Miscellaneous Videos – All music composed by Stephen Lawrence
I was a guest on John Schaefer’s Soundcheck when he did three broadcasts celebrating the 40th anniversary of “Free To Be…You and Me.” Here is a short segment from that. Time 5:58.
“Decisions, Decisions.” Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Sung by Carol Burnett. In 1991 HBO asked me to compose songs and score for an animated version of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. I asked Sheldon to write the lyrics and he agreed. Our first choice to play The Narrator, Peter’s mother, and the White Cat, was Carol Burnett, and we were very happy when she said she would like to do it. Time 1:46.
Michael Jackson and Roberta Flack sing “When We Grow Up,” from the ABC Emmy and Peabody award winning special Free To Be…You And Me. Michael was 15 and Roberta was 34. Lyrics by Shelly Miller. Time 2:18.
Bernadette Peters sings “The Finest Parties,” from the 1974 PBS series Feeling Good, which focused on health issues. I composed the music and am still searching for the name of the lyricist. Time 2:01.
Tammy Grimes sings “Momma’s Day” from a 1972 PBS series about health. I composed the music (and played piano on this recording). Lyrics by Tony Geiss. IMPORTANT: TOWARD THE END OF THE SONG, AFTER THE WORD “DRIFTING,” THERE IS A SOUND DROPOUT of a few seconds. Tammy Grimes: 1934-2016. Time 3:20.
Like many composers I got my start writing music for commercials. One of my favorites was for Blue Grass perfume. The singer couldn’t be anyone but Kenny Karen. Time 1:00.
This jingle got me my first job at Children’s Television Workshop, which led to my many years of composing for Sesame Street; Lyrics by Enid Futterman. Time 0:29.
“You Take My Breath Away” is a million selling Gold single. The album sold over 500,000 copies, and was also certified Gold. I composed the song (lyrics by Bruce Hart) for a television movie called Sooner Or Later. It is sung by Rex Smith over a scene in which 13-year-old Jessie (Denise Miller) hopes to “accidentally” run into Michael (Rex) as he is jogging. She sees him and runs to join him but soon runs out of breath, thus, the title of the song. This clip shows the first minute and a half of the scene. Time 1:34.
Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, and Marlo Thomas sing “Circle of Friends,” a 3-part round. Music by Stephen Lawrence; Lyrics by Bruce Hart. Time 1:57.
“My Closest Friend,” from Treva Silverman’s pilot, Vanities, based on the play Vanities. Music by Stephen Lawrence. Lyrics by Edward Kleban. Time 1:00.
1960 college musical, The Delicate Touch. Music by Stephen Lawrence. Book and Lyrics by Francis Ford Coppola. There are two selections: 1. Overture (Orchestra). 2. “Another Morning.” (Barbara Allentuck, Jan Wilgencamp, Jeanne Campanale. Time 6:48.