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Randy Edelman in 1977 and 2003
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Information about Edelman's background:
Born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1947, Randy Edelman grew up in nearby Teaneck, where he studied piano at an early age. He gave recitals locally and after high school graduation he attended the University of Cincinnati as a pre-med major, soon changing his aim and enrolling at the Cincinnati Music Conservatory, where he majored in piano and composition. While in Cincinnati, he began freelancing as a music arranger at James Brown's King Records, and also wrote original music for regional theater programs. Upon graduation, Edelman headed to New York and signed on as a staff writer at CBS April Blackwood Music. He also began playing piano in Broadway pit orchestras and continued his interest as a music arranger. He went on the road as music director for many entertainers, and it was while traveling that Edelman began writing both his own music and lyrics with an eye toward doing his own albums. It was the beginning of a decade (in the 1970's) of producing and writing his own solo albums.
These solo albums led to Edelman's appearances as the opening solo act to such diverse groups as The Carpenters, Frank Zappa, and the Mothers of Invention. His songs began being recorded by such popular recording artists as Barry Manilow ("Weekend In New England"), Olivia Newton-John, Patti LaBelle, The Carpenters, The 5th Dimension, Jackie DeShannon, and Blood Sweat and Tears. Subsequent success of his records in the United Kingdom (with several of his songs and albums appearing consistently on the U.K. charts) led to appearances on the Top of the Pops, concerts at the London Palladium and Drury Lane Theaters, and tours throughout Europe, Japan and Australia. It was shortly after arriving in Los Angeles that Edelman became interested in using his background as a classical musician and arranger to pursue his interest in film scoring. In between his album recording he began scoring several television and feature films.
He was first known in television series of the 1980's, with MacGyver being the most notable. Several children's projects included PBS Wonderworks, The Care Bears album and several award-winning After School Specials. After dealing in the "short form" of pop songs Edelman found the film work liberating and decided to devote his full time to pursuing composing music for motion pictures. Over the next dozen years, Edelman would score over 60 films. He scored the 1988 comedy Feds for producer Ivan Reitman; marking the beginning of a lengthy collaboration with Reitman that would include the comedies Ghostbusters II, Kindergarten Cop, Twins, and the Beethoven pictures. Aside from his other successful comedy ventures, including My Cousin Vinny, While You Were Sleeping, The Whole Nine Yards, and the Shanghai Noon series, he has also produced popular dramatic music for Gettysburg and The Last of the Mohicans. A long-lasting collaboration with director Rob Cohen would yield such works as Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Dragonheart, Daylight, and XXX.
Many people hear his themes on NBC television sporting events (from the Olympics to the Super Bowl) for which he has won an Emmy Award. He wrote themes for the Sports Century documentary series theme on ESPN, and his original theme for NFL Football on NBC is perhaps his most recognizable stylistic work on the small screen. On the larger scale, his scores have been performed by such symphonies as Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, Charleston Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and the London Symphony Orchestra. His score from The Last of the Mohicans (along with Trevor Jones) was nominated for both the British Academy Award and the Golden Globe. He also branched into the amusement park realm and wrote the music for Disney's California Adventure ride Soarin'. He is married to composer/singer/actress Jackie DeShannon and resides (in his pajamas, as his official website states) in his Beverly Hills studio.
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It is hard to overestimate the artistic reach of Randy Edelman. His music has appeared in so many unconventional places for a typical film composer that even veteran film score collectors may not know when they are hearing it. With his distinctly positive style of harmony heard in such vast sporting events as the Olympics and the Super Bowl, the exposure of Edelman's music --down to simple commercial break jingles-- is more diverse than that of practically any other current, major Hollywood composer. In addition to the original music that Edelman writes for events and shows, his themes from Gettysburg, The Last of the Mohicans, and Dragonheart are continuously used in similar situations, including countless movie trailers, saturating mainstream audiences with little snippets of his work here and there. So popular is Edelman's melodic, upbeat style that some television networks even instruct other composers to imitate Edelman's music.
