Marianelli pro-DP!

[Gravity Jim]

The actual story on the Seinfeld theme and bumpers is that Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld went through about a dozen composers, who all wrote the typical TV theme music and that's what they hated. Said no to everyone.

But Johnathon Wolff was pals with comedian George Wallace, who was very good pals with Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld mentioned to Wallace that searching for the theme was a drag and they hated all the music they'd heard so far. So Wallace said, "My boy J Wolff will fix you up." So Seinfeld called him and described what he was going for. As Wolff tells it:

"In the late 80s, and that’s what we’re talking about here, 1989, theme music was melodic, a lot of sassy saxophones, silly lyrics, and yeah, I had done a lot of that music myself. Guilty. But that was not going to work for this Seinfeld Chronicles opening, because the way I saw it, the melody for the Seinfeld theme was already supplied by Jerry’s voice. Every monologue was going to be a variation on the theme. So whatever I did, I needed to architect it modularly so that it could be shiftable, changeable, like Lego music. It needed to not conflict with his voice. His human voice was really organic. It wasn’t a trumpet or a clarinet. It was a human voice. So I chose to build this percolating rhythm, this New York groove, using the organic human sounds from my lips and tongue."

Larry and Jerry loved it, but they did have to do some explaining (not fighting, really) to the network guys.

And that's how Johnathon Wolff started talking about himself like he's a genius.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

And that's how Johnathon Wolff started talking about himself like he's a genius.

What's the difference between genius and talent with opportunity?

Almost nothing!

[Gravity Jim]

And that's how Johnathon Wolff started talking about himself like he's a genius.

What's the difference between genius and talent with opportunity?

Almost nothing!

Ha!

But there's a hell of a big difference between a working stiff with some humility and.... well, and Jonathan Wolff.

It reminds me of a magazine piece from way back in the day about Erich Segal, who was teaching lit and fiction writing at - Harvard? Yale? one or the other - when his execrable novel "Love Story" became a hit. His student evaluations were unfailingly great, until the movie came out... then, they reported, his lectures seemed to always veer toward, "You know, the great thing about 'Love Story' is...."