History Music / RandyNewman

** ''{{James and the Giant Peach}}'' (1996)

With his regular collaborator Lenny Waronker, Newman recorded and released many popular hit records, including "I Love L.A.", "Short People", "Political Science", "Marie", "I Think It's Going To Rain Today", "You Can Leave Your Hat On" and the controversial "Rednecks". His solo albums ("Randy Newman", "Sail Away", "Good Old Boys", "Little Criminals", "Born Again", "Trouble In Paradise", "Land of Dreams", "Faust", "Bad Love" and "Harps and Angels"), have all received critical acclaim for the way in which his sardonic, witty lyrics and totally unique vocal delivery allowed his songs to be entertaining, musically excellent, but yet remain politically and socially aware.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In a classic case of PlayingAgainstType, Newman was signed to score ''AirForceOne''; though he did indeed write and record music for the movie, he was ultimately replaced by JerryGoldsmith (and Joel [=McNeely=] because of time pressures). Fans can only hope his thrown-out score gets a release.

* PlayingAgainstType: People who know Newman from his work on children's movies and the scores of lighthearted comedies tend to be blindsided by his albums. Similarly, fans of Newman's albums tend to be a bit surprised he can be so "kiddie".

* VillainSong: "Friends on the Other Side" from ''ThePrincessAndTheFrog''. Also a common trope in his non-movie work: "Kathleen" is from the perspective of a man tricking a woman into thinking they're married to get in her pants; the subtitle (Catholicism Made Easier) got Newman into a LOT of trouble.

** ''{{Babe}}: Pig in the City'' (1998) (song: "That'll Do" by Peter Gabriel)
** ''{{Pleasantville}}'' (1998)
** ''Toy Story 2'' (1999),

** ''Seabiscuit'' (2003)

** ''Toy Story 3'' (2010)

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Comes up in his lyrics occasionally:

** ''ToyStory2'' (1999),

** ''ToyStory3'' (2010)

Most of these scores in the list were Oscar nominated for either the score or one of his brilliant songs. He finally won his first Oscar, in 2001, for the song 'If I Didn't Have You' from "Monsters, Inc." He won his second Oscar in 2011, for the song, "We Belong Together" from "ToyStory3."

Most recently, Newman wrote the songs and score for [[{{Disney}} Disney’s]] ''[[Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog The Princess and the Frog]]'' as well as ''ToyStory3''. He has earned two more Academy Award nominations (19 total) in the Best Original Song category for Almost There and Down In New Orleans. On June 2nd 2010 Newman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

* ArsonMurderandJaywalking: Comes up in his lyrics occasionally:

** ''Cold Turkey'' (1971)

* ClevelandRocks: "Burn On", about the Cuyahoga River's unfortunate tendency to catch on fire.

** ''Film/ABugsLife'' (1998),

** ''ToyStory'' (1995),

** ''Film/{{Cars}}'' (2006)

** ''Film/CatsDontDance'' (1997),

** ''Film/MonstersInc'' (2001)

The son of the only Newman brother NOT to be a composer (his father was an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_medicine internist]]), RandyNewman is arguably the most famous of the Newman musical family, but more for his song writing skills than his film music. Born in Los Angeles but raised in New Orleans, [[RandyNewman Randy]] was a talented pianist from an early age, and always seemed destined for a career in music, but during his formative years purposefully stayed away from Hollywood and concentrated on being a recording artist in his own right.

With his regular collaborator Lenny Waronker, [[RandyNewman Newman]] recorded and released many popular hit records, including "I Love L.A.", "Short People", "Political Science", "Marie", "I Think It's Going To Rain Today", "You Can Leave Your Hat On" and the controversial "Rednecks". His solo albums ("RandyNewman", "Sail Away", "Good Old Boys", "Little Criminals", "Born Again", "Trouble In Paradise", "Land of Dreams", "Faust", "Bad Love" and "Harps and Angels"), have all received critical acclaim for the way in which his sardonic, witty lyrics and totally unique vocal delivery allowed his songs to be entertaining, musically excellent, but yet remain politically and socially aware.

** ''[=~Cats Don't Dance~=]'' (1997),
** ''[=~A Bug's Life~=]'' (1998),

** ''MeetTheParents'' (2000)
** ''[=~Monsters, Inc.~=]'' (2001)

** ''[[MeetTheParents Meet the Fockers]]'' (2004)
** ''{{Cars}}'' (2006)

In 2003, he wrote and sung the Emmy Award-winning theme song for ''{{Monk}}'', used from its second season onwards, titled "It's a Jungle Out There". In 2009, he returned to write and sing the closing song to the entire series, "When I'm Gone", and won that Emmy too.

Ever the innovator, Newman's was involved with the South Coast Repertory Theater's production of "The Education of RandyNewman", a musical stage play based on Newman's life set to his songs. The play, which stars Scott Waara as Newman and is directed by Myron Johnson, premiered in Costa Mesa, Los Angeles on 2 June 2000. The RandyNewman Songbook, Vol. I (2003), his first effort for Nonesuch, introduces powerful new solo versions of early classics and recent gems alike. The eighteen songs are an intimate and powerful reminder of the enduring work that Newman has established. In 2008 he released Harps and Angels; for Nonesuch records. His first collection of new songs since 2009’s Bad Love.

** ''{{Maverick}}'' (1994),

* [[GodIsEvil God Is At Least A Little Sadistic]]: "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)"

* CoveredUp: Newman is better known for the songs he's written than the versions he's put out. "You Can Leave Your Hat On" is the most common case.

* MisaimedFandom: Newman is arguably a textbook case: for every fan that gets he's being sarcastic, there are two that don't. Largely it's thanks to his tendencies to compose piano ballads, usually in old-fashioned styles like ragtime, that make his music seem like easy listening. It doesn't help that the irony is sometimes very subtle: "Jolly Coppers On Parade" is a good example.

* SympathyForTheDevil: "Rednecks" actually ''was'' intended to display a back-handed sort of sympathy for southern racists, specifically speaking out against northern liberals' tendency to mock them dismissively rather than argue with them on the merits (an argument Newman obviously believed the northerners would win handily.)

* TakeThat! : "Mr. President, Have Pity On The Working Man", probably his bitterest song. Arguably the entire score of "Faust", as well, at least to fundamentalists.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Randy_Newman.jpg

-->He said, "They found out about my sister
Kicked me out of the Navy,
They would have strung me up if they could.
I tried to explain that we were both of us lazy
And were doing the best we could."