RAYMOND SCOTT profile picture

RAYMOND SCOTT

Composer & Inventor RAYMOND SCOTT was born in 1908

About Me


This official MySpace Music page is operated by JEFF E. WINNER of The RAYMOND SCOTT Archives, and RaymondScott.com ... Composer and inventor RAYMOND SCOTT was born in 1908 and, sadly, he died many years ago... but Raymond Scott will always be remembered as the mad professor of famous "cartoon music," and as an early pioneer of experimental music and inventor of electronic instruments...
RAYMOND SCOTTs biography is one of the strangest of the 20th century. As a pianist, bandleader, and composer, he created a bizarre form of jazz-like music in the 1930s that was mined famously for the soundtracks of numerous classic Warner Bros. cartoons starring BUGS BUNNY and DAFFY DUCK...
Also a pioneer in electronic music, RAYMOND SCOTT designed and built his own synthesizers and sequencers, and even crafted far-out "ambient" albums that became landmarks of minimalist experimentation, pre-dating similar works from STEVE REICH and BRIAN ENO by more than a decade...

Composer, bandleader and inventor RAYMOND SCOTT was once among the unheralded pioneers of contemporary experimental music, a figure whose genius and influence have seeped almost subliminally into the mass cultural consciousness. As a visionary whose name is largely unknown but whose music is immediately recognizable, Scott's was a career stuffed with contradictions: though his early work anticipated the breathless invention of bebop, his obsession with perfectionism and memorization was the very antithesis of jazz's improvisational ethos; though his best-known compositions remain at large thanks to their endless recycling as soundtracks for cartoons, he never once wrote a note expressly for animated use; and though his later experiments with electronic music pioneered the ambient aesthetic, the ambient concept itself was not introduced until a decade after the release of his original recordings...
Born Harry Warnow in Brooklyn on September 10, 1908, he was a musical prodigy, playing piano by the age of two; following high school, he planned to study engineering, but his older brother Mark -- himself a successful violinist and conductor -- had other ideas, buying his sibling a Steinway Grand and persuading him to attend the Institute of Musical Art, later rechristened the Juilliard School. After graduating in 1931, Scott -- the name supposedly picked at random out of the Manhattan phone book -- signed on as a staff pianist with the CBS radio network house band conducted by his brother; finding the repertoire dull and uninspired, he began presenting his own compositions to his bandmates, and soon bizarre Scott originals like "Confusion Among a Fleet of Taxicabs Upon Meeting with a Fare" began creeping into broadcasts.
Scott remained a member of the CBS band until 1936, at which time he convinced producer Herb Rosenthal to allow him the chance to form his own group; assembling a line-up originally comprised of fellow network veterans Lou Shoobe on bass, Dave Harris on tenor saxophone, Pete Pumiglio on clarinet, Johnny Williams on drums and the famed Bunny Berigan on trumpet, he dubbed the group the Raymond Scott Quintette, debuting on the Saturday Night Swing Session with the song "The Toy Trumpet." The Quintette was an immediate hit with listeners, and Scott was soon offered a recording contract with the Master label. Dissent quickly broke out in the group's ranks, however, as Scott's obsessive practice schedule began to wear out his bandmates; Berigan soon quit, frustrated because the airtight compositions -- never written down, taught and developed one oddball phrase at a time -- allowed no room for improvisations.
Still, for all of Scott's eccentricities, his records flew off the shelves, their dadaist titles ("Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals," "Reckless Night on Board an Oceanliner" and "Boy Scout in Switzerland"), juxtaposed melodies, odd time signatures and quirky arrangements somehow connecting with mainstream American audiences. Hollywood soon came calling, with the Quintette performing music for (and sometimes appearing in) features including Nothing Sacred, Ali Baba Goes to Town and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Upon returning to New York, in 1938 Scott was tapped to become CBS' next music director; around the same time he expanded the Quintette to big-band size, and by 1940 quit his network position to lead his ensemble on tour. He returned to CBS in 1942, however, assembling the first racially-mixed studio orchestra in broadcast history.
In 1941, Warner Bros.' fledgling animation department bought the rights to Scott's back catalog, with music director Carl Stalling making liberal use of the melodies in his groundbreaking cut-and-paste cartoon soundtracks; Quintette favorites like the rollicking "Powerhouse" soon became immediately recognizable for their regular appearances in classic Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig clips, the same music supporting the crazed antics of Ren & Stimpy and others half a century later. Indeed, generations upon generations of young viewers have received an unwitting introduction to avant-garde concepts through their repeated exposure to Scott and Stalling's music, although none of the former's compositions were written with cartoons in mind; by the time Warner Bros. began using Scott's music on a regular basis in 1943, he had already moved on to new projects, including a lucrative career authoring commercial jingles.
In 1945, Scott wrote incidental music for the Broadway production eggars Are Coming to Town; the year following, he teamed with lyricist Bernard Hanighen on the musical Lute Song, which yielded another of his best known songs, "Mountain High, Valley Low." Also in 1946, Scott founded Manhattan Research, the world's first electronic music studio; housing equipment including a Martenot, an Ondioline and a specially-modified Hammond organ, it was advertised as "the world's most extensive facility for the creation of Electronic Music and Musique Concrete." After his brother Mark's 1949 death, Scott took over his duties as the bandleader on the syndicated radio favorite Your Hit Parade, with his second wife Dorothy Collins soon assuming the position as the program's featured vocalist; that same year, he also scored theatrical productions of Peep Show and Six Characters in Search of an Author.
Of all of Scott's accomplishments of 1949, however, none was more important than the Electronium, one of the first synthesizers ever created. An "instantaneous composing machine," the Electronium generated original music via random sequences of tones, rhythms, and timbres; Scott himself denied it was a prototype synthesizer -- it had no keyboard -- but as one of the first machines to create music by means of artificial intelligence, its importance in pointing the way towards the electonic compositions of the future is undeniable. His other inventions included the "Karloff," an early sampler capable of recreating sounds ranging from sizzling steaks to jungle drums; the Clavivox, a keyboard synthesizer complete with an electronic sub-assembly designed by a then 23-year-old Bob Moog ; and the Videola, which fused together a keyboard and a TV screen to aid in composing music for films and other moving images.
In addition to hosting Your Hit Parade, Scott continued recording throughout the 1950s, issuing LPs including This Time with Strings, At Home with Dorothy and Raymond and Rock and Roll Symphony. Additionally, he cranked out advertising jingles at an astonishing rate, scored countless film and television projects and even founded a pair of record labels, Audivox and Master, while serving as A&R director for Everest Records. During the mid-'50s, Scott assembled a new Quintette; the 1962 edition of the group was its last. The year following, he began work on the three-volume LP set Soothing Sounds for Baby, an "aural toy" designed to create a comforting yet stimulating environment for infants. As electronic music produced to inspire and relax, the records fit snugly into the definition of ambient suggested by Brian Eno a decade later, their minimalist dreamscapes also predating Philip Glass and Terry Riley.
By the middle of the 1950s, Scott began turning increasingly away from recording and performing to focus on writing and inventing, with his remaining years spent solely on electronic composition. Among his innovations was an early programmable polyphonic sequencer, which along with the Electronium later caught the attention of Motown chief Berry Gordy Jr., who in 1971 tapped Scott to head the label's electronic music research and development team. After retiring six years later, he continued writing -- his last known piece, 1986's "Beautiful Little Butterfly," was created on MIDI technology. By 1992, Scott's music was finally rediscovered by contemporary audiences, with the Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights compilation appearing to great acclaim; he died on February 8, 1994 at the age of 85.
THE RAYMOND SCOTT ARCHIVES
PRESERVATION COMMITTEE:
Irwin Chusid
Gert-Jan Blom
Jeff E. Winner
ADVISORY BOARD:
Mr. Bonzai
Don Byron
Bob Camp
Will Friedwald
David Garland
David Harrington / Kronos Quartet
Lee Herschberg
Dick Hyman
Leonard Maltin
Bob Moog / Moog synthesizers
Mark Mothersbaugh / Devo
Andy Partridge / XTC
Henry Rollins
Piet Schreuders
David M. Schwartz
Paul Verna
Hal Willner
Get more info, photos,
& music -- check-out:

RaymondScott.com

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/7/2005
Band Website: RaymondScott.com
Band Members:

RAYMOND SCOTT's bands and collaborators included: Ben Webster, Bunny Berigan, MOOG Synthesizer inventor Bob Moog , Charlie Shavers, Milt Hinton, Kenny Burrell, Eddie Costa, Johnny Williams (father of famous movie composer John Williams), Cozy Cole, MUPPETS-creator Jim Henson, Jean "Toots" Thielemans, Harry "Sweets" Edison, MOTOWN president Berry Gordy, Sam "The Man" Taylor, "Wild" Bill Davis, Elvin Jones, and many, many others...
Sounds Like: RAYMOND SCOTT's 1930s music was adapted into countless classic LOONEY TUNES cartoons, so it sounds like crazy cartoon soundtracks...
RAYMOND SCOTT's electronic music from the 1950s and '60s sounds like APHEX TWIN, Glitch-Core, early KRAFTWERK, and BRIAN ENO's ambient works...

"The music of musician, bandleader, composer, and inventor, Raymond Scott sounds like nothing so much as the future."
--Peter Buck, guitarist, R.E.M.

"Raymond Scott's musical genius should not be overlooked."
--John Flansburgh,
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS

"Raymond Scott was a slamming composer! I'd heard some of these performances lifted and looped by contemporary artists, like Soul Coughing, but never knew the source. Raymond Scott's band was a monster -- did these guys invent prog? Raymond Scott wows me!"
--Pat Mastelotto,
KING CRIMSON

"What can you say about a man who inspired cartoon melodies and bebop, invented Frank Zappa and electronic music, and still found time to work for Motown?"
--Andy Partridge, songwriter & leader of XTC

"I dont know where to begin or what to say. What a giant. If you look at the time-line of Raymond Scott's life, its as if the guy never slept. We like that. A lot of people know his music from all those cartoons. But past that, he helped shape music as we know it in the present day. It's those front-line types that go into uncharted areas, and pave the way for others. Always go to the source, sources like Raymond Scott."
--HENRY ROLLINS, Black Flag, Rollins Band

"The compositions of Raymond Scott are etched, it seems, into the fabric of 20th century culture like some strand of DNA sequence coding our collective memory for future mutations. F*cking brilliant. Repetitive, with a beat pulse. I look to Raymond Scott as one of the originators of a techno aesthetic."
--Paul D. Miller, a.k.a.
DJ SPOOKY that Subliminal Kid

"Being introduced to the music of Raymond Scott was like being given the name of a composer I feel I have heard my whole life, who until now was nameless. Clearly he is a major American composer."
--David Harrington, leader of the KRONOS QUARTET

"As for millions of other kids raised on Bugs and Daffy, Raymond Scott's wonderful idiosyncratic music seeped into my childhood subconscious and never left. It became the abstract soundtrack to my dreams."
--David J, BAUHAUS / Love And Rockets

"MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is a brilliant collection of Raymond Scott's electronic work. I love the packaging, and the interviews are incredibly interesting and informative."
--Adrian Utley, PORTISHEAD

"I think MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is one of my favorite releases ever! And that's saying something, as I'm a complete music junkie."
--Richard D. James,
APHEX TWIN

"I rate Raymond Scott as one of the greatest music technology innovators the 20th century. Many musicians on the charts today are using his ideas fairly directly. His vision was so wide, that today it is impossible to turn on a piece of equipment in your studio without automatically issuing a benediction to the spirit of Raymond Scott."
--Matt Black, DJ FOOD, COLDCUT

"The MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. package is perfect -- and the music is too perfect!"
--Konishi, PIZZICATO FIVE

"Raymond Scott's great work left many repercussions in various fields relating to sound. Scientific, futuristic, novel, as well as humorous and dreamlike. Mad, but the kind of mad I aspire to be. Raymond Scott truly was ahead of his time."
--CORNELIUS

"Wow wow WOW. It is certainly stunning. MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is a monsterpiece. I'm still trying to digest it!"
--Jim Thirlwell, FOETUS

"Whaaaaat?? This is from the fifties and sixties? I'm trying to achieve something like this now! Raymond Scott belongs to the phalanx of unique people like Les Paul, Oscar Sala, and Leon Theremin, to whom we owe so much in developing our own musical identity today. MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is one of the best CD presentations I have ever had my hands on."
--Holger Czukay, CAN

"The tireless dedication and uncompromising perfectionism of producers Gert-Jan Blom and Jeff Winner is evident in every detail of this wonderful collection. From the astonishing sounds to the beautiful packaging, MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is an essential release of pioneer electronica, adding yet another page to the ever-growing legacy of American maverick Raymond Scott."
--JOHN ZORN

"Fabulous! MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is one of the most amazing CD packages I've ever seen. I've been listening constantly, and I've read the whole book several times. It's SO inspiring. Scott's electronic instruments have an incredibly organic sound to them."
--Eric Harris,
OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL

"Raymond Scott was a true genius, deserving to be classified among the great pioneers of electronic music. He recorded with his own instruments, and did his own composing. I am amazed by the versatility of his talent, creativity, originality, and imagination. MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC. is a work of art. BRAVO!"
--JEAN JACQUES PERREY

"Raymond Scott was the first! He foresaw the use of sequencers, and the use of electronic oscillators, to make sounds. These were the watershed uses of electronic circuitry. His recordings don't sound as weird anymore -- they sound similar to what artists are doing today."
-- BOB MOOG , inventor of Moog Synthesizers



Record Label: COLUMBIA / SONY / BASTA
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

The First 100 YEARS of Raymond Scott . . .

Raymond Scott:THE FIRST 100 YEARSRaymond Scott was born in 1908, and we'll celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth in 2008. We plan to honor this pioneering musician, composer, inventor, and visi...
Posted by RAYMOND SCOTT on Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:17:00 PST

Update: Minty FRESH Tongue Twister: TIC-TACS Commercials...

Thanks to everyone who sent in links...Your ears aren't deceiving you -- two national TV commericals for Tic-TacsĀ® mints feature two tracks of Raymond Scott's pioneering electronic music from the MANH...
Posted by RAYMOND SCOTT on Mon, 30 Oct 2006 10:54:00 PST

Thank You For Smoking!

A clever short film created by Steve Cloutier titled THE CHIMNEY, set to the music of Raymond Scott's 1936 classic, "Powerhouse" is now viewable on YouTube. Check it out... Then pass the ashtray...htt...
Posted by RAYMOND SCOTT on Mon, 30 Oct 2006 10:46:00 PST

WELCOME to The RAYMOND SCOTT Archives! from: JEFF E. WINNER > > >

Welcome to the official MySpace page for The RAYMOND SCOTT Archives, & my website, RaymondScott.com...My name is Jeff E. Winner -- Raymond Scott was born in 1908 and, sadly, he died many years ago -- ...
Posted by RAYMOND SCOTT on Mon, 12 Dec 2005 05:55:00 PST

J DILLA: Rest In Peace, Jay Dee... "LIGHTWORKS"

J DILLA: Rest In Peace, Jay Dee...It is with respectful sadness that we bid a final farewell to Detroit-based hip-hop producer and rapper Jay Dee, a.k.a. J Dilla, who died on Friday, February 11th, at...
Posted by RAYMOND SCOTT on Thu, 02 Mar 2006 10:10:00 PST

Minty FRESH Tongue Twister: TIC-TACS Commercials...

Tongue-Twister!Commericals for TIC-TAC and VISA Your ears aren't deceiving you! Two new TV commericals for TIC-TACS brand mints feature 2 vintage electronic Raymond Scott recordings from the...
Posted by RAYMOND SCOTT on Thu, 02 Mar 2006 09:15:00 PST

HENRY ROLLINS Radio Show: "HARMONY IN MY HEAD"

Of course we knew that the one and only HENRY ROLLINS was a big Raymond Scott fan; Mr. Rollins has been a member of our Raymond Scott Archives Advisory Board for more than 10 years... But I just foun...
Posted by RAYMOND SCOTT on Fri, 13 Jan 2006 04:27:00 PST

HAPPY Christmas & LUCKY New Year from The RAYMOND SCOTT Archives


Posted by RAYMOND SCOTT on Mon, 12 Dec 2005 03:15:00 PST