The Joe Raposo Appreciation Thread

[D'Snowth]

I mean c'mon, he's probably one of the best composers the world of the Muppets ever had, why not?

 

[CensoredAlso]

I actually wrote a brief tribute to one of Joe Raposo's Sesame Street songs once:

http://herald7.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/sesame-street-live-action-segments/

 

[Misskermie]

Joe Raposo is awesome.
End of story.

 

[Hubert]

I really love Joe Raposo's work on the show. He just created such catchy and memorable tunes that really made you love him. Plus, he's a pretty good in the singing alley too.

Some of my faves that aren't the obvious classics include "Air," "Bein' a Pig," "Has Anybody Seen My Dog?," and "Peanut Butter."

 

[Channaj]

Those are all great songs. I wasn't familiar with "Little Things" or "Who Am I?" Raposo is a phenomenal composer in so many realms. But we also can't forget about the amazing band that performed those tunes. Can I get a shout out for Bob Cranshaw anyone?

 

[fuzzygobo]

Joe was a truly gifted composer, arranger, musician, singer, he had the total package. And he had a great bunch of sidemen to bring his musical dreams to life. It's just too bad that from so many people who knew him, while praising his musicianship, they saw a darker side to him- on one side he had his great musical gift, but on the other side he could be almost impossible to deal with sometimes. (Joan Ganz Cooney:"Joe was a great musician, but could also be the biggest pain in the (fill-in-the-blank)").

He went through some horrible insecurities, and I don't know if he ever realized just how much his work was appreciated. Sometimes he dismissed it as "kiddie tunes", and wanted to be acknowledged as a "legitimate" composer. Which is quite a shame.

Joe, from the moment I was able to hear music, you were big part of that. Even today, I always have one of your tunes going through my head, making my foot tap, and you have made a real difference in this world. When I get to Heaven someday, I'll be the first one to tell you.

 

[Bliffenstimmers]

Not too many people are familiar with Raposo's work outside of Sesame Street or the Muppet movies and TV specials. Nobody I've known appreciates his work as much as I do.
He has such a range and variety in his songs, cutesy and upbeat, disco, slow paced and moody, classical...
While most of my favorite Raposo songs are of course from Sesame Street, I did get a kick out of the songs he wrote for the Dr. Seuss specials and some of Jim Henson's other projects. (Didn't he also write a few TV show themes?)

 

[fuzzygobo]

He wrote "Three's Company".
Probably one of his greatest talents with Sesame Street was all the animal clips he scored. He would get shown about 30 seconds of silent footage of aardvarks, giraffes, pelicans, seahorses, or what have you, and within an hour he had a score ready.
And in the early days he just banged them out. Not one dud in the bunch. Now that's talent.

 

[D'Snowth]

I agree with you Bliffenstimmers, he composed a great score for Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?

But yeah, you guys are right; the book Street Gang does seem to reveal him as being some one who, while gifted with a lot of amazing talent, was really, really difficult to work and get along with... then again, it kind of put Richard Hunt in that same kind of light as well...

 

[MrBloogarFoobly]

One of the reasons Jim Henson was a unique genius is that he was easy to get along with. Other extremely brilliant people - Raposo, Hunt, even Frank Oz at times - were and are tough people.

I love Raposo's work. He sounds like a real character.