Composer Attuned to His Media Clients

Rick Rhodes would like to forget his first film soundtrack.

The Oak Park composer was in his 20s, playing music with a rock band called Wonder, when the group was featured in the soundtrack of the slasher flick “I Dismember Mama.”

“I still have a copy of that movie,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s pretty horrible.”

Rhodes, 48, hopes he got the low point of his career out of the way early. Since then, he has become an ubiquitous presence on television and in film. He has contributed music to the television shows “Friends,” “20/20,” “Murphy Brown” and dozens of others. His music has also appeared in the movies “Mars Attacks,” “True Lies,” “Snake Eyes” and “Wild Things.”

In January the six-time Emmy-winning composer launched a business out of the studio in his home, where he lives with his two children and wife, Vivian.

Rhodes Music Services tracks down tunes for commercials, television shows, movies, video games--any media that need music. And if Rhodes can’t find it, he will compose and produce it himself.

Rhodes often provides the on-screen music few people take note of: The buzzing tunes on a janitor’s Walkman; the mood music that tells us when we’re supposed to gasp, cry or flinch during a TV show; the ceremonial trumpeting that accompanies a TV network promo for the Olympics.

He supplies ethnic music that sounds like it was born of India, the Caribbean or Italy--instead of a keyboard and Macintosh in his Oak Park home. He composes genre music reminiscent of western films, 1960s surf bands and Roaring ‘20s flapper parties.

The company is one of a handful like it in the United States, Rhodes said, and demand is high.

“A lot of these television shows run five days a week,” he said. “They’re constantly looking for the right music for their show. They get bogged down, and they call me to ask that I recommend something.”

Rhodes is an asset to studio executives because he saves them valuable time, said Ron Komie, a Thousand Oaks-based composer and musician who has produced several CDs with Rhodes.

“He can talk to a client and get an idea of what they’re looking for, and he can give them a narrowed-down choice,” Komie said. “If you tell him you’re looking for a ‘50s rock piece, he can come back and say, ‘Here’s 10 great ones.’ ”

The money is also good. Rhodes wouldn’t be specific on his rates, but every time a piece of his music gets used, he is entitled to royalties, which make up the lion’s share of his income.

Because popular songs by prominent artists cost more, media companies often rely on less-expensive, generic music composed by the likes of Rhodes that is cataloged in CD libraries. Some library discs by Rhodes are titled “Steam” (love scene music), “Urgent Message” (reality television tunes) and “A Word From Our Sponsor” (music for commercials).

Whether Rhodes suggests his own music or tunes from a CD library, he aims to point clients in the right direction.

“It’s new and it’s becoming invaluable,” Robyn Cutler, supervising music director for the CBS soap opera “Guiding Light,” said of Rhodes’ service. “He helped me like that before this business ever started. If I was having trouble finding something, I could call Rick and say, ‘Who’s got disco?’ ”

Sometimes helping a studio executive find the perfect music is as simple as “holding the phone in front of the speaker and cranking it,” Rhodes said. “They yea or nay it.”

Rhodes’ studio is a combination rec room, office and resume. His walls and shelves are lined with posters and videotapes from the television shows and movies he’s worked on. In the corner is a rare Popeye pinball machine, which complements the countless other Popeye memorabilia he has collected for 20 years.

Two computers, a fax machine, a television, a musical keyboard and sound equipment form a horseshoe-shaped work station. On his shelves are thousands of library CDs and pictures of his two children--Allie, 16, and Adam, 11. There’s also a yet-to-be-used nicotine inhaler, a plastic statue of Paul McCartney and two phones: one for home, one for work.

His Rolodex is written on the drywall in his garage, a jumble of numbers scribbled in pen, near an ashtray.

With the relaxed panache of a radio DJ, Rhodes talks into the studio work phone about an upcoming gig composing music for network promos of the Olympic Games. The banter is one part negotiation, one part schmooze. “Yes, I definitely want to start producing for you again,” Rhodes says. “You were sent from heaven, J.C.”

During his nearly 30-year career as a composer, Rhodes has released three solo albums, 20 records with other recording artists, and has composed 70 CDs for use by media companies.

At a keyboard Monday, Rhodes deftly lays down a few notes, which are recorded to his computer. He then grabs the Macintosh mouse and plays it back, clicking a few times to edit the notes. Turning to the black and white keys, he adds drums, a guitar, an organ, the shout of a human voice--layer after layer until, with a few keystrokes, he has created a snappy soundtrack to the moment. The sound fires at chest-thumping volume from two bookshelf speakers.

“This is the one thing I think I do the best,” he said. “I’ve known that since I was a teenager, and I’ve stayed with it. . . . I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.”

* NEW HEADQUARTERS

Greystone Insurance relocates to county. B6

* MORE BUSINESS NEWS: B6-9