Ronald Jones (born July 7, 1954) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

who has written music for several television shows, including '' Star Trek: The Next Generation,'' '' Duck Tales'', ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'', and ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ch ...

''. He composed the theme song for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

's '' The Fairly Odd Parents'' with series creator, Butch Hartman, as well as music for the show's pilots. He lives in Stanwood, Washington, where he opened SkyMuse studios, a recording facility designed for post-production and music recording.

Early life and Career

Jones was born in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

. After receiving a degree in music composition and music theory, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, to enroll in the Dick Grove School of Music.Ron Jones; Internet Movie Database

Accessed: 11 October 2009 He studied under Academy Award- and Emmy Award-nominated composer

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical eleme ...

after Schifrin asked Jones to copy a concerto for guitar and orchestra."Ron Jones Interview;" Reel Cool

Published: 7 August 2008; Accessed: 11 November 2015 While attending Dick Grove, Jones composed an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Movie of the Week and began composing for a television series produced by

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

. In addition to writing the music for many cartoons, Jones arranged and composed the theme songs of

Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and int ...

and The Snorks. After five years at Hanna-Barbera, Jones left to work with the composing team of

Mike Post Mike Post (born Leland Michael Postil, September 29, 1944) is an American composer, best known for his TV theme music for various shows, including ''Law & Order''; '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''; ''The A-Team''; ''NYPD Blue''; ''Renegad ...

and

Pete Carpenter Clarence E. "Pete" Carpenter (April 1, 1914 – October 18, 1987) was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and veteran of television theme music sheet music. After a long career playing the trombone in bands and as a studio musician, Carpenter ...

. While scoring for Post and Carpenter, Jones worked on popular television series such as

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court ma ...

, Magnum, P.I., and Hardcastle and McCormack. The latter series starred two future Star Trek alumni in the title roles—

Brian Keith Brian Keith (born Robert Alba Keith, November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family film '' The Parent T ...

as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle, and Daniel Hugh Kelly as Mark "Skid" McCormack. In 1987, Jones was recruited by Chris , the head of Disney Music, to compose music for Disney's first syndicated cartoon series,

DuckTales ''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four sea ...

''Star Trek: The Next Generation''

Jones composed for a total of forty-two episodes in the first four seasons (1987–1991) of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''Star Trek: TNG''). During the beginning of the fourth season, the producers chose other composers to assume Jones' position. Jones has since been a major critic of Berman-era ''Star'' ''Trek''''Cinefantastique'' magazine, Oct. 1993 and has claimed that the music of the subsequent ''Star'' ''Trek'' spin-offs is "less melodic and more pad-like."Interview: Ron Jones, Question 12; ''Star Trek Soundtracks''

; Published: December 2002; Accessed: 11 October 2009 He once said in an interview that the theme for '' Star Trek: Enterprise, Enterprise'' would have been better used for the opening ceremonies of the WNBA.Interview: Ron Jones, Question 13; ''Star Trek Soundtracks''

; Published: December 2002; Accessed: 11 October 2009

''Family Guy''

Jones has created music for the first 12 seasons (1999–2014) of ''

''. Jones, with various other music and lyric collaborators, has received four Emmy nominations for his work on this series: Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics#2000s, 2000 ("We Only Live to Kiss Your Ass" aka "This House is Freakin' Sweet", from " Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater") and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

("Christmastime is Killing Us", from " Road to the North Pole"); Outstanding Music Composition for a Series in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Lois Kills Stewie "Stewie Kills Lois" and "Lois Kills Stewie" are a two-part episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series ''Family Guy'', which was originally produced for the end of Season 5. Respectively, both parts are the fourth and fifth episod ...

") and

("Road to the North Pole"). His collaborative work on the series also earned a Grammy nomination for 2012's Best Song Written for a Visual Media ("Christmastime is Killing Us"). For the two-part episodes of "

Stewie Kills Lois and Lois Kills Stewie "Stewie Kills Lois" and "Lois Kills Stewie" are a two-part episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series ''Family Guy'', which was originally produced for the end of Season 5. Respectively, both parts are the fourth and fifth episod ...

", Jones paid homage to his own music from a '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' two-part episode, " The Best of Both Worlds" and used parodies of two cues. The piece which originally appeared when Locutus of

Borg The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. The Borg are cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a hive mind called "the Collective". The Borg co-opt the technology and knowledge ...

first appears is reused when

Lois Lois is a common English name from the New Testament. Paul the Apostle mentions Lois, the pious grandmother of Saint Timothy in the Second Epistle to Timothy (commending her for her faith in 2 Timothy 1:5). The name was first used by English Chri ...

reappears in "Lois Kills Stewie". These parodied cues are available on Jones' website.Ron Jones, Listen, Family Guy retrieved 2015-01-23
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Awards

* 2003 BMI Film and TV Awards: Main Title Theme * 2002 BMI Film and TV Awards: Main Title Theme * 1991 NAIRD Award: Best Soundtrack Album of the Year * 1988 Emmy Awards: Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series (contributions)

Television scores

*''

'' (1987–1988)

Walt Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...

*'' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1991)

Paramount Domestic Television Paramount Domestic Television (PDT) was the television distribution arm of American television production company Paramount Television, once the TV arm of Paramount Pictures. It was formed in 1982 originally as Paramount Domestic Television and V ...

*''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

'' (1988)

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

*''

'' (1999–2014)

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...

*''

The Fairly OddParents ''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda who grant him ...

'' (theme song) (2001–2017)

/ Frederator Studios *''

'' (2005–2009, left to focus on ''Family Guy'', replaced by Joel McNeely) Fox Broadcasting Company *'' The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder'' (2022–present) Nickelodeon/Billionfold Inc.

Selected discography

* ''Star Trek - The Next Generation: Music from the Original Television Soundtrack, Volume Two (The Best of Both Worlds)'' (

GNP Crescendo The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product ( GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...

) * "''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' - The Ron Jones Project (1987-1999)" released by

Film Score Monthly ''Film Score Monthly'' is an online magazine (and former print magazine) founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 in music, 1990 as ''The Soundtrack Correspondence List''. It is dedicated to the art of Film sco ...

. * "Superman" (1988 Hanna-Barbera animated series), disc 7 of ''Superman: The Music (1978-1988)'', released by

. * ''The Best of Star Trek: 30th Anniversary Special'' (tracks 6 & 7: Suite from "Heart of Glory") (GNP Crescendo) * '' Scooby-Doo's Snack Tracks: The Ultimate Collection'' (two tracks)

References

External links

Ron Jones Productions
*

The Influence Jazz Orchestra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ron 1954 births Living people American film score composers