Though many might remember as him the guy who provided the soundtrack for Pixar's Toy Story, Randy Newman had a storied career far before 1995. He's provided soundtracks to some of the most memorable movies since 1966, and began a long solo career two years later in '68.
Newman began his writing career at the age of 17, adopting and crafting a satirical lyrical style, which would become his signature flourish. Backed with a nonrhotic Southern accented singing voice, he would produce such hits as Short People, and I Love L.A., his two largest selling singles.
I could take you play by play through his career. However, from the sheer length of it to this point, it would be a massive essay by the time it was finished. As such, I won't do that. Instead, we'll just skip right ahead to 1983, and his album, Trouble In Paradise.
The album kicks off with his hit, I Love L.A., and from there continues to deliver quirky, but solid tracks for Christmas In Cape Town, and The Blues, the latter which features Paul Simon. In fact, Paradise as a whole seems to feature a slew of talent. This includes Steve Lukathar (Toto), David Paich (Toto), Jeff Porcaro (Toto), Jennifer Warnes, Linda Ronstadt, Don Henley, Bob Seger, Ricky Lee Jones, Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac), and Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac), and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
For me, what I dug most about the album was that each song felt like Newman was embodying characters, and telling you a story. While this didn't make for many radio hit friendly tracks, it did provide a unique listening experiencing, wherein I felt like he was performing mini storytelling blocks directly for me. It was fun.
I didn't walk away with much for my shuffle list, but at the same time, I didn't expect to. I picked up Trouble In Paradise for the song, I Love L.A., which in and of itself is a novelty. I wasn't anticipating massive hits to be served up, and I'm okay that it didn't. I got what I wanted from it, a good song, a good time, and that's sufficient.
As for Newman himself, despite consistently working throughout the '80's, or possible because he was, Randy only produced two studio albums during the decade. His first, the aforementioned Paradise, which was followed five years later by 1988's Land Of Dreams. He did, however, continue to work consistently on new soundtracks and studio albums through 2019, but seems to have gone dormant since the great house arrest of 2020. Newman actually wrote a song that year called, Stay Away, seemingly endorsing the mandated quarantining.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS August 2, 1980 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS August 2, 1986 |
