Joe Raposo

 Joe   Raposo  ( February 8 th, 1937 - February 5 t h , 19 89 ) 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 known 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 & 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 19 58. 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 st score d musical  Sing  '' Muse ! '' opening in 19 61. 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 Broadway comedy  A Tea spoon Every Four H our s  ( 1969 ). 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 ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Hey_Cinderella! 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 was chose n independently of  HENSON  on the recommendation of produce r  / ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Hey_Cinderella! 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 & Jim skit s , & only occasion ally collaborating wit 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 t he Muppet tune s, 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 " Be in '  GREEN  ". Such introspection resulted from Raposo ' s songwriting method s, a process he call ed " 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 himself. As with 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 D o With a Fruit ? " or as the titular animal in " I ' m an Aardvark " ) to the melancholy ( " Some body C o me & 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 , L ow " ( as the Anything Muppet singing " middle " ). 1 Raposo classic which fit s in neither of the above 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 st time & the black child in the urban ghetto is hearing the harpsichord & the flute for the 1 st time . Some day, when they grow u p , they ' ll have 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 CTW ' s follow - up t o  SESAME STREET , The Electric Company. Raposo left  SESAME STREET  after 1974 ( replace d by Sam Pottle  as musical  director  ) contributing only occasional material ( such as new song s f or  SESAME   STREET  Fever ) & would not return full - time until Season 15 in 1983, working more often with other lyricist s. During that interim, Raposo continue d to collaborate with  HENSON  , scoring the pilot The Muppet Show : Sex & Violence ( originating the " At t he Dance " theme use d on The Muppet Show ) & both s on 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 1970, " 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 ( 1971 ) as musical ar range r , super visor , & compose r of incidental music. Following his departure from  SESAME STREET  in 1974, 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 1 977 ). 1 song fr om t h e film, " Blue " , was later use d on The Muppet Show ( performed by Helen Reddy , who also covered the s ong o n album s ). " Blue " & " Rag Dolly " were late r recycled by Raposo for the 1986 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  ( 1975 , 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 1980 s, collaborating with Theodor Geisel on 3 [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Theodor_Geisel 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 ) & It ' 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 Broadway debut as an Actor ' s Fund benefit in 2005.

Legacy
Raposo died from lymphoma on February 5, 1989 , 3 day s before his 52nd birthday. He was survive d by his wife Pat Collin s & 3 sons. The special ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Sing!_Sesame_Street_Remembers_Joe_Raposo_and_His_Music Sing !  SESAME   STREET  Re member s Joe Raposo & His Music ]'', host ed & directed  by Jon Stone , aired in memoriam. Nearly 3 year s late r, a tribute CD was release d commemorating his work o n  SESAME STREET . In 2004, a short chil dren ' s book abo ut Raposo ,  A Boy & His Music  , was written by Odete Amarelo & Gilda Arruda with 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 ey Cinderella ! ( music & lyric s )
 * The Great San ta Cla us S witch ( compose r  & conductor, 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 & Violence ( score & song s, including " At t h e Dance " theme )
 * The Great Muppet Caper ( score & song s )
 * The Fantastic  Miss   Piggy  Show ( arrange r, conduct or , a ll original son 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 - Broadway credits
 * "  JIM HENSON  ' s Red Book " entries : 3/29/1982, 1 2 / 9 - 11 / 1988