Angelo Badalamenti | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Angelo Daniel Badalamenti (1937-03-22)March 22, 1937 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | December 11, 2022(2022-12-11) (aged 85) Lincoln Park, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1962–2022 |
Angelo Daniel Badalamenti (March 22, 1937 – December 11, 2022) was an Americancomposer andarranger best known for his film music, notably the scores for his collaborations with directorDavid Lynch,Blue Velvet (1986),Twin Peaks (1990–1991; 2017),Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992),The Straight Story (1999), andMulholland Drive (2001).[1]
Badalamenti also composed scores for such films asNational Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989),The City of Lost Children (1995),Holy Smoke! (1999), andA Very Long Engagement (2004), and recorded songs with artists includingJulee Cruise (in collaboration with Lynch),Nina Simone,Shirley Bassey,Pet Shop Boys,Dusty Springfield,Marianne Faithfull,David Bowie,Tim Booth,Siouxsie Sioux andDolores O'Riordan.
In 1990, Badalamenti won theGrammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for his "Twin Peaks Theme" at the33rd Annual Grammy Awards. He received a lifetime achievement award from theWorld Soundtrack Awards's Academy in 2008 and the Henry Mancini Award from theAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 2011.
Angelo Daniel Badalamenti was born on March 22, 1937, in theborough ofBrooklyn in New York City, the second of four children born to Leonora (née Ferrari) and John Badalamenti.[2] His father, who was of Italian[3] descent from the town ofCinisi, was a fish market owner.[4] He began taking piano lessons at age eight. By the time Badalamenti was a teenager, his aptitude at the piano earned him a summer job accompanying singers at resorts in theCatskill Mountains.[5] His elder brother was a jazz trumpet player who used to improvise with other musicians.[6] He also went to Latin American dance clubs.[6] Badalamenti attendedLafayette High School, where he wrote the processional march for his high school graduation.[7] After graduating, he enrolled at theEastman School of Music at theUniversity of Rochester, but transferred after two years to theManhattan School of Music, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1958 and a master's degree in 1959.[8][9] He began composing music pieces inKurt Weill's style.[6]
Badalamenti scored films such asGordon's War andLaw and Disorder, but his break came when he was hired asIsabella Rossellini's singing coach for the song "Blue Velvet" inDavid Lynch's 1986 filmBlue Velvet.[10] Badalamenti and Lynch collaborated to write "Mysteries of Love" using lyrics Lynch wrote.Julee Cruise, who went on to work with Lynch and Badalamenti on other projects, performed the vocals for that track. Badalamenti composed the film's score and served as music supervisor. Lynch's request to him was for the score to be "likeShostakovich, be very Russian, but make it the most beautiful thing but make it dark and a little bit scary."[11] Badalamenti appears inBlue Velvet as the piano player in the club where Rossellini's character performs. This film was the first instance of a career-long collaborative relationship with Lynch spanning television and film.[10] Badalamenti dubbed their partnership "my second-best marriage".[12]
After scoring a variety of mainstream films, includingA Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors[7] andNational Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Badalamenti again collaborated with Lynch in scoring Lynch's television showTwin Peaks, featuring Cruise's vocals on the leading song "Falling".[13][14]Twin Peaks became the score Badalamenti is perhaps best known for, one that helped define the show's style and mood.[13] The score features different themes patterned after specific characters in the show—"Audrey's Dance", for example, is an "abstract jazzy" theme that plays whenAudrey Horne (played bySherilyn Fenn) is onscreen.[15] Many of the songs from the series were released on Cruise's albumFloating into the Night.[16] Badalamenti won theGrammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the "Twin Peaks Theme" from theTwin Peaks soundtrack.[17] The song also earned a gold plaque from theRIAA.[18] Between 1991 and 1993, Badalamenti and Lynch collaborated on the projectThought Gang, the results of which were released in 2018.
Other Lynch projects Badalamenti worked on include the moviesWild at Heart,Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me,Lost Highway,The Straight Story,Mulholland Drive (in which he has a small role as a gangster with a finicky taste for espresso), andRabbits, and the television showsOn the Air andHotel Room.[19] His projects with other directors include the TV filmWitch Hunt and the filmsNaked in New York,The City of Lost Children,A Very Long Engagement,The Wicker Man,[2]Dark Water, andSecretary.[20] He also worked on the soundtrack for the video gameFahrenheit (known asIndigo Prophecy in North America), and wrote the music forPaul Schrader's filmsAuto Focus,The Comfort of Strangers, andDominion: Prequel to the Exorcist.[20]
In 1995, he askedMarianne Faithfull to write lyrics for a song for the soundtrack ofJean-Pierre Jeunet'sThe City of Lost Children; the result was "Who Will Take My Dreams Away".[21]
In 1998, Badalamenti recorded "A Foggy Day (in London Town)" withDavid Bowie for theRed Hot Organization's compilation albumRed Hot + Rhapsody, a tribute toGeorge Gershwin that raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.[7] Badalamenti had sent a demo of the song with his own vocals to the record company and Bowie was the first singer to respond.[22] In 1999, he worked with directorJane Campion on the filmHoly Smoke!, writing the soundtrack after working with Campion for a few days.[23]
In 2005, he composed the themes for the movieNapola (Before the Fall), which were then adapted for the score byNormand Corbeil.[24] In 2008, he composed and directed the soundtrack ofThe Edge of Love:Siouxsie Sioux sang the Weill-influenced "Careless Love",[12] andPatrick Wolf andBeth Rowley recorded vocals for several other tracks.[25]
Badalamenti received the Lifetime Achievement Award at theWorld Soundtrack Awards on October 18, 2008, inGhent, Belgium.[1] That night, he performed a concert at the piano with theBrussels Philharmonic orchestra directed byDirk Brossé, with Siouxsie Sioux and Beth Rowley on vocals.[26] The concert, spanning his whole career with a selection of tracks,[26] was broadcast on Belgian television.[27]
On July 23, 2011, theAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers gave Badalamenti the Henry Mancini Award for his accomplishments in film and television music.[28]
The2017 revival of theTwin Peaks television series marked the continuation of Badalamenti's work with Lynch. Its score features new compositions by Badalamenti as well as material from the original score.[13]
From the start, Badalamenti collaborated with other songwriters. In 1964, he contributed toBeatlemania by arranging, conducting, and co-writing a Christmas novelty single, "Santa, Bring Me Ringo", which was performed by Christine Hunter.[7] In 1966, he co-wrote a song, "Visa to the Stars", onPerrey and Kingsley's albumThe In Sound from Way Out![7] In 1967, using the nameAndy Badale, he co-wrote a song, "Pioneers of the Stars", forPerrey and Kingsley's next album,Kaleidoscopic Vibrations: Electronic Pop Music From Way Out.[7] The same year, he and Norm Simon co-wrote "I Want to Love You for What You Are", a No. 54 pop hit forRonnie Dove.[29] He also arranged, produced, and co-wrote some songs onPerrey's two solo albums for Vanguard Records using the Badale pseudonym.[7]
Badalamenti also wrote songs forNina Simone andShirley Bassey. In 1967, he co-wrote the song "I Hold No Grudge" for Simone's albumHigh Priestess of Soul.[30] In 1968, he andSammy Cahn wrote "I've Been Loved" for Bassey’s albumThis Is My Life.[31]
In 1987, he lent his services to the Britishsynth-pop duoPet Shop Boys, orchestrating "It Couldn't Happen Here".[32] He also arranged the strings on two tracks from their 1990 albumBehaviour.[33]
Badalamenti arranged songs for artists such asDusty Springfield andPaul McCartney. In 1989 he arranged Springfield's single "Nothing Has Been Proved", which was written by the Pet Shop Boys.[34]
Badalementi conceived entire albums with singers such as Julee Cruise, Marianne Faithfull andTim Booth of the bandJames. In 1993, he and Lynch directed an album for Cruise,The Voice of Love, which included several tracks fromTwin Peaks.[35] Also in 1993, he collaborated withthrash metal bandAnthrax on theTwin Peaks-inspired track "Black Lodge" from the albumSound of White Noise.[36]
In 1995, Badalamenti composed, orchestrated, and produced Faithfull's albumA Secret Life.[37] In 1996, he teamed up with Tim Booth asBooth and the Bad Angel; they releasedtheir eponymous album on theMercury label.[38] In 2000, he worked withOrbital on the single "Beached" for the movieThe Beach.[39] In 2004, he composed theEvilenko soundtrack, working withDolores O'Riordan, who sang the main theme and with whom he continued to collaborate.[40]
Badalamenti composed some of the score for theopening ceremony of the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona.[41]
Badalamenti performed at a concert entitled "The Music of David Lynch" in 2015, in recognition of the tenth anniversary of theDavid Lynch Foundation. The performance was held atAce Hotel Los Angeles and included Julee Cruise and other artists known for collaborating with Lynch.[42]
Badalamenti and his wife, Lonny, married in 1968 and had two children. He died of natural causes at his home inLincoln Park, New Jersey, on December 11, 2022, at age 85.[2][43] Following his death, several industry figures paid tribute to Badalamenti. David Lynch, during his daily installment ofWeather Report on December 12, said, "Today—no music".[44]
