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Johnny Mandel

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Composer

The Resume

    (November 23, 1925-June 29, 2020)
    Born in New York City, New York
    Trumpeter, trombonist, arranger and composer
    Played in the bands of Joe Venuti, Jimmy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, Count Basie, Woody Herman and Zoot Sims
    Won Grammys for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals for work with Quincy Jones (1982), Natalie Cole (1992) and Shirley Horn (1993)
    Composed scores for the films ‘I Want to Live!’ (1958), ‘Drums of Africa’ (1963), ‘The Americanization of Emily’ (1964), ‘The Sandpiper’ (1965), ‘The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!’ (1966), ‘Point Blank’ (1967), ‘Pretty Poison’ (1968), ‘M*A*S*H’ (1970), ‘The Last Detail’ (1973), ‘Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams’ (1973), Escape to Witch Mountain’ (1975), ‘Freaky Friday’ (1976), ‘Being There’ (1979), ‘Caddyshack’ (1980), ‘The Verdict’ (1982) and ‘Brenda Starr’ (1989)
    Wrote or co-wrote the songs ‘Not Really the Blues,’ ‘Straight Life,’ ‘Low Life,’ ‘A Time for Love,’ ‘Close Enough for Love,’ ‘The Shadow of Your Smile’ and ‘Suicide Is Painless (Theme from ‘M*A*S*H’)’
    Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2010)

Why he might be annoying:

    When he first worked as an arranger for Frank Sinatra, he asked if he should approach the job like Nelson Riddle or Billy May. Sinatra replied, ‘If I wanted them, I’d’ve called ‘em.’
    He admitted to being a slow worker, and had to farm out a couple of arrangements for Sinatra’s ‘Ring-a-Ding-Ding’ album when he ran out of time.
    He tried to talk Robert Altman out of playing ‘Suicide Is Painless’ over the opening credits of ‘M*A*S*H.’ (He later noted, ‘I’m glad I lost that battle.’)

Why he might not be annoying:

    He has perfect pitch.
    His work in ‘I Want to Live!’ was the first jazz score used in a major Hollywood film.
    He won an Oscar for Best Song and a Grammy for Song of the Year for ‘The Shadow of Your Smile.’
    He was named a NEA Jazz Master (2011).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 86 Votes: 43.02% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying