists of inserting ground forces into hostile territory, ''search''ing out ...

'' (1995, "Moment Whimsical"); ''

Funny Bones ''Funny Bones'' is a 1995 comedy-drama film from Hollywood Pictures. It was written, directed and produced by Peter Chelsom, co produced by Simon Fields, and co written by Peter Flannery. The music score was by John Altman, and the cinematogr ...

'' (1995, "The Penguin"); ''

Lulu on the Bridge ''Lulu on the Bridge'' is a 1998 American romantic- mystery drama film written and directed by author Paul Auster and starring Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, and Willem Dafoe. The film is about a jazz saxophone player whose life is transformed after ...

'' (1998, "Devil Drums"); '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' (2003, "Powerhouse"); '' Starsky and Hutch'' (2005, "Dinner Music for Pack of Hungry Cannibals"); ''

RocknRolla ''RocknRolla'' is a 2008 action crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast that includes Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandiwe Newton, Mark Strong, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Toby Kebbell, Jeremy Piven, and Chri ...

'' (2008, "Powerhouse"); '' Best of Enemies'' (2015, "Portofino"); '' The Space Between Us'' (2017, "Song of India"); and '' Won't You Be My Neighbor'' (2018, "Waltz of the Diddles"). In April 2021, Scott's "Powerhouse" was used in the CBS TV show ''

Young Sheldon ''Young Sheldon'' is an American List of coming-of-age stories, coming-of-age sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro for CBS. The series, set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is a Spin-off (media), spin-off prequel ...

'', in the opening scene of the episode "Mitch's Son and the Unconditional Approval of a Government Agency" (season 4, ep. 14).

Theater

*''

'' (1946) – musical – composer and orchestrator; the production included "Mountain High, Valley Low" with lyrics by

Bernard Hanighen Bernard D. Hanighen (April 27, 1908 in Omaha, Nebraska – October 19, 1976 in New York City, New York) Attended Hackley School (Tarrytown, New York) - Class of 1926, also attended Harvard University - Class of 1930. He was an American songwrite ...

* ''

Peep Show A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the ci ...

'' (1950) – produced by

Mike Todd Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1909 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of ''Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Actr ...

, composed "Desire" to accompany the "Cat Girl" dance routine * ''Powerhouse'' (2009) – produced by Sinking Ship Productions, written by Josh Luxenberg and directed by Jonathan Levin and first staged during the

New York International Fringe Festival The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, was a fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It took place over the course of a few weeks in October, spread on more than 20 stages across sev ...

, is an impressionistic play based on Scott's life and work, choreographed with his music and recordings. It returned to the stage in 2014 for a three-week run at New York's New Ohio Theater. * ''Manhattan Research'', which premiered at

Lincoln Center Out of Doors Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

in August 2013, is a dance work set to Raymond Scott's music, choreographed by John Heginbotham.

Discography

* ''Raymond Scott - Raymond Scott'' (Columbia, 1947) *''Raymond Scott and His Orchestra Play'' (

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

, 1953) * ''A Yank in Europe'' – Ted Heath and his Music play Raymond Scott compositions (1956) * ''This Time With Strings'' (

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

, 1957) * ''Rock 'n Roll Symphony'' (

, 1958) * ''

Manhattan Research, Inc. ''Manhattan Research, Inc.'' is a two-CD compilation of electronic music created by the musician, composer and inventor, Raymond Scott and his company, "Manhattan Research Inc." Posthumously released in 2000 by Basta Music of the Netherlands, the ...

'' ( Columbia, 1959) * ''The Secret 7: The Unexpected'' (

, 1960) * ''

'' volumes 1–3 ( Epic, 1963) * ''The Raymond Scott Project: Vol. 1: Powerhouse'' ( Stash, 1991) * ''The Music of Raymond Scott: Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights'' ( Columbia, 1992) * ''

'' (Basta Music, 2000) * ''Microphone Music'' (Basta Music, 2002) * ''Ectoplasm'' (Basta Music, 2008) * ''Suite for Violin and Piano'' (Basta Music, 2012) * ''Raymond Scott Songbook'' (Li'l Daisy / Daisyworld, 2013) * ''Raymond Scott Rewired'' (Basta Music, 2014) * ''Three Willow Park: Electronic Music from Inner Space'' (Basta Music, 2017) * ''The Jingle Workshop: Midcentury Musical Miniatures 1951-1965'' (Modern Harmonic, 2019)''The Jingle Workshop'' at ModernHarmonic.com
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* Bloom, Ken. ''American Song. The Complete Musical Theater Companion. 1877–1995''. Vol. 2, 2nd edition, Schirmer Books, 1996 * Chusid, Irwin and Jeff Winner, eds., ''Raymond Scott: Artifacts from the Archives'', a 349-page e-publication of selected Scott electronic music ephemera from the archives of the University of Missouri, Kansas City * Goldmark, Daniel, and Yuval Taylor, eds. ''The Cartoon Music Book'' (

Chicago Review Press Chicago Review Press, or CRP, is a U.S. book publisher and an independent company founded in 1973. Chicago Review Press publishes approximately 60 new titles yearly under eight imprints: Chicago Review Press, Lawrence Hill Books, Academy Chicago, ...

; 2002), , . Includes chapter by Irwin Chusid on how Scott's music has been adapted for cartoons * * Kernfeld, Barry Dean, ed. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', Macmillan, 1988 * Larkin, Colin. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', 3rd edition, Macmillan, 1998 * Press, Jaques Cattell, ed. ''ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers'', 4th edition, R. R. Bowker, 1980

External links

Artifacts from the Archives , Raymond Scott (1908-1994)

Raymond Scott's Musical and Technical Legacy at Google Arts & Culture (2021)

The Raymond Scott Collection (audio)
at the

Marr Sound Archives The Marr Sound Archives is an audiovisual archive, a part of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Miller Nichols Library. The collection includes extensive holdings of jazz, blues, country and popular music; historic voices and authors readin ...

, University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri
The Raymond Scott Collection (documents)
at the LaBudde Special Collections Department, University of Missouri, Kansas City * Chusid, Irwin

BoingBoing.net, September 10, 2008 * Grimes, William

''The New York Times'', February 9, 1994 ) * Miller, Paul D., editor
''Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture''
(MIT Press, May 2008), , . Chapter 18: "The World of Sound: A Division of Raymond Scott Enterprises," by Jeff Winner
Raymond Scott Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (1986) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Raymond 1908 births 1994 deaths American electronic musicians American film score composers American male film score composers American jazz composers American male jazz composers Songwriters from New York (state) Television personalities from New York City American audio engineers American jazz bandleaders Jewish American musicians Juilliard School alumni Orchestra leaders Musicians from Brooklyn Brunswick Records artists Columbia Records artists Coral Records artists Decca Records artists Epic Records artists MGM Records artists Top Rank Records artists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American composers Engineers from New York City 20th-century American engineers Jazz musicians from New York (state) American male pianists 20th-century American inventors 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century jazz composers 20th-century American Jews American male songwriters Jewish American jazz composers