Craig Safan (born December 17, 1948, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

) is an American composer for film and television, whose biggest scores include ''

The Last Starfighter ''The Last Starfighter'' is a 1984 American space opera film directed by Nick Castle. The film tells the story of Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), a teenager who, after winning the high score in an arcade game that's secretly a simulation test, is rec ...

'', ''

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'', '' Mr. Wrong'', '' Stand and Deliver'', '' Fade to Black'', ''

Major Payne ''Major Payne'' is a 1995 American Military fiction, military comedy film directed by Nick Castle and starring Damon Wayans, who wrote with Dean Lorey and Gary Rosen. The film co-stars Karyn Parsons, Steven Martini, and Michael Ironside. It is a ...

'', '' Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins'', and music to the TV series ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...

'', for which he won numerous

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

awards. His style consists of often improvising as a form of composition as a means to quickly express himself.

Early life

Craig Safan was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, son of L.A. native Eugene Safan, who owned a downtown jewelry store. Safan’s father was a B17 bomber pilot during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and met his mother, Betty Torchin, in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a villag ...

, while stationed there at the Army Air Force Base. She was a piano virtuoso who had studied at the Cleveland Conservatory. Safan began picking out tunes when he was 5 or 6 years old. Growing tired of classical music, Safan’s mother hired a teacher for him named Helene Mirich Spear who taught "popular" piano, who had young Craig improvising in his first lesson. Besides being a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist, she also played classical

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, so as well as the

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

, she worked on technique by having him play

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the ...

and

Zez Confrey Edward Elzear "Zez" Confrey (3 April 1895 – 22 November 1971)
- accessed August 2011 was an American composer and perf ...

pieces. "While in middle school I was going to an LA club called Shelly's Mann Hole and hearing all the great jazz pianists...

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

Hampton Hawes Hampton Barnett Hawes Jr. (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) was an American jazz pianist. He was the author of the memoir ''Raise Up Off Me'', which won the Deems-Taylor Award for music writing in 1975. Early life Hampton Hawes was born on No ...

, and more," Safan recalled. Afterwards, Mirich would transcribe Monk's solos for him to play. "I was a very straight kid from a nice Jewish family whose idols were mostly junkies, but I didn't really understand that at the time." After this experiential background in jazz, Safan found his way into classical music indirectly. "I never studied the classics," he said. "The first piece of classical music I ever studied was

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

's ''

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...

'' and that was because I read about it in

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

's book '' The Joy of Music''. So, my musical education has been sort of backwards – Joplin to Gershwin to jazz to Stravinsky." At the age of 15, his family moved from Los Angeles to

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

, and Safan began attending Beverly Hills High. "It was a big transition," he recalled. "I knew no one and it was a very social, rich school. But I had music and art to save me." Moving from jazz to rock and falling in love with

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, Safan joined a jazz quartet as well as a rock cover band. He had begun writing his own songs at the age of 13, and continued writing throughout high school. He also became interested in

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

and

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

. "I was art editor of my high school yearbook and was probably the only high school kid with a subscription to ''Graphis Magazine''," Safan said. Safan never considered a profession in music, and was being pushed by his parents to become a doctor or lawyer. But he realized his ambition was to become some sort of artist. He enrolled at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

in Boston and became a Fine Arts major, thinking he would become an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. But during those years he spent more and more time writing music, and he composed four original musicals while at Brandeis. And, since he knew pop music and could write music, he arranged several albums for

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...

. "I never went as far as becoming a music major, but I wrangled my way into the electronic music studio and spent untold hours playing with the setup there," Safan said. He also took a class in orchestration from experimental composer, Alvin Lucier. "He not only taught me how to write for all the conventional instruments, but how to listen and create sounds from everything around me, and how to be completely open as to what 'music' means," Safan recalled. "This became very important to me in scores such as Stand and Deliver where I created an entire percussion library from found objects and Wolfen, where I experimented with new composition techniques."

Career

Upon his graduation in 1970, Safan was awarded both "Best Drama" and "Best Music" awards from Brandeis. More significantly, he was awarded a Watson Foundation Fellowship which allowed him to live in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

for a year and write music. During that time, he mostly wrote pop songs and worked on musicals, his intentions still to become a songwriter. But when his year in London ended, he returned to Los Angeles and then struggled to earn a living writing songs.

Karla Bonoff Karla Bonoff (born December 27, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter. While Bonoff has released a number of albums, she is primarily known for her songwriting. Bonoff's songs include "Home", covered by Bonnie Raitt, " Tell Me Why" by Wynonna Ju ...

sang one of them on her first album, and he arranged songs for artists like Dirk Hamilton,

Rod Taylor Rodney Sturt Taylor (11 January 1930 – 7 January 2015) was an Australian actor. He appeared in more than 50 feature films, including '' Young Cassidy'' (1965), '' Nobody Runs Forever'' (1968), '' The Train Robbers'' (1973), and '' A Matt ...

, and

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

while working part-time in his father’s jewelry store. During that period, he became friends with producer Charles Plotkin (he would later to produce

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

), who had built a small recording studio in Hollywood. With his brother Mark, Safan became part of Plotkin’s stable of young singer-songwriters. Also, in that group were

Wendy Waldman Wendy Waldman (born Wendy Steiner on November 29, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Biography Early life Waldman grew up in the Los Angeles area and was raised in a musical environment. Her father Fred Steiner was a ...

(daughter of composer

Fred Steiner Frederick Steiner (February 24, 1923June 23, 2011) was an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, film historian and arranger for television, radio and film. Steiner wrote the theme music for '' The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'' and '' Perry M ...

Andrew Gold Andrew Maurice Gold (August 2, 1951 – June 3, 2011) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop rock, pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s. Gold performed on s ...

(son of film composer

Ernest Gold Ernst Sigmund Goldner (July 13, 1921 – March 17, 1999), known professionally as Ernest Gold, was an Austrian-born American composer. He is most noted for his work on the film ''Exodus'' produced in 1960. Early life Gold was born in 1921 in Vie ...

) and Peter Bernstein (son of

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 orig ...

). Also, around the studio were

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

and

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet " Up Where We Belong", and in 1987 fo ...

(who Craig played piano for). Safan also wrote songs with many other writers such as

Amanda McBroom Amanda McBroom (born August 9, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Notable among the songs she has written is " The Rose", which Bette Midler sang in the film of the same name, and which has been sung by many other recording art ...

. “One day, while dressed in suit and tie and selling jewelry on credit, I received a call from an old friend from Brandeis who had married a young film director,” Safan recalled. “They had just arrived in L.A. to attend the American Film Institute; he had made an independent Super 16mm horror film and they needed music for it.” Asked if he knew anyone who could do it, Safan suggested himself – and thus was born his career as a film composer at the age of 24. The film, never released, was called ''The Demon’s Daughter'' and the director was John McTiernan. “I was hooked and loved the freedom to put together all my talents, from the dramatic writing of theater, to the melodic and rhythmic world of songs, to the esoteric world of contemporary classical music. It just suddenly all came together at that moment.” One assignment led to another. Writing the title music for ''California Reich'', a 1975 documentary for Walter Parkes, led him to score a low-budget exploitation film called '' The Great Texas Dynamite Chase'' (1976), which began his long relationship with Michael Pressman, for whom he would score five more pictures through the 1990s. Meanwhile, he started studying film music and sought out the wisdom of

, and

. They, each in different ways, became his mentors. He scored a number of independent action comedies like ''

The Great Smokey Roadblock ''The Great Smokey Roadblock'' is a 1977 comedy road film written and directed by John Leone. It stars Henry Fonda, Eileen Brennan, John Byner, Dub Taylor and Daina House. The film is also known as ''The Goodbye Run'' and ''The Last of the Cowbo ...

'' (1977), ''Acapulco Gold'' (1978), ''

Corvette Summer ''Corvette Summer'' is a 1978 American adventure comedy film directed by Matthew Robbins. It was Mark Hamill's first screen appearance after the unexpected success of ''Star Wars'' the previous year. Hamill stars as a California teenager who he ...

'' (1978), ''

Roller Boogie ''Roller Boogie'' is a 1979 American teen musical exploitation film about roller disco, directed by Mark L. Lester and starring Linda Blair, Jim Bray, Beverly Garland, Roger Perry, Mark Goddard, Jimmy Van Patten, and Kimberly Beck. Set i ...

'' (1979) and the like: fast-paced youth-oriented films with much rhythmic vibe. It came as a change of pace to score a dark thriller like '' Fade To Black'' (1980). Initially the music was to have been done by Chris Stein, guitarist for the rock band Blondie, but a contract had never been finalized for him to do so, so Safan was brought in late in the process to provide the film’s score instead. '' Fade To Black'' would launch Safan’s most active period in film scoring, the era in which he would be known for a number of large scale action, thriller, and science fiction films, including such films as the atonal and aleatoric '' Wolfen'' (1981); after recording, the score was excised from the production along with original director Michael Wadleigh and a new score was composed by

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American film composer. He worked on more than 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside tr ...

), the jazzy and noirish comedic thriller, '' Tag: The Assassination Game'' (1982), the sweeping orchestral spectacle of ''

'' (1984, one of Safan’s finest scores), the swashbuckling adventure of '' Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins'' (1985; Safan’s score mixed large orchestra with electronics and Korean instruments), a powerful electronic score from Synclavier for ''Warning Sign'' (1985), the Western science fiction TV-movie '' Timestalkers'' (1987), the purely electronic score for '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'' (1988), the compelling and poignant music for '' Stand And Deliver'' (1988, also featuring Synclavier), and the sumptuous orchestral score for the 1991 TV Western docudrama about George Armstrong Custer, ''

Son of the Morning Star ''Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Big Horn'' is a nonfiction account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876, by novelist Evan S. Connell, published in 1984 by North Point Press. The book features extensive portrai ...

'' (1991), and the effervescent, heartfelt, and occasionally zany scores for the popular comedies ''

'' (1995), '' Mr. Wrong'' (1996). Safan has also composed extensively for television, notably the hit sitcom ''

'' (1982–93), which won for him numerous ASCAP awards for his music. He also scored occasional episodes of the TV anthology shows, ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'' (1985–86) and the revived ''

The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', sometimes called ''The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', is an American television anthology series that originally aired on NBC for one season from September 29, 1985 to May 4, 1986, and on the USA Network for thr ...

'' (1985) and ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' (1985–86), ''

Supercarrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the capital ship of a ...

'' (1988), the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney Enter ...

special ''Secrets of the Titanic'' (1986), and several fistfuls of made-for-TV movies in a number of genres, including ''Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis'' (1991), ''Terror on Track 9'' (1992), and the

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...

film, '' A Season for Miracles'' (1999). All of these varied experiences precluded Safan’s being typecast in any one type of film. Safan’s style has often consisted of improvising as a form of composition that allowed him to quickly express himself to the visual story unfolding on the screen. In recent years Safan has returned to composing for theater, though he remains active in scoring for film and television. From 2005–10, he composed music to accompany some of the acts for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In 2016, the

Dallas Chamber Symphony The Dallas Chamber Symphony (DCS) is a professional, American chamber orchestra that performs in the Moody Performance Hall in the Arts District, Dallas. Founded in 2011, and led by artistic director, Richard McKay; the DCS presented its first ...

commissioned an original film score for ''

The Kid The Kid or The Kids may refer to: Fictional characters * The kid (''Blood Meridian''), a character in Cormac McCarthy's 1985 novel ''Blood Meridian'' * The Kid (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film series * The Kid (''The Stand'' ...

'' starring

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

. The score premiered during a concert screening on February 21, 2017 at

Moody Performance Hall The Moody Performance Hall (formerly Dallas City Performance Hall) is a performing arts venue located in the Arts District of Downtown Dallas, Texas, USA. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) in collaboration with the Architect of ...

with

Richard McKay Richard McKay (born 1982) is an American conductor, currently serving as music director of the Dallas Chamber Symphony. Education McKay holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting from the Peabody Institute, where he studied ...

conducting.

Awards

Craig Safan won the ASCAP Film and Television Award for scoring a “Top TV Series” seven years in a row, 1988-1994, for ''

''. In 1991 he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics for the TV series ''Life Goes On'' (1989), shared with Mark Mueller (lyricist). In 2014 he was presented with the Basil Poledouris award for a Film Music Legend at International Film Festival of the Province of Córdoba in Spain.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video Games

*'' Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work'' (1991)

Other works

* '' Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus'' (131st, 134th and 136th Editions, Over the Top, Fully Charged) * ''Rough Magic: Music Inspired by the Paleolithic Cave Paintings of Europe'' (2005) (original composition) * ''Sirens: Music Inspired by Homer's Odyssey'' (2018) (original composition)

Discography

* ''

Lady Beware ''Lady Beware'' is a 1987 American thriller film directed by Karen Arthur and starring Diane Lane, Michael Woods and Cotter Smith. It was filmed on location in and around Pittsburgh. Plot Katya Yarno is a window dresser for Horne's departmen ...

'' (Intercord CD, 1987) * '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'' (Varese Sarabande LP & CD, 1988) * '' Stand And Deliver'' (Varese Sarabande CD, 1988) * ''

'' (Southern Cross LP, 1984; Intrada CD, 1995; Intrada complete score CD, 2015) * ''Son of the Morning Star'' (Intrada CD, 1992) * ''Angel'' (Intrada CD, 1993) * ''Money for Nothing'' (Miles End promotional CD, 1993) * ''

'' (Miles End promotional CD, 1995) * '' Mr. Wrong'' (Miles End promotional CD, 1996) * ''“Music of Craig Safan”'' (Miles End promotional CD compilation, 1999) * '' Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins'' (

Perseverance Records Perseverance Records is a record label which releases film scores on CD and online. Releases are usually accompanied by extensive booklets. Extras, such as audio interviews with composers, are also sometimes included. Discography * *''No Pass ...

CD, 2006; Intrada CD, 2011) * ''Fade to Black'' (

promotional CD, 2009) * '' Wolfen'' (unused score; Intrada CD, 2011) * '' Tag: The Assassination Game'' (BSX Records, 2012) * ''Circus!'' (

CD, 2012) * ''Rough Magic: Music Inspired by Paleolithic Cave Paintings'' (

CD, 2015) * ''Sirens: Music Inspired by Homer's Odyssey'' (

Varese Sarabande Records Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

CD, 2018)

References

External links

Homepage of Craig Safan
* *

Interview on Last Starfighter score from ''CinemaScore'' magazine

Interviews with Craig Safan
at FilmMusicSite.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Safan, Craig 1948 births Living people American film score composers American male film score composers American television composers Musicians from Los Angeles Varèse Sarabande Records artists