Charles Fox | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Ira Fox (1940-10-30)October 30, 1940 (age 85) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Years active | 1965-present |
| Spouse | Joan Susan Redman (1962-present) |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | http://www.charlesfoxmusic.com/ |
Charles Ira Fox (born October 30, 1940) is an American composer for film and television. His compositions include thesunshine pop musical backgrounds which accompanied every episode of the 1970sABC-TV showLove, American Style; thetheme song for the late 1970s ABC seriesThe Love Boat; and the dramatic theme music to ABC'sWide World of Sports[1] and the originalMonday Night Football; as well as the Grammy-winning hit song "Killing Me Softly with His Song", written in collaboration withLori Lieberman and Fox's longtime writing partner,Norman Gimbel.[2][3]
Fox was born inThe Bronx, New York City, the son of Mollie and Walter Fox.[4] Walter was aJewish immigrant[5] fromSzydlowiec,Poland.
While still a student at theHigh School of Music & Art, Fox studied jazz piano withLennie Tristano. He then continued his musical education withNadia Boulanger, first atFontainebleau and then privately in Paris. Following his return to the United States, he studied electronic music withVladimir Ussachevsky atColumbia University.[6] He married Joan Susan Redman on September 9, 1962.
Fox's career started by playing the piano for, composing, and arranging for artists in NYC's vibrant Latin music scene such asRay Barretto,Joe Quijano andTito Puente. He also wrote theme music and arranged forSkitch Henderson and The Tonight Show Orchestra. Fox worked under the banner of Bob Israel'sScore Productions where he composed the themes for severalGoodson-Todman game shows including NBC's version of theMatch Game, the syndicated versions ofWhat's My Line?, andTo Tell The Truth, whose lyrics were written by Goodson-Todman directorPaul Alter. He co-composed the theme song and all the original scores forLove, American Style, along with Arnold Margolin.[7]Fox began working with record producer and songwriterBob Crewe. The pair are responsible for the 1968 movie soundtrack,Barbarella starring actressJane Fonda. Their successful working relationship prompted Crewe to hire Fox to arrange his next project,Lotti Golden's iconic 1969 album,Motor-Cycle (album) onAtlantic Records.
Fox also composed the music for "Killing Me Softly with His Song," featuring lyrics byNorman Gimbel andLori Lieberman, in 1972. The song was inspired by Lieberman listening toDon McLean sing at a nightclub in Los Angeles. Fox and Gimbel had been managing her early career, and the song was released first by Lieberman, with writing credit assigned to Fox and Gimbel, cutting Lieberman out. Lieberman's version was only a minor hit, but the song became an international number 1 hit forRoberta Flack in 1973 and again forthe Fugees in 1997. The song won the Grammy for Best Song in 1973. Fox denies Lieberman's involvement, and failed to force McLean to change his website.[2][3]
Fox and Gimbel later wrote the themes for many films such asThe Last American Hero ("I Got a Name", sung byJim Croce),Foul Play ("Ready to Take a Chance Again", sung byBarry Manilow) and many television series, includingThe Bugaloos,Happy Days,Laverne & Shirley ("Making Our Dreams Come True" sung byCyndi Grecco),Angie ("Different Worlds" sung byMaureen McGovern),The Paper Chase ("The First Years" sung bySeals and Crofts; Emmy-nominated Best Song), andWonder Woman. He also wrote "Together Through The Years" along with fellow composerStephen Geyer forThe Hogan Family series, sung byRoberta Flack.
In 1977, Fox composed "Love Boat", the theme to the popular TV seriesThe Love Boat. It had lyrics byPaul Williams, and was sung byJack Jones until the ninth and final season whenDionne Warwick was featured. The single released by Jack Jones in 1979 peaked at #37 on the Billboard USAdult Contemporary chart.[8]
In February 1981, Fox peaked at #75 on theBillboard Hot 100 with the song,"Seasons".[9] It was co-written and co-produced byEd Newmark.[10]
In 2010, Fox published his memoirs,Killing Me Softly: My Life in Music.[11]
"The Charles Fox Singers" was the credited name for the group vocalists who performed his compositions on television and movie themes and cues; they were actuallyThe Ron Hicklin Singers.
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In total Fox has created film scores for over 100 films including:
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Charles Fox, collaborator for the film's soundtrack, had already established some level of success in scoring the film 'The Incident', as well as penning TV scores including the 'Wide World of Sports' theme...
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