Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newmanis an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his distinctive voice, mordantpop songs, and for film scores...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth28 November 1943
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
song years consistency
What I'm most pleased about is that there's no particular decline. The songs I wrote 40 years ago are no worse and no better - there's a consistency.
song kind insensitivity
Most of my songs are about insensitivity of some kind.
song thinking people
If I were to die tomorrow, I think they'd say Newman 56, composer of the hit song, Short People. Jumped off a mountain today.
song records always-complaining
I started recording because I was always complaining about the records that I was getting of my songs. At least if I did them and messed them up, I wouldn't have anyone else to blame.
song character jokes
The best of my songs are more than just a joke. There's something else going on - a character, or it's not just a plain joke.
song if-i-could written
I've written a song for Prince. I never showed it to Prince, but just to see if I could do it. At the time, when I sort of knew him, he was recording a song a day. I wondered if I could do that. So I wrote it.
song character writing
I've written about a lot of different things, but the whole idea of writing for another character is unusual for pop music. Most of the repertory is love songs, and most of mine isn't. I don't know if that's a mental defect, or shyness, or what.
song writing needs
The easiest thing I do is assignment songs. They tell me what they need me to write. I can do that fairly quickly. Writing for an orchestra is difficult. Writing songs [on your own] is most difficult of all. Though [writing for] the orchestra is close.
battle breaking broadway difficult dragon gives guess heart opposed prefer score trying work
I've opted to work in the Broadway field, as opposed to breaking my heart trying to score films, which is such a damnably difficult thing to do. I guess it's just the dragon I prefer to slay, the one that gives me the most satisfaction to do battle with.
attendance wish
Attendance is not where we wish it would be.
fully musically perspective realized scene visualize
visualize a scene musically and write it from the perspective of a fully realized character.
finished
You'll be working all day and you'll have finished 12 seconds, but you get into it and you try not to look up.
american-comedian bit bringing classic destroying earth genius lower taking true written
I like the idea of taking a true classic written by a true genius and destroying it essentially! I like the idea of bringing it down to earth a bit - and even a bit lower than that.
american-comedian worried
If we'd had another carefree 70's, I'd have been dead. It was a little too carefree, you know? I don't know how carefree they were for me, I think I was worried then, I can't remember what about.