Video
Batman Surfing
Comic Books, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Music, Music Scoring, Musician, Television, VideoNeal Hefti dies at 85; former big band trumpeter, arranger and composer
By Dennis McLellan
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 15, 2008
Neal Hefti, a former big band trumpeter, arranger and composer who worked with Count Basie and Woody Herman and later composed the memorable themes for the movie “The Odd Couple” and the campy hit TV series “Batman,” has died. He was 85.
Hefti died Saturday at his home in Toluca Lake, said his son, Paul. He did not know the cause of death, but said his father had been in good health.
“Everybody in the music business loved Neal Hefti,” radio and television personality Gary Owens, a longtime friend, told The Times on Tuesday.
“He was one of the really great arrangers and composers of all time,” Owens said. “He worked with all those guys — Charlie Spivak, Harry James, Woody Herman — and he made arrangements that were just spectacular.”
Described as “one of the most influential big band arrangers of the 1940s and ’50s” in “The Encyclopedia of Popular Music,” Hefti turned his attention to composing for film and television in the 1960s.
Among his credits as a film composer are “Sex and the Single Girl,” “Harlow” (one of his most famous tunes, “Girl Talk,” came out of the score), “How to Murder Your Wife,” “Boeing Boeing,” “Duel at Diablo,” “Barefoot in the Park,” “A New Leaf,” “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” and “The Odd Couple,” whose theme he reprised for the 1970s TV series.
Hefti also gained wide notice for composing the energetic title theme for “Batman,” the over-the-top 1966-68 superhero series that became an overnight sensation.
It was, Hefti later said, the hardest piece of music he ever wrote.
“I tore up a lot of paper,” he told Jon Burlingame, author of “TV’s Biggest Hits,” a 1996 book on television themes. “It did not come easy to me. . . . I just sweated over that thing, more so than any other single piece of music I ever wrote. I was never satisfied with it.”
“Batman,” he said, “was not a comedy. This was about unreal people. Batman and Robin were both very, very serious. The bad guys would be chasing them, and they would come to a stop at a red light, you know. They wouldn’t break the law even to save their own lives. So there was a grimness and a self-righteousness about all this.”
Hefti said it took him “the better part of a month” to come up with the theme.
“I was almost going to call them and say, I can’t do it,” he said. “But I never walk out on projects, so I sort of forced myself to finish.”
Hefti’s “musical solution to a combined dramatic and comedic problem,” Burlingame wrote in his book, “was perfect: bass guitar, low brass and percussion to create a driving rhythm, while an eight-voice chorus sings ‘Batman!’ in harmony with the trumpets. It was part serious, part silly: just like the series.”
Hefti’s “Batman” tune became a Top 40 hit — for both the Hefti and the Marketts’ versions — and won a 1966 Grammy Award for best instrumental theme.
The son of a traveling salesman, Hefti was born Oct. 29, 1922, in Hastings, Neb. He began playing the trumpet at age 11.
His family was poor, and in high school he started playing in local bands during summer vacation to help his family financially.
Hefti began writing arrangements in high school for local bands, and some of his arrangements also were used by the Earl Hines band.
In 1941, two days before his high school graduation, Hefti was asked to tour with the Dick Barry band, which had lost some of its musicians to the military.
The short-lived job ended in New Jersey. But other band jobs followed, including playing with the Bob Astor, Charlie Barnet, Bobby Byrne, Horace Heidt and Charlie Spivak bands.
Hefti, who was classified 4-F during World War II after being hit by a car in New York and breaking his pelvis, joined Woody Herman’s band in 1944.
He did the arrangements for many of the Herman band’s popular recordings, including composing and arranging “The Good Earth” and “Wild Root.” He also co-arranged, with Ralph Burns, “Caldonia.”
In 1945, Hefti married the Herman band’s lead female vocalist, Frances Wayne. They remained married until her death in 1978.
Hefti formed his own band in 1951, with his wife as lead vocalist. But after two years of touring, he returned to arranging and studio work.
As a composer and arranger for Basie in the 1950s, Hefti composed numerous tunes that were featured on various Basie albums.
That included the Grammy Award-winning album “Basie,” which Hefti produced. Known as “Atomic Basie” because of the atomic explosion pictured on the cover, the album featured 11 songs composed and arranged by Hefti, including “Splanky,” “Kid From Red Bank” and “Lil’ Darlin,” which Hefti wrote for his daughter.
“If it weren’t for Neal Hefti,” legendary trumpeter Miles Davis said in a 1955 interview, “the Basie band wouldn’t sound as good as it does.”
As head of A&R (Artists and Repertoire) at Reprise in the early ’60s, Hefti arranged and conducted “Sinatra and Basie: A Historical Musical First” and “Sinatra and Swingin’ Brass.”
Hefti retired in 1976.
In addition to his son Paul, a music composer, Hefti is survived by a brother, Joe; a sister, Pat Wacha; and three grandchildren.
Services will be private.
Instead of flowers, Paul Hefti suggests that donations be made to Boys Town, P.O. Box 145-Memorial, Boys Town, NE 68010, or to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK 73123. Both Hefti’s wife and daughter, Dr. Marguerita Hefti, died of cancer.
Tina Fey Unsure Whether She Will Portray Palin This Weekend on Saturday Night Live
Comedy, Sarah Palin, SNL, Tina Fey, Video
By FRAZIER MOORE
AP TELEVISION WRITERNEW YORK — It’s the question dominating the political scene: When will Tina Fey be back on “Saturday Night Live”?
“I don’t know,” Fey said.
Over coffee Tuesday during a rare morning off from her NBC sitcom, “30
Rock,” Fey noted that “SNL” will be on live this Saturday, as well as
airing a 9:30 p.m. EDT Thursday edition, but as to whether she will
take part in either broadcast, “I haven’t heard.” (A spokesman for the
NBC late-night comedy show echoed her comments.)
The former “SNL” cast member/head writer thus far has been drafted for three
appearances as Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The
sketches were a huge hit for the show and Fey alike.
“It’s been really fun,” she said, “and really freeing since I don’t actually work there anymore.”
But it’s put an extra burden on her already heavy workload at “30 Rock,”
where she’s an executive producer and writer as well as star.
“Thankfully, the `SNL’ schedule is the opposite of the `30 Rock’ schedule, so I can go to `SNL’ around 10:30 Friday night and rehearse,” she said,
explaining that the Palin pieces were written by current “SNL” head
writer Seth Meyers. “Then on Saturday, I go in around 4 o’clock.”
For her most recent appearance (on Oct. 4) “I had a `30 Rock’ writer come
for the dress rehearsal. I did my sketch, worked on the `30 Rock’
outline with the writer, then did the live show.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Fey added with a laugh. “But it does catch up with you by Sunday.”
Fey hopes the attention drawn to her Palin impersonation will bring more
viewers to “30 Rock,” which begins its third season Oct. 30.
“When people say, `Oh, I love you on your show,’ I say, ‘”Saturday Night
Live” isn’t my show. But there’s another show that will be back on
soon, and it’s called “30 Rock.”‘
“I should go to Kinko’s and make some fliers,” she cracked.
Fey believes her portrayal of the Alaska governor has “been responsible and really pretty gentle.”
As demand builds for another Palin spoof, Fey said: “I don’t know how much
more I should do or could do, so I’m taking it week by week.
“It’s getting large, it’s getting too large, the question `Are you gonna show up? Are you gonna do it?’
“I don’t know,” Fey said. “I’ve got a lot of `30 Rock’ work to do!”
—
NBC is owned by General Electric.
—
On the Net:
Entourage Producer Mark Wahlberg Gets Owned By Andy Samberg
Comedy, Samberg, SNL, VideoInstant Classic!
As the kids say, pwned….
Vodpod videos no longer available.
New Rules For October 10, 2008 | Bill Maher
Comedy, Economy, Politics, Tullycast, Video, Wall Street, YoutubeBill Maher | October 10, 2008 | Nixon Warned of U.S. Becoming Pitiful Helpless Giant
Comedy, Economy, Politics, Tullycast, Video, Wall Street, YoutubeThe 56 Trillion Dollar Deficit | Bill Maher Interviews Fmr. Comptroller General David Walker
Comedy, Economy, Politics, Tullycast, Video, Wall Street, YoutubeDAVID WALKER in CNN online:
CNN) — The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act contains plenty to make lawmakers on the left and right shudder. On the right, it’s the apparent abandonment of free-market principles. On the left, it’s the absence of punishment for high-flying Wall Street CEO’s.
Looking down the middle, what I found downright unnerving was how hard Washington struggled to pass a bill that, in reality, represents less than 1 percent of our current federal financial hole.
Don’t get me wrong. Congress and the Bush Administration are to be commended for acting to relieve the credit crunch and trying to minimize any immediate, adverse effect on our economy and by consequence, on American jobs and access to credit.
The ultimate cost of the act should ring up at less than $500 billion, less than the advertised $700 billion because of anticipated proceeds from the government’s sale of the assets it will acquire with the appropriated funds.
The nation’s real tab, on the other hand, amounted to $53 trillion as of the end of the last fiscal year. That was the sum of our public debt; accrued civilian and military retirement benefits; unfunded, promised Social Security and Medicare benefits; and other financial obligations — all according to the government’s most recent financial statement of September 30, 2007.
Don’t Miss * Fed pumps billions more into banks * Dollar plummets against yen * In Depth: CommentariesThe rescue package and other bailout efforts for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG and the auto industry, escalating operating deficits, compounding interest and other factors are likely to boost the tab to $56 trillion or more by the end of this calendar year.
With numbers and trends like this, you might ask, “Who will bail out America?” The answer is, no one but us!
Since we’re going to have to save ourselves, recent events could hardly be called encouraging. It took an additional $100 billion in incentives — some would call them “sweeteners;” others might call them bribes — to get lawmakers to pass the rescue package. Regardless of what you call these incentives, ultimately the taxpayers will have to pick up the tab, with interest.
The process that was employed to achieve enactment of this bill was hardly a model of efficiency or effectiveness. The original proposal represented an over-reach and under-communication by the administration.
Neither lawmakers nor ordinary citizens had enough information to properly assess the real risks, the need for action and what an appropriate course of action might be. Furthermore, the key players allowed the legislation to be characterized as a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, which was neither an accurate nor a fair reflection of the legislation.
Passage of the credit-crunch relief provisions in the act was understandable, not just because of what risks and needed actions the Treasury and the Federal Reserve were aware of, but more importantly, because of what policymakers didn’t know and eventually might have to address.
Let’s face it — the regular order in Washington is broken. We must move beyond crisis management approaches and start to address some of the key fiscal and other challenges facing this country if we want our future to be better than our past.
A good place to start would be for the presidential candidates to acknowledge our $53 trillion (and growing) federal financial hole and commit to begin to address it. Their endorsement of the need for a bipartisan fiscal future commission along the lines of the one sponsored by Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tennessee, and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Virginia, also would make sense.
Any such commission should, at a minimum, address the need for statutory budget controls, comprehensive Social Security reform, a first round of tax reform and a first round of comprehensive health care reform. It should hold hearings both inside and beyond the Beltway. And, its recommendations should be guaranteed to receive an up-or-down vote by Congress if a super-majority of the commission’s members can agree on a comprehensive proposal.
Editor’s Note: David M. Walker served as comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) from 1998 to 2008. He is now president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
Our fiscal time bomb is ticking, and the time for action is now!
DAVID WALKER
The New York Herald Sun 