Joe Raposo

 Jo e   Raposo  ( F e b r u a r y 8 t h, 1 9 3 7  - F e b r u a r y 5 t h ,  1 9 8 9  ) was a  compose r  who wrote  song s  , score , back g round cue s , & other music f or  SESAME STREET  & other  Muppet   Project s. Raposo create d some of the best know n Muppet   song s , notably "  Be in '  GREEN  " & "  C I S F OR COOKIE  " & helped establish the sound of  SESAME STREET . Many of his  SESAME STREET  songs  have since become popular standard s covered by everyone from  the Carpenters  to  Barbra Streisand , including "  Bein '  GREEN  " , "  S in g  " & "  S o m e b o d y Come & P lay  ".

Back g round
Joseph Guilherme Raposo w as born in Fall River, Massachusetts  , of  Brazil  i an Portuguese heritage. His father was a music teacher & conductor, but Raposo initially majored in law at Harvard College  , w her e he graduate d i n  1 9 5 8. He soon began perform in g a s a jazz piano accompanist & then studied at L ' Ecole Normale de Musique i n Paris  i n stead o f g o in g o n to l a w school. While s t ill a t Harvard , he conduct ed an out of town try out for a  Broad way  show , with his fir s t score d musical  S i n g  '' Muse ! '' open in g i n 1 9 6 1. Raposo subsequently move d fro m Boston to New York  where he provide d dramatic under scoring f or Bertolt Brecht ’ s  A   Man ’ s   a   Man , serve d as musical  direct or  of Truman Capote ’ s  House   o f   Flow e r s  (  1 9 6 8  ) & wrote incidental music for Jackie Mason ’ s  B road way  comedy  A   Tea spoon   Eve r y  4| Four   H our s  (  1 9 6 9  ). It was  SESAME STREET  that brought Raposo wide spread fame, how eve r.

Work w it h HE N S ON  &  SESAME
Raposo fir st worked with  JIM HENSON  on the special  H e y Cinderella !  ( 1 9 6 9  ), for which he scored & wrote all of the s on g s. Raposo subsequently worked on  SESAME STREET , though he w as chose n independently o f  HENSON  on t h e recommendation of produce r  /  H e y Cinderella !   w rite r   Jon Stone. Serving as musical direct or for the fir s t 5| 5  sea s on s , Raposo initially wrote material for all aspect s of the  show  , including the instrumental theme for the live action  Buddy &amp; Jim  skit s , & only occasion ally collaborating w it h staff  write r s  such a s  S tone  ,  Jerry Juhl  ,  Daniel Wilcox  &  JEFF MOSS  ( who contribute d heavily t o t he  show  ’ s musical sound  him s elf  ) , among other s. As Raposo re called,  SESAME STREET  " just c ame a long . I t did n ’ t have a name . It was a bunch of p e o p l e meandering around try in g to do a show for Public Television . " Most of his best known song s  , how ever , soon fell in t o 2| 2  group s : those written for  Muppet  segment s & those f o r live action film s , often sun g by Raposo himself.

Of the Muppet  tunes, some were jaunty , whimsical exercise s in education , as with  Cookie Monster  ’ s anthem "  C i s for Cookie  " or "  Would You Like to Buy a n  O  ?  " Other s were slower & mo re contemplative , expressing the innermost thought s , fear s & desire s of the  character s  , as wit h "  Imagination  " "  Nobody  " , & especially  Kermit  ’ s classic time less lament "  Be in '  GREEN  ". Such introspection resulted from Raposo ' s song writing method s, a process he call e d " psychological dress - up " : " When you write songs , music & lyric s , you ’ re always putting on some body else ' s clothes . The degree to which you ' re able to dress up & counterfeit your s elf as this person , that ' s as good as you are a s a write r  . & I ' m pretty good at it , which leaves me tremendous doubt s about my own personality.

Raposo ' s sound, often dominate d by the piano over other instrument s , was also a fixture o f film insert s , usually played over footage of p e o p l e or animals & performed by Raposo him self. As wit h the Muppet s , Raposo ’ s style as  compose r  & sing er varied in mood s , from the comedic & even brash ( adopting cartoon is h voice s for "  What Do You Do With a Fruit ?  " or as the titular animal i n "  I ’ m an Aardvark  " ) to the melancholy ( "  Some body C o me &amp; Play  " ) or sooth in g mood piece s ( "  Ever y body Sleep s  " ). 1 of the few occasion s when he lent his voice to song s written by other s was "  High, Middle , Low  " ( as the  Anything Muppet  singing " middle " ). 1| 1 Raposo classic which fit s in neither of the above 2| 2  categories is "  Sing  " performed in many different context s on the  show , & late r covered by a variety of popular artist s.

In fact, through his work on  SESAME STREET  ,  Raposo  deliberate ly set out to cross the force d boundaries between pop music & c h i l d r e n ’ s song s. " Some educator s have complained that the music on  SESAME STREET  is too sophisticated for little ea r s, that we should curb the spontaneity o f blue s & rock & instead teach the c h i l d r e n " Mary Had a Little Lamb. " But what most educator s don ' t realize is that the lamb left the nursery the day they brought the TV set in . C h i l d r e n are n ow expose d to & learn to love every conceivable style of music . . . & the beauty of our music is maybe that the Ch i l d in the Gross e Pointe home is hear in g gospel & blue s for the fir st time & the black child in the urban ghetto is hearing the harpsichord & the flute for the 1| 1 st time . Some day, when they grow u p , they ' ll have 1| 1  more thin g i n common.

Raposo continue d to work with  HENSON  on  The Great San t a Cla us Switch  &  The  Frog  Prince  ( both with lyric s b y  Juhl  ) & went on to serve as musical  director  & song  writer  for  C T W  ' s follow - up t o  SESAME STREET ,  The Electric Company . Raposo left  SESAME STREET  after 1 9 7 4  ( replace d by  Sam Pottle  as musical  direct or  ) contributing only occasional material ( such a s new  song s  for  SESAME   STREET  Fever  ) & would not return f ull - time until  Season 1 5  in  1 9 8 3 , working more often with other lyric is t s. During that interim,  Raposo  continue d to collaborate with  HENSON  , scoring the pilot  T he Muppet Show : Sex &amp; Violence  ( originating t he " At t h e Dance  " theme use d on  The Muppet Show  ) & both son g s & score for  The Great Muppet Caper  , which garnered him an  Academy Award  nomination for "  The First Time It Happen s  ". He also worked on  The Fantastic  Miss   Piggy  Show  & compose d  &  produce d  all song s for  Miss   Piggy  ’ s Aerobique Exercise Work out Album .

Fame & Late r Work
In 1 9 7 0 , "  Bein '  GREEN  " was covered by  Frank Sinatra  , & as Raposo put it , " then I be c ame famous . "  SESAME STREET  took a back seat for a time to a wide range of project s i n film , T V , & theater , as well as writing original song s for  Sinatra  & other sing er s. While still staff musical director  for  C T W , Raposo worked on  You ’ re a Good Man , Charlie Brown  (  1 9 7 1  ) as musical ar range r , super visor , & compose r of incidental music. Following his departure fro m  SESAME STREET  i n 1 9 7 4 ,  produce r  Richard Horner tapped Raposo to  write  all s o n g s & s c or e for the animate d film  Raggedy   Ann   &   And y  ( finally release d in  1 9 77  ). 1| 1 song fr om t h e film, "  Blue  " , was l ate r use d on  The Muppet Show  ( perform ed by  Helen Reddy  , who also covered the s on g o n album s ). " Blue  " & " Rag Dolly " were late r recycle d by Raposo for t he  1 9 8 6   Broad way  show  Raggedy   Ann   &   And y  ( with a substantially different plot & several new Raposo tune s ).

On a more adult level, Raposo compose d  music ( sans lyric s ) for the  Three ’ s   Company  theme song as well as the instrumental theme for it s spin - off  The   Roper s  , among other project s. He returned to c h i l d r e n ’ s project s in the 1 9 8 0 s , collaborating with  Theodor Geisel  on 3| 3   D r . Seuss  animate d special s ,  composing  music for a special base d on t he  Madeline  book s ( which aired on  H B O  4| 4  month s aft e r h i s death ) , & writing the theme f or  Shining   Time   Station .

In the theater world, Raposo collaborated with Sheldon Harnick ( lyricist of  Fiddle r on t he Roof  ) on the can tata  Sutter ’ s   Gold  ( 1 9 8 0  ) &  I t ’ s a Wonderful Life  (  1 9 8 6  ) , a musical adapt at i on of  It ’ s a Wonderful Life  which was performed largely in college s & made it s  B road way  debut as an Actor ’ s Fun d benefit in  2 00 5.

Legacy
Raposo die d from lymphoma o n F e b r u a r y 5, 1 9 8 9  , 3| 3  day s before his 5 2 n d birth day. He was survive d by his wife  Pat Collin s & 3| 3  sons. The special  Sing !  SESAME   STREET  Re member s Joe Raposo &amp; His Music , host ed & direct e d  by  Jon Stone  , aired in memoriam. Nearly 3| 3 year s late r, a  tribute C D  was release d commemorating his work o n  SESAME STREET . In 2 00 4 , a short c h i l d r e n ’ s book abo ut Raposo ,  A   Boy   &   His   Music  , was written by Odete Amarelo & Gilda Arruda w it h illustration s by Josette Fernandes. Raposo ’ s song s continue to be h ear d on  SESAME STREET , & his name appeared in the credit s for origin a l song s  up to  Sea s on 4 0.

Muppet Project s

 *  H e y Cinderella !  ( music & lyric s )
 *  The Great S an t a C la us S witch  (  compose r  & conduct or, n o lyric s )
 *  The Ed Sullivan Show  ( " The Glutton  " s core )
 *  T he  FROG  Prince  ( compose r  & conductor, no lyric s )
 *  Out t o Lunch  ( music & lyric s )
 *  The Muppet Show : S ex &amp; Violence  ( score & son g s, including " At t h e Dance  " theme )
 *  The Great Muppet Caper  ( score & song s )
 *  T h e Fantastic  Miss   Piggy  Show  ( arrange r, conduct or , a ll original son g s & cue s )
 *  Miss   Piggy  ’ s Aerobique Exercise Work out Album  ( music, lyric s , & album produce r  )

External l ink s

 * Joe Raposo . org
 * Joe Raposo on I M D b
 * Lortel Off - Broad way credits
 * "  JIM HENSON  ’ s Red Book " entries : 3 / 2 9 / 1 9 8 2, 1 2 / 9 - 11 / 1 9 88

Video s
Ol ' Number Nine