Joe Raposo

 Joe   Raposo  ( February 8  th,  1 9 3 7  - February  5  th ,  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  " , "  Sing  " & "  Some body Come &amp; Play  ".

Back g round
Joseph Guilherme Raposo w as born in Fall River, Massachusetts  , of  Brazil  ian Portuguese heritage. His father was a music teacher & conductor, but Raposo initially majored in law at Harvard College  , where he graduate d in  1 9 5 8. He soon began performing a s a jazz piano accompanist & then studied at L ' Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris  i n stead of going o n to l aw school. While still at Harvard , he conduct ed an out of town try out for a  Broad way  show , with his  1  s t score d musical  Sing  '' Muse ! '' opening in 1 9 6 1. Raposo subsequently move d from Boston to New York  where he provide d dramatic underscoring for Bertolt Brecht ' s  A   Man ' s   a   Man , served as musical  director  of Truman Capote ' s  House   of   Flowers  (  19 68  ) & wrote incidental music for Jackie Mason ' s  B road way  comedy  A Tea spoon Every  Four  H our s  (  1 9 6 9  ). It was  SESAME STREET  that brought Raposo wide spread fame, how ever.

Work with HENSON  &  SESAME
Raposo 1  st worked with  JIM HENSON  on the special  H e y Cinderella !  (  19 6 9  ), for which he scored & wrote all of the song 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  /  Hey Cinderella !   write r   Jon Stone. Serving as musical director for the 1  s t  5   season 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  Stone  ,  Jerry Juhl  ,  Daniel Wilcox  &  JEFF MOSS  ( who contribute d heavily to the  show  ' s musical sound  himself  ) , among ot her s. As Raposo re called,  SESAME STREET  " just c ame a long . I t didn ' t have a name . It was a bunch of peo ple meandering around trying to do a show for Public Television . " Most of his best known song s  , how ever , soon fell in t o  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 an them "  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 "  Bein '  GREEN  ". Such introspection resulted from Raposo ' s songwriting 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 yourself 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 of film in sert s , usually played over footage of peo ple or animals & performed by Raposo him self. As wit h the Muppets , Raposo ' s style as  compose r  & sing er varied in mood s , from the comedic & even brash ( adopting cartoonish 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 ing mood pie ce 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 i s "  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 & Chil dren ' s song s. " Some educator s have complained that the music on  SESAME STREET  is too sophisticated for little ea rs, that we should curb the spontaneity o f blue s & rock & instead teach the chil dren " 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 . Chil dren are n ow expose d to & learn to love every conceivable style of music . . . & the beauty of our music is maybe that the Chi ld in the Grosse Pointe home is hearing gospel & blue s for the 1| 1 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 ta 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 he 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 1 st Time It Happens  ". 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  CTW , 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 from  SESAME STREET  in 1 9 7 4 ,  produce r  Richard Horner tapped Raposo to  write  all son g s & score for the animate d film  Raggedy   Ann   &   And y  ( finally release d in  1 9 77  ). 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 ong o n album s ). " Blue  " & " Rag Dolly " were late r recycled by Raposo for t he  1 9 8 6   Broad way  show  Raggedy   Ann   &   Andy  ( with a substantially different plot & several new Raposo tune s ).

On a more adult level, Raposo scored Robert Altman ' s Academy Award  - winning drama  Nashville  (  1 9 7 5  , wit h  Lily Tomlin  &  Cloris Leachman  ) &  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 chil dren ' 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 the  Madeline  book s ( which aired on  HBO   4  month s aft e r h i s death ) , & writing the theme for  Shining   Time   Station .

In the theater world, Raposo collaborated with Sheldon Harnick ( lyricist of  Fiddler 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 adaptation of  It ' s a Wonderful Life  which was performed largely in college s & made it s  Broad way  debut as an Actor ' s Fund benefit in  2 00 5.

Legacy
Raposo die d from lymphoma on February 5, 1 9 8 9  , 3| 3  day s before his 52nd 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 ed  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 chil dren ' s book abo ut Raposo ,  A Boy & His Music  , was written by Odete Amarelo & Gilda Arruda wit h illustration s by Josette Fernandes. Raposo ' s song s continue to be hear d on  SESAME STREET , & his name appeared in the credit s for original song s up to Season 40.

Muppet Project s

 *  H e y Cinderella !  ( music & lyric s )
 *  The Great San ta Cla us S witch  ( compose r  & conduct or, n o lyric s )
 *  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 he 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