Walter Murphy

Walter Murphy: The Man Behind the Disco Beethoven

Walter Murphy is an American composer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer who rose to fame with his hit instrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, in 1976. The song topped the charts in the US and was featured on the soundtrack of the blockbuster film Saturday Night Fever in 1977. But who is Walter Murphy and how did he create his unique fusion of classical and disco music? Here are some facts about his life and career.

Early life and education

Walter Anthony Murphy Jr. was born on December 19, 1952, in New York City. He grew up in Manhattan and attended music lessons hosted by Rosa Rio, a famous organist and composer. He learned to play various instruments, including the organ and piano, and starred in television commercials for the Hammond organ. He composed music for his band class and orchestra in high school and enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music in 1970, against the wishes of his father who wanted him to be a doctor or lawyer. He studied jazz and classical piano with Nicolas Flagello and Ludmila Ulehla and graduated with a degree in composition. His postgraduate studies yielded the composition "Chorale and Allegro for Orchestra", which has been performed by orchestras throughout the US.

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Career highlights

From 1970 to 1980, Murphy worked as a jingle writer for various clients, such as Revlon, Woolworth's, Viasa Airlines, and Korvette's . He also wrote arrangements for the popular children's television series Big Blue Marble . In the early 1970s, he was the leader of a soul/R&B cover band called WAM, which performed in the New York tri-state area. During an appointment with Bobby Rosengarden, the bandleader of the Dick Cavett Show orchestra, Murphy convinced the group to play some of his arrangements when he found Rosengarden to be absent. This led to him being hired as an arranger for the show and later for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

In 1976, Murphy had his breakthrough with "A Fifth of Beethoven", which he recorded under the name Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band. The song was inspired by his love for classical music and his desire to make it more accessible to the masses. He used a synthesizer to recreate the sound of an orchestra and added a disco beat to make it danceable. The song was released by Private Stock Records and became a huge hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and selling over two million copies . It also earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The song was later included on the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever, which sold over 40 million copies worldwide and won a Grammy for Album of the Year .

Murphy followed up his success with more classical-disco fusions, such as "Flight '76", based on Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, "Toccata and Funk in 'D' Minor", based on Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, "Bolero", based on Ravel's Bolero, and "Mostly Mozart", based on Mozart's Symphony No. 40. However, none of these songs matched the popularity of "A Fifth of Beethoven" and Murphy's fame faded as disco declined in the late 1970s . He also released some original songs, such as "Dance Your Face Off", "Gentle Explosion", and "Themes from E.T.", but they did not chart well either.

In the 1980s, Murphy shifted his focus to film and television scoring. He composed music for movies such as The Savage Bees, Stingray, Phantom of the Paradise, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Young Doctors in Love, Rhinestone, Private Resort, The Malibu Bikini Shop, Wiseguy: Dead Dog Lives, Ted & Venus, Another Stakeout, Air Bud: Golden Receiver, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, and The Good Humor Man . He also wrote music for TV shows such as Wiseguy, The Commish, Profit, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Looney Tunes, and How Murray Saved Christmas .

In the 1990s, Murphy began a long-running partnership with Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy. He composed the theme song and the musical score for the animated sitcom, as well as its spin-offs The Cleveland Show and American Dad! . He also worked with MacFarlane on his live-action films Ted and Ted 2, which featured Murphy's orchestral arrangements of songs by Norah Jones and Amanda Seyfried . Murphy has won four Emmy Awards for his work on Family Guy and has been nominated for several more .

Personal life and legacy

Murphy is married to Laurie Robertson, a former singer and actress who appeared in some of his projects, such as The Savage Bees and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas . They have two children, Walter Murphy III and Elizabeth Murphy. Murphy lives in Los Angeles, California.

Murphy is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of classical-disco music and one of the most versatile composers in the industry. His song "A Fifth of Beethoven" is considered a classic of the disco era and has been sampled by many artists, such as Robin Thicke, Pitbull, Nas, Snoop Dogg, and Daft Punk . His music has also been featured in various media, such as video games, commercials, documentaries, and parodies . In 2014, Murphy and his longtime collaborator Tommy Rotella released a four-track big band project, inspired by the Wes Montgomery and Verve-era Oliver Nelson records of the 1960s that they had grown up on. Murphy continues to compose music for film and television, especially for MacFarlane's projects .

References

Walter Murphy - Wikipedia

Walter Murphy - A Fifth of Beethoven - YouTube

Walter Murphy Discography Discogs

Walter Murphy - Biography Billboard

Walter Murphy - Biography AllMusic

Walter Murphy - Credits AllMusic

Walter Murphy - IMDb

WAM (band) - Wikipedia

Walter Murphy: The Man Behind the Disco Beethoven Goldmine Magazine

Walter Murphy: The Man Behind the Disco Beethoven PopMatters

Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack) - Wikipedia

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