skip's blog

vid: skip flintstone

My first venture into animation music was this -- Cartoon Network's original movie Flintstones On The Rocks.

I got the gig because Joey Altruda and the producers got into a dispute. So I got a call from Jennifer Pelphrey, now the head of production at Cartoon Network, also the wife of my best pal, Art Fein. Would I be able to write music for as cartoon?

(At this point, I only had one feature under my belt, but the Couch, Los Angeles disc pointed up to that I might have some potential for cartoons.)

I met with the producers, Chris Savino and David Smith, and they asked if I could do a demo that would be equal parts exotica and ranchera for the scene where the Flintstone's and Rubble's were driving through the desert. I said yes.

I wrote a one-minute demo and Robert Drasnin played all the parts on synthesizer, except the bongo part, which I played on a plastic trash can. By contemporary standards, it was a very rustic affair, but it got the gig. The first thing on the list: a new big band arrangement of the immortal theme with breaks for speaking. If possible, a little faster, brighter, and more tense. So I kicked five beats per minute faster, put flugelhorns (brass) where the alto saxophone usually goes, and put more xylophone stuff in there, as well as doing some Kenton-y saxophone writing.

The group on this song was Skip Waring (all trumpets, flugelhorn, valve trombone), Pablo Colgero (all saxophones), Mike Rocke (piano), Dan Brownfield (electric bass), and DJ Bonebrake (drums and xylophone). The singers were Jennell Hawkins, Chris Montez, and Guy Pohlman.

Labels: cartoon music, dj bonebrake, flintstones, skip heller

posted by skip heller @ 12:52 PM