TV’s backup band

Back in the ‘80s, Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman were featured members of Prince and the Revolution, living in the world of rock star royalty, platinum records and sold-out concerts.

Those days -- as well as the gartered stockings and revealing blouses they wore on stage -- are a distant memory. Instead of facing a stadium of screaming fans, they’re scoring a TV show, NBC’s “Crossing Jordan.”

Also making the jump from tour bus to tube is Mark Mothersbaugh, singer and songwriter of the group Devo, which achieved new wave prominence in the 1980s with the hit “Whip It.” Mothersbaugh now concentrates on film and television scores, including the “Rugrats” series on Nickelodeon and movies.

Talk about crossover acts. Melvoin, Coleman and Mothersbaugh are among the more noteworthy pop-rock writer-musicians who have largely traded in the hope of recapturing the rock star life for the steady income -- and the more rigid structure -- of writing scores for TV comedies and dramas.

Producers are increasingly using songs by rockers and other contemporary artists to heighten the appeal of shows for younger viewers. “Crossing Jordan,” as well as numerous other series such as “Dawson’s Creek,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “Gilmore Girls,” have released soundtracks just like their film counterparts.

These staff musicians now play in solitude, isolated in cramped studios with keyboards, editing equipment and timers. In most cases, the music will never be heard in its pure form, subordinated to sound effects and dialogue. The TV composers do not share the status enjoyed by other rockers, such as former Oingo Boingo frontman Danny Elfman or Randy Newman, who work in the more glamorous world of film scoring.

Said Mothersbaugh, “When you’re in a popular band, there’s the rush of a sold-out crowd at the Forum, singing along with lyrics you wrote six months ago. The closest that gets in this job is when you’re on a sound stage with an orchestra. That’s the most exciting it gets. Other than you and the musicians, no one will hear the music the way you wrote it.”

One of the hardest transitions to make for all the rockers-turned-scorers is to channel their personal creativity into another artist’s vision.

“The show is God,” Coleman said. “We all must have the same goal -- to make the scene work.”

Added Mothersbaugh: “The story is much more important than the music. That’s the greatest difficulty for most musicians who try and do this. They must be able to change gears and work from [someone else’s] point of view. Some musicians just can’t make that switch. It doesn’t fit their style.”

He recalled one session early in his scoring career when he was kicked off the sound stage: “I had recorded music with a 120-piece orchestra, and then the producers put in this door creak that was louder, and I yelled, ‘Who came up with this lame idea?’ I was told very quickly that there might be other things I might want to do the next day.”

As he’s adjusted to his new line of work, Mothersbaugh has drawn on his experience as just one member of a band; as for Melvoin and Coleman, they’re accustomed to working for a demanding boss.

“You get used to collaboration,” Mothersbaugh said.

Melvoin, 39, and Coleman, 42, juggle several projects, including the theme and score for HBO’s upcoming series “Carnivale.” On a recent Wednesday, in one of the show’s production offices on the Universal Studios lot, they study a rough-cut of tonight’s season finale of “Crossing Jordan,” which stars Jill Hennessy as a determined medical examiner. Watching with them is the show’s executive producer Tim Kring and co-executive producer Allan Arkush.

Charged with helping to shape the show’s emotion and narrative, Melvoin and Coleman have only a few days to add their musical textures and signatures to the action.

Coleman makes notes while Melvoin watches, barely blinking. At times, the two, who have been friends since childhood, whisper conspiratorially to each other. During one tense scene with Hennessy, Melvoin says, “We don’t need anything there. I like it quiet. We can feel her desperation.” At another scene, she says, “We don’t want to come into this too soon.”

A few days later, the multi-instrumentalists will take the episode to their nondescript Hollywood studio and replace the temporary music tracks with the final score, marked by moody keyboards and guitars.

Finding fulfillment

Although they are playing a different tune in the corporate world of television, Melvoin and Coleman maintain they have found creative and personal fulfillment with their current gig. Along with the steady television work, they have built up a solid movie track record in the last 10 years, writing scores for films such as “Dangerous Minds,” “Soul Food” and the upcoming “Honey,” starring “ER’s” Mekhi Phifer.

They got interested in writing film scores about 10 years ago and decided to focus their energies in that area after their solo career stalled.

“There was a time when we didn’t think we would ever do TV,” said Melvoin. “There was always a stigma attached to it. But we bring a different sensibility. We come in saying, ‘Let’s not do “TV” on this.’ We create an environment that breaks away from that.”

Added Coleman, “It’s about getting rid of the ‘suit’ mentality of traditional scoring. We know what kind of music works in the subtext of a story, and we let the music speak to that. The music in ‘Crossing Jordan’ is like another character observing the action.”

With “Crossing Jordan,” the score often has an urban, contemporary feel but also employs elements of mournful Irish music, suggesting the lead character’s working-class Boston roots and continuing grief over her mother’s death.

“They’re our first test audience,” “Crossing Jordan” creator Kring said of the composers’ ancillary role on the series. “They see the episodes first, without any preconceived notions, and then their point of view really adds to that of the characters. They know what works for the show too. The network may want more hard-driving music, but they’ll be the first to say, ‘Take that out. You don’t need music there.’ ”

Of course, there are headaches that come with the ticking clock. The night before Melvoin and Coleman were to do the final recording for the “Crossing Jordan” finale, a water main burst adjacent to their Sunset Boulevard headquarters, flooding the studio and ruining equipment.

They had to scramble in another studio to quickly record the score, while still dealing with a looming “Carnivale” deadline.

Though scoring television shows and films is their principal priority, Mothersbaugh, as well as Melvoin and Coleman, haven’t totally given up the spotlight.

Mothersbaugh still occasionally plays with a reunited Devo, and the duo still have solo projects they are interested in pursuing. Plans for a reunion concert or tour of Prince and the Revolution have been floating, but a reluctant Prince has declined to commit.

Said Melvoin of new her life: “I really couldn’t be happier. Well, maybe if we had a record.... “