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Legendary Singer-Composer Randy Newman Says He Gets Heckled By 5-Year Olds Who Want to Hear "Yo

SCORE Team
Mar 21, 2017
3 min read

LOS ANGELES — Randy Newman is famous for his work as a singer/songwriter and for the last two decades as a film composer, but he says some of his biggest fans only want to hear one tune.

“I’ve had 5-year-old hecklers who want to hear, ‘You’ve Got A Friend,’” he said in an interview that’s featured in a new book, SCORE: The Interviews.

Newman wrote “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” for 1995’s Toy Story, and the song’s tune became part of the film’s larger score. Newman was nominated for an Academy Award for the tune.

Though the song didn’t win the award — losing to “Colors of the Wind” from Disney’s Pocahontas — it seems to have secured a place in the hearts of kids watching Toy Story. He says his concerts are now attended by more families and children familiar with his film scores and songs.

“It’s a different audience than I would’ve expected to get,” he told the crew of SCORE: A Film Music Documentary (2017), which will be released in theaters this June. And sometimes those 5-year-old hecklers can be outspoken during the concert.

“One kid was at the side of the stage. I almost had to go smack him,” Newman joked to the SCORE crew.

His song for the sequel Toy Story 2 also proved to be a hit with his younger fans.

“The Jesse song, ‘When Somebody Loves Me’ — I didn’t think that a bunch of 5-year-olds would sit still for that song,” Newman said. “But they sat still for the whole thing.”

Newman’s career as a film composer rivals that of almost any other composer in the modern era, as he shared with the team from SCORE, and he’s grateful to those who’ve supported him over the years.

“There are kids, but they’re kids whose parents pointed them to my music,” he said. “It’s been an entirely tremendous experience.”

The never-before-seen interview with Newman is one of dozens featured in the new book SCORE: The Interviews, available in paperback and on Kindle — a treasure trove of rare interviews and insight with dozens of composers and directors will accompany the June release of SCORE: A Film Music Documentary.

The 352-page paperback book is packed with insider stories and never-before-heard in-depth interviews with dozens of maestros of the modern age, including Hans Zimmer, James Cameron, Quincy Jones, Rachel Portman, and one of the last long-form interviews conducted with Hollywood icon Garry Marshall.

Readers will step into the soundproof studios of film's top composers with the SCORE team to experience composers' journeys, struggles, secrets and how they find their groove.

The book is available on Amazon.

Composers Hans Zimmer (The Lion King, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, Inception), Quincy Jones (The Color Purple, The Pawnbroker, In Cold Blood), Randy Newman (Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., The Natural), Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Seven), Trent Reznor (The Social Network, Gone Girl, Nine Inch Nails), Tom Holkenborg (Mad Max: Fury Road, Batman v. Superman) and more. Plus, hear rare insight from director James Cameron and the legacy of James Horner, along with one of the final interviews conducted with legendary director Garry Marshall.

Modern maestros reveal their creative secrets.

Composer David Arnold: Bond, the British sound and using music from dreams.
Director James Cameron: How score shapes a film and working with James Horner.
Composer Quincy Jones: Music s evolution and emotive power on us.
Composer Randy Newman: Great film music in history and scoring for animated films.
Composer Rachel Portman: Using music to your advantage and female film composers.
Composer Howard Shore: The great epic film score and connecting all the dots.
Composer Hans Zimmer: The joy (and vulnerability) of musical experimentation.
Director Garry Marshall: How to use music to fill, fix and enhance film.
Composer Bear McCreary: Creating an efficient, tight-knit film composing team.

Goosebumps and exploring music's cutting edge.

Composers Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: Production value and the film score as an album.
Composer Brian Tyler: Growth, excitement and striving for perfection.
Composer Mychael Danna: Musical styles across different nationalities.
Composer Tom Holkenborg: Intensity and goosebumps.
Composer Harry Gregson-Williams: Traditional score meets technology.
Composer Steve Jablonsky: Reinventing electronic sounds.
Composer John Debney: Inspirations from childhood to the scoring stage.
Composer Trevor Rabin: Wrestling with the clock and working with producers.
Composer Patrick Doyle: Life and passion reflecting through music.