A more accurate description would be “Mozart: The Jesse Frederick of the ‘Powdered Wig’ Age,” but that implies I’d be writing about Mozart. Anyway, to the meat of the article we go.
So at this point, it’s fairly obvious that I’m coming back this week with yet another music-related topic. However, the titular man is immensely more talented than anyone in Queen. I’m talking about Jesse Frederick, here, folks!
Who is Jesse Frederick, you ask?
Why he’s the man who brought you the music behind this, this, this, and this. He's the greatest songwriter of our or any other time. Who else could have provided the tunes to match Balki holding up an "America or Burst" sign? John Williams, you say? Well maybe, but he would never have ended the "Full House" song with "BA-DOOBA-DO-BAP-BA-DOW," so there.
Jesse even wrote the theme song to Meego, which means he was connected to Bronson Pinchot on no less than three occasions (and wrote the themes for every show Urkel would ever appear in).
When I was little, I, and millions (that's right, MILLIONS) of other children would be exposed to some sort of Jesse Frederick product four times each Friday night. And yet almost nobody has any idea who the hell he is. Honestly, back when I was a kid, I thought the theme to "Step by Step" was performed by P. Duffy, Suzanne Somers, and the rest of the cast. As to who wrote the song, I guess I figured it was Bo Jackson or something. In fact, I pretty much chalked everything up to Bo at the time, probably because BO KNOWS.
But it was Jesse. One man. Four songs. Well, maybe three. "Full House" and "Family Matters" are pretty similar.
His songs were absolutely perfect for the show intros. He knew that the music should swell just as the fake ocean completely overtakes the bottom of the rollercoaster at the end of the "Step By Step" theme song (This actually happens. Watch for it at the end of the YouTube link and thank me later.) And he had the wherewithal to include the lyrics "Nothing's gonna stop me now..." into the theme to a show prominently featuring Mark Linn-Baker, who, after the sitcom ended , went on to star in, well, pretty much nothing. Evidently, being in "Perfect Strangers" is gonna stop you now.
These songs' lyrics struck a chord with the common man. "Whatever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paperboy, even TV!" Right on, my good man! It made so much sense that these meaningful words were paired with "Full House," where plot twists flew at you from all angles. You never could figure out whether or not Danny was going to sit down with one of the kids/Joey/Jesse at the end of the episode and dispense a hug and some sort of sagely advice.
Wait. You could. The answer was yes. Always.
There was that time Joey punched Stephanie in the nose, though. Didn't see that coming.
Today, Jesse Frederick doesn't receive a single dollar in royalties for any of his TGIF theme songs, even though "Full House" is played on ABC Family Channel a seemingly impossible amount of times every day. Amazingly, he has only released one album, a self-titled one, in 1971. I haven't heard it, but I'm sure it's awesome. I wonder if he'll remaster it, because, you know...
"We'll make it better... The second time around."
HAHAHA I KILL MYSELF SOMETIMES
In all seriousness, we may make fun of all these songs, but, like them or not, they are deeply ingrained in our popular culture. Jesse Frederick has accomplished something most of us will never do. We may not know or remember his name, but Jesse's creations have stood the test of time and wriggled the way into our hearts. And I'm sure that when I'm senile and in a retirement home sometime in my twilight years, I'll be rocking back and forth, singing
STANDING TAAAAALLLL
ON THE WIIINGS OF MY DREEEEAMMS
4 comments:
Jesse Frederick has given me hope! "People who fall, and stumble each day..."
ahhhh, hope for tomorrow.
and Perk is a BEAST!
Jesse Frederick is a true American hero. It must just be modesty that held him back from being a world-renowned musician. He always had the perfect music to complement Urkel's love for cheese.
That is possibly the best blog posting I think I have ever read in my life ever. Now we need to find out who wrote the Pebbles Santa commercial, WAIT! WE DO!
Dude, Jessie Frederick is my neighbor! I was in his studio playing drums yesterday. I, of course, know the reason why he slowed down his music career. Trying not to give away too much lets just say it was FAMILY. He is still making music, just on a much smaller scale. I'm sure none of you believe me, but if you can think of a way for me to proove it, tell me.
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