Andy Paley obit

Andy Paley, Brian Wilson Collaborator, ‘Spongebob’ Composer and Veteran Producer, Dies at 72

 

He was not on the list.

Andy Paley, a veteran producer and musician who worked with a wide range of artists including Brian Wilson, the Ramones, Madonna, Jonathan Richman, Elton John, Deborah Harry, NRBQ and many others, died following a brief battle with cancer, a rep confirms to Variety. He also worked extensively in film and television, composing scores and writing songs for such top animated series as “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Ren & Stimpy,” “Digimon” and others. He was 72.

He was described by Wilson as “the most frighteningly talented person that I’ve met and the greatest musical genius I’ve come across in many years… maybe my whole life.”

Most recently, he and Tom Kenny — picture, above right, with Paley — who voices the Spongebob character, toured as Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas, the16-piece rock and soul band.

A native of the Albany area of upstate New York, Paley began playing music even before his teen years, at a 7-year-old writing “The Porcupine Song,” which was recorded by children’s music performer Tom Glazer. He was a drummer for local bands before moving to Boston in the early ‘70s, where he formed Catfish Black. Soon renamed the Sidewinders, the band included future members of The Modern Lovers, including Jerry Harrison, who would go on to become a member of Talking Heads. They were joined by Billy Squier and relocated to New York where they played Max’s Kansas City and signed to RCA Records with Lenny Kaye producing. After the Sidewinders broke up, Paley played on sessions and performance dates with Elliott Murphy, Patti Smith and Jonathan Richman, for whose later recordings Paley would serve as producer.

With his younger brother Jonathan, he formed the popular power-pop combo the Paley Brothers, whose unusual milieu — they opened for both Patti Smith and Shaun Cassidy — may have played a role in their limited popularity. They recorded a single for Sire Records that produced by Jimmy Iovine (which preceded their 1978 debut album) and appeared in the Ramones’ film “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School.”

After the duo split, Paley became a staff producer at Sire Records, where he produced Brian Wilson’s eponymous 1988 solo album, co-writing several songs. In his later career, he worked extensively in film and TV music, including the soundtracks for “Dick Tracy,” “A Walk on the Moon,” “Wild Orchid,” “A Rage in Harlem” and the score for Showtime’s “The L Word.”

Tom Kenny commented, “My friendship with Andy and our collaboration — writing songs and my fronting the band that he formed —  is one of the greatest true joys I’ve ever experienced. He possessed not only encyclopedic knowledge of all pop music — especially rock ‘n’ roll and girl group — but was also astoundingly astute when it came to art and literature.”

Paley is survived by his wife Heather Crist Paley, whom he married in 2010, and Jackson and Charlie – their twin sons who were born in 2012. He also leaves three sisters, Sarah, Brewster and Debby and brother Jonathan Paley.

Andy was the son of Henry Paley, a college administrator and lobbyist, and Cabot Barber Paley, a teacher and therapist. He was the third of five children and grew up near Albany, New York. His younger sister Sarah is married to former U.S. senator Bob Kerrey. In 2010, he married Heather Crist in a ceremony officiated by Kerrey.

Albums produced

 

Professor Anonymous - Living In The World (1980)

The Real Kids – Outta Place (1982)

The Real Kids – Hit You Hard (1983)

Border Boys – Tribute (1983)

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers – Rockin' and Romance (1985)

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers – It's Time For (1986)

Boys Wonder – Now What Earthman? (1987)

Brian Wilson – Brian Wilson (1988)

Various – Shag: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1988)

Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World (1989) (on track Diddley Daddy)

John Wesley Harding – God Made Me Do It - The Christmas EP (1989)

NRBQ – Wild Weekend (1989)

John Wesley Harding – Here Comes the Groom (1990)

Nasa – Insha-Allah! (1990)

Various – Dick Tracy (1990)

Richard X. Heyman – Hey Man! (1991)

The Mighty Lemon Drops – Sound ... Goodbye to Your Standards (1991)

John Wesley Harding – The Name Above the Title (1991)

The Greenberry Woods – Rapple Dapple (1994)

The Greenberry Woods – Big Money Item (1995)

Jerry Lee Lewis - Young Blood (1995)

The Foremen – Folk Heroes (1995)

Jonathan Richman – Surrender to Jonathan! (1996)

Paleface – Get Off (1996)

Various – The Best Day Ever (2006)

 

Composer

Penn Jillette, Mr. Piffles, and Piff the Magic Dragon in Piff the Magic Dragon: Reptile Dysfunction (2022)

Piff the Magic Dragon: Reptile Dysfunction

6.8

Composer (original music composed by)

2022

 

Mighty Magiswords (2015)

Mighty Magiswords

4.6

TV Series

Composer

2016–2018

77 episodes

 

Wainwright Training Presents: Safety Is the Key to Work & Life (2016)

Wainwright Training Presents: Safety Is the Key to Work & Life

TV Mini Series

Composer

2016

 

Crackpipe, Pantherman & The Jeweler (2015)

Crackpipe, Pantherman & The Jeweler

Short

Composer

2015

 

The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Beyond Belief (2011)

The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Beyond Belief

9.1

Podcast Series

Composer

2014

1 episode

 

Thrilling Adventure Hour: The Documentary Web Series (2014)

Thrilling Adventure Hour: The Documentary Web Series

9.4

Video

Composer (original music by)

2014

 

Full on Koechner

Short

Composer

2013

 

Let's Do This! (2011)

Let's Do This!

7.4

TV Movie

Composer

2011

 

Funny or Die Presents... (2007)

Funny or Die Presents...

5.6

TV Series

Composer

2010–2011

13 episodes

 

Marc Evan Jackson in The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars (2011)

The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars

8.6

Podcast Series

Composer

2011

1 episode

 

Dow Jones

Video

Composer (original music by)

2009

 

Random! Cartoons (2007)

Random! Cartoons

7.1

TV Series

Composer

2007–2008

3 episodes

 

Picture Day (2008)

Picture Day

6.5

Short

Composer (as Andrew Paley)

2008

 

Renato Cortesi, Federico Di Pofi, Sergio Di Stefano, Licinia Lentini, Diego Reggente, Maurizio Reti, Ermanno Ribaudo, Sergio Luzi, Chiara Tomarelli, and Emiliano Reggente in Magic Sport 2: The Movie (2005)

Magic Sport 2: The Movie

TV Series

Composer

2007

1 episode

 

Carlos Alazraqui in Camp Lazlo! (2005)

Camp Lazlo!

6.4

TV Series

Composer

2005–2007

60 episodes

 

Camp Lazlo: Shorts (2006)

Camp Lazlo: Shorts

7.3

TV Mini Series

Composer

2007

1 episode

 

Plastic Man in 'Puddle Trouble' (2006)

Plastic Man in 'Puddle Trouble'

7.2

TV Short

Composer

2006

 

Clancy Brown, Lori Alan, Rodger Bumpass, Mary Jo Catlett, Bill Fagerbakke, Tom Kenny, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence, and Jill Talley in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999)

SpongeBob SquarePants

8.2

TV Series

Composer

2005–2006

2 episodes

 

The L Word (2004)

The L Word

7.7

TV Series

Composer

2004

11 episodes

 

Digimon Frontier (2002)

Digimon Frontier

6.7

TV Series

Composer

2002–2003

4 episodes

 

Mystery Cave (2002)

Mystery Cave

Short

Composer

2002

 

Digimon Tamers (2001)

Digimon Tamers

7.6

TV Series

Composer

2001–2002

8 episodes

 

Digimon: Digital Monsters (1999)

Digimon: Digital Monsters

7.4

TV Series

Composer

1999–2001

4 episodes

 

Digimon Adventure 02 (2000)

Digimon Adventure 02

7.4

TV Series

Composer

2000–2001

3 episodes

 

Digimon Adventure (1999)

Digimon Adventure

7.9

TV Series

Composer

1999–2000

34 episodes

 

Traveller (1997)

Traveller

6.1

Composer (original score by)

1997

 

364 Girls a Year (1996)

364 Girls a Year

4.6

Composer

1996

 

Shelf Life (1993)

Shelf Life

7.0

Composer

1993

 

Music Department

Fiego and the Magic Fish (2024)

Fiego and the Magic Fish

Short

additional music

2024

 

Penn Jillette, Mr. Piffles, and Piff the Magic Dragon in Piff the Magic Dragon: Reptile Dysfunction (2022)

Piff the Magic Dragon: Reptile Dysfunction

6.8

original music performed by

2022

 

Will Sasso, Christina Vidal, Ireland Carvajal, Sedona Carvajal, and Ella Grace Helton in United We Fall (2020)

United We Fall

5.9

TV Series

main title theme

2020

2 episodes

 

The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage! (2019)

The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!

7.6

TV Movie

song by

2019

 

Matt Smith, Sosie Bacon, Hannah Murray, and Marianne Rendón in Charlie Says (2018)

Charlie Says

5.9

music consultant

2018

 

Mighty Magiswords (2015)

Mighty Magiswords

4.6

TV Series

main title music and lyrics

2016–2018

79 episodes

 

Jo Wyatt and Emily Gray in Olivia (2009)

Olivia

5.8

TV Series

goodnight song by

2010–2015

9 episodes

 

Randy Harrison and Michael Urie in Such Good People (2014)

Such Good People

4.8

musician: guitar

2014

 

The Starck Club (2014)

The Starck Club

8.4

music coordinator

2014

 

Wilmer Valderrama, Carlos Alazraqui, Dee Bradley Baker, Grey Griffin, Nika Futterman, Tom Kenny, Kath Soucie, and Fred Stoller in Handy Manny (2006)

Handy Manny

5.6

TV Series

songs composed by

2012

1 episode

 

My Gym Partner's a Monkey (2005)

My Gym Partner's a Monkey

5.8

TV Series

musician

2008

1 episode

 

Area 57 (2007)

Area 57

5.6

TV Movie

composer: additional music (as Andrew Paley)

2007

 

Clancy Brown, Lori Alan, Rodger Bumpass, Mary Jo Catlett, Bill Fagerbakke, Tom Kenny, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence, and Jill Talley in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999)

SpongeBob SquarePants

8.2

TV Series

composer: additional music (as Andrew Paley)

2005–2006

4 episodes

 

Alec Baldwin, Clancy Brown, Jeffrey Tambor, Tom Wilson, Dee Bradley Baker, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Kenny, Carolyn Lawrence, and Mr. Lawrence in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

7.2

composer: additional music (as Andrew Paley)

2004

 

Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (2001)

Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring

6.2

Video

orchestrator (uncredited)

2001

 

Digimon Poster

Digimon: The Movie

6.0

music editor

orchestrator (uncredited)

2000

 

Digimon Adventure (1999)

Digimon Adventure

7.9

TV Series

additional music

1999

1 episode

 

Rachael Leigh Cook, Kirsten Dunst, Gaby Hoffmann, and Monica Keena in Strike! (1998)

Strike!

6.6

composer: additional music

1998

 

Telling Lies in America (1997)

Telling Lies in America

6.2

composer: additional score

1997

 

Traveller (1997)

Traveller

6.1

producer: soundtrack album

1997

 

Shelf Life (1993)

Shelf Life

7.0

musician

1993

 

Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy (1990)

Dick Tracy

6.2

producer: Dick Tracy album

1990

 

Wild Orchid (1989)

Wild Orchid

4.5

producer: soundtrack album

1989

 

Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda, Annabeth Gish, Scott Coffey, Page Hannah, and Robert Rusler in Shag (1988)

Shag

6.4

producer: original songs

1988

 

Actor

Full on Koechner

Short

Internet Guy

2013

 

Funny or Die Presents... (2007)

Funny or Die Presents...

5.6

TV Series

Soundguy (segment "Men of Unquiet Desperation")

2011

1 episode

 

Barry Gibb, Peter Frampton, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb, and The Bee Gees in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

4.2

Our Guests at Heartland (as The Paley Brothers)

1978