Solid!
The encyclopedia of big band, lounge, classic jazz and space-age sounds.
Raymond Scott
Born
- September 10, 1908
- Brooklyn, NY
Died
- February 8, 1994
- North Hills, CA
Real Name
- Harry Warnow
Marriages / Children
- Pearl Zimney (1935-50)
- Carolyn
- Stanley
- Dorothy Collins (1952-65)
- Deborah
- Elizabeth
- Mitzi Curtis (1967)
Theme Song
- Pretty Little Petticoat
Home Page
Raymond Scott
- BIOGRAPHY
- REVIEWS
Raymond Scott is best-remembered for his eccentric compositions in the late 1930s, many of which ended up as staples in the Warner Brothers cartoon soundtrack library. Scott graduated from Julliard in 1931 and began his professional career as pianist for the CBS radio house band. He began composing his eccentric pieces while working at the network and was granted his own band by CBS in 1936, a six-piece ''quintet.'' His quirky, screwy, pseudo-jazz numbers quickly became popular with the public.
The quintet left briefly for Hollywood but returned to New York within a year. In 1938 Scott was named musical director for CBS and expanded his quintet into a big band. In 1940 he left CBS and toured with the orchestra. He composed for Broadway during the 1940s and in 1949 took over as bandleader on the popular program Your Hit Parade.
Scott was also one of the early pioneers of electronic music. In his later career he concentrated exclusively on that obsession. He served as director of Motown's electronic music and research department from 1971 to 1977. He continued creating until he suffered a stroke in 1987. He died in 1994.