It’s been 23 years since New York’s most beloved neurotics last graced the silver screen, now, for the first time ever, the Seinfeld soundtrack has finally gotten an official release.
In an exclusive interview with Variety, the show’s composer Jonathan Wolff delved into why it took so long for that unmistakable slap-bass score to be released.
“It was 30 years in the making,” says Wolff. “It struggled for the first few seasons,” he continues. “We were an accidental hit. We were busy getting episodes out, and nobody was thinking about the music. And that’s OK.”
Wolff was a prolific music director, scoring around 75 series over two-decades beginning in the mid-80s. The majority of Seinfeld‘s music was created by Wolff in his Burbank studio. Wolff was recommended to Jerry Seinfeld by his friend, comedian George Wallace, after Jerry was unsatisfied with the music on the show’s 1989 pilot.
“His main concern was for the opening and closing credits, which were standup comedy,” Wolff explains. “He would stand in front of the audience and tell jokes, they’d laugh, and he wanted music to go with it.” At the time, he notes, “sitcom theme music was melodic, with a lot of sassy saxophones and silly lyrics, but that was not going to work in this case.”
He continued, “What if we consider using your voice, telling jokes, as the melody of the theme? My job will be to accompany you in a way that does not interfere with the audio of your standup routine.
“The organic nature of your human voice might go well with the organic nature of my lips, tongue and finger snaps, doing stuff like this (makes familiar ‘Seinfeld’ noises). He came over by himself, I put one of his monologues on the screen and showed him how I could build the music around it.”
Love Film & TV?
Get the latest Film & TV news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Listen to the soundtrack below.
