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"I think I probabl had a very Jewish upbringing culturally with all
the jokes and the ood."

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...but were afraid to admit!

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_411'11LP_ERFECT,

There's a lot more to Randy Newman's music
than a song about the "vertically challenged."

Everything you've secretly thought
about DATING, MATING, MARRIAGE,
HUSBANDS, WIVES, KIDS & IN-LAWS

SCOTT BENARDE

Special to The Jewish News

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11/27
1998

98 Detroit Jewish News

finger, songwriter and corn-
poser Randy Newman is
resigned to the fact that his
1977 hit "Short People" may
be his legacy as a pop star.
"If I died tomorrow, my tombstone
would say, 'Composer of "Short Peo-
ple" and others.' That's the way it is,"
Newman says during a chat from
L.A., his hometown.
Even the 105-cut, four-CD career
retrospective, Guilty: 30 Years of Randy
Newman (Rhino/Warner Archives),
that hit stores earlier this month may
not be hefty enough to overcome the
towering shadow of "Short People."
A wildly misunderstood commen-
tary on the absurdity of prejudice,
which happened to use vertically chal-
lenged folks as an example, "Short
People" is the sole Top 40 hit of New-
man's lengthy recording career.
Few people realize that Newman,

Scott Benarde is a Florida-based

journalist who is working on a book
about Jewish rock musicians.

54, also wrote Three Dog Night's No.
1 hit "Mama Told Me Not to Come";
that his "I Love L.A." was the theme
song for the 1994 Olympic Games;
that Harry Nilsson recorded a com-
plete album of Newman's songs; or
that British performers Dusty Spring-
field, Manfred Mann, Eric Burdon,
Ringo Starr and others have turned to
him for material.
His next album of "pop" tunes —
the first since 1995's underappreciated
musical updating of Faust — is tenta-
tively titled Bad Love and set for
release in 1999. It includes songs
about European colonialism, Karl
Marx and aging rock stars.
Though he gets more satisfaction
from his pop records, Newman has
enjoyed considerably more commercial
success scoring films, for which he has
garnered 10 Oscar nominations. Not
surprising, since he cut his musical teeth
observing his uncles, noted film scorers
Alfred, Lionel and Emil Newman.
Newman composed music for The
Natural, which won the 1984 Gram-
my for Best Instrumental Composi-
tion; Ragtime; Avalon; Awakenings;