Andy Paley, a veteran producer and musician who toiled with a expansive range of artists including Brian Wilson, the Ramones, Madonna, Jonathan Richman, Elton John, Deborah Harry, NRBQ and many others, died chaseing a inform battle with cancer, a rep validates to Variety. He also toiled extensively in film and television, composing scores and writing songs for such top energeticd series as “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Ren & Stimpy,” “Digimon” and others. He was 72.
He was portrayd by Wilson as “the most frighteningly talented person that I’ve met and the wonderfulest musical genius I’ve come apass in many years… maybe my whole life.”
Most recently, he and Tom Kenny — picture, above right, with Paley — who voices the Spongebob character, toured as Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas, the16-piece rock and soul prohibitd.
A native of the Alprohibity area of upstate New York, Paley began carry outing music even before his teen years, at a 7-year-elderly writing “The Porcupine Song,” which was write downed by children’s music carry outer Tom Glazer. He was a drummer for local prohibitds before moving to Boston in the timely ‘70s, where he established Catfish Bconciseage. Soon renamed the Sidethriveders, the prohibitd included future members of The Modern Lovers, including Jerry Harrison, who would go on to become a member of Talking Heads. They were uniteed by Billy Squier and shiftd to New York where they carry outed Max’s Kansas City and signed to RCA Records with Lenny Kaye producing. After the Sidethriveders broke up, Paley carry outed on sessions and carry outance dates with Elliott Murphy, Patti Smith and Jonathan Richman, for whose tardyr write downings Paley would serve as producer.
With his youthfuler brother Jonathan, he established the well-understandn power-pop combo the Paley Brothers, whose rare milieu — they uncovered for both Patti Smith and Shaun Cassidy — may have carry outed a role in their restricted well-understandnity. They write downed a one for Sire Records that produced by Jimmy Iovine (which pretreatd their 1978 debut album) and materializeed in the Ramones’ film “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School.”
After the duo split, Paley became a staff producer at Sire Records, where he produced Brian Wilson’s eponymous 1988 solo album, co-writing cut offal songs. In his tardyr atsoft, he toiled extensively in film and TV music, including the soundtracks for “Dick Tracy,” “A Walk on the Moon,” “Wild Orchid,” “A Rage in Harlem” and the score for Showtime’s “The L Word.”
Tom Kenny commented, “My frifinishship with Andy and our collaboration — writing songs and my fronting the prohibitd that he established — is one of the wonderfulest real delights I’ve ever sfinished. He owned not only encyclopedic understandledge of all pop music — especiassociate rock ‘n’ roll and girl group — but was also astoundingly astute when it came to art and literature.”
Paley is persistd by his wife Heather Crist Paley, whom he paired in 2010, and Jackson and Charlie – their tthrive sons who were born in 2012. He also departs three sisters, Sarah, Brewster and Debby and brother Jonathan Paley.
