In an early episode of David Lynch's prime-time phenomenon, Twin
Peaks, Sherilyn Fenn, who plays resident space cadet Audrey Horne,
sits perched on a stool at the Double R Diner. Chatting with a
friend, Audrey begins to drift into her familiar quasi-hypnotic
state, sliding off the stool to head for an imaginary dance floor.
She starts swaying to the cool, finger-popping jazz riffs floating
around the diner, her eyelids barely open. ''God, I love this
music,'' she moans to the eerily sensuous beat. ''Isn't it too
dreamy?''
You said it, Aud. Rarely in the history of television has a hit
show owed so much to the music. Those dark, eerie themes give Peaks
much of its quirky, uneasy and unmistakable atmosphere. Yet the
maestro behind the music is not some angst-filled new-age artiste:
Angelo Badalamenti is a 53-year-old classically trained composer from
New Jersey. He used to play the piano along the Borscht Belt in the
'50s, he carries a comfortable paunch above his waist, and he often
likes to slip out for a round of golf. In other words he's the
perfect counterpoint to the eccentric Lynch, his musical collaborator
of the past four years.
The pairing may seem odd, yet it has proved quite fruitful. The
album Twin Peaks is due out Sept. 11, featuring those beautifully
synthesized melodies, and Lynch and Badalamenti are busy concocting
music for the show's new season, which starts Sept. 30. Of Peaks's 14
Emmy nominations, Badalamenti copped three for his musical
contributions. He also collaborated on the scores for Lynch's violent
road flick, the current Wild at Heart, and Lynch's new series of
commercials for Calvin Klein's Obsession. In addition there's an
hour-long performance piece, Industrial Symphony No. 1, recently
released on video.
Lynch gets rhapsodic when discussing his songwriting partner's
abilities. ''He's got this musical soul, and melodies are always
floating around inside,'' says the director. ''I feel the mood of a
scene in the music, and one thing helps the other, and they both just
start climbing.'' Badalamenti calls their relationship ''the
second-best marriage in the world.'' (The first is the one he shares
with his wife, Lonny.) ''David doesn't vacillate,'' he says. ''He
just describes what he wants, and before he's finished I'm tuned in
and I've already got my hands on the keyboards.''
When they sat down to write the Peaks score early last year,
Badalamenti assumed some of Lynch's peculiar working rituals. They
headed for the same Manhattan deli across from Badalamenti's studio
apartment, and each ordered the same thing every day: turkey
sandwich, fries, a side of ''cremated'' bacon and lots of ''damn good
coffee.'' Then they got down to work. ''He'd say, 'Try and come up
with something that's beautiful and dark,' '' says Badalamenti,
imitating his musical better half in a soft whisper. '' 'Then it
should build to a climax that just tears your heart out.' So I'm
looking at him strangely, but as he's talking my eyes start going
somewhere, and I start hearing melodies.'' Badalamenti knew when
Lynch was pleased. ''He would go into this stare, and I realized he
was seeing what he was going to shoot.''
Music has always been Badalamenti's greatest passion. The son of a
fishmarket owner and a housewife, Badalamenti took piano lessons
at 8 and grew up listening to classical music. As a teenager he
accompanied singers on the piano at Catskill resorts during the
summer, eventually enrolling at the Eastman School of Music in
Rochester, N.Y. In 1960 he got a master's degree from the Manhattan
School of Music and taught music at Brooklyn's Dyker Heights Junior
High, writing songs in his spare time. Badalamenti was hired by a
music-publishing company in the early '70s and soon began to earn a
decent living arranging, writing commercial jingles and composing
songs for a range of singers that stretched from Shirley Bassey to
country legend Mel Tillis. ''I always managed to make things work,''
says Badalamenti.
Movie scores – for films like 1973's Gordon's War and Law and
Disorder the following year – were also in the mix, but it wasn't
until 1986 that Badalamenti's career really took off. Filming Blue
Velvet, Lynch needed a vocal coach for his then star, now girlfriend,
Isabella Rossellini, and Badalamenti, who was well-known for working
with singers, was recommended. When a new song was needed for the
score, Lynch asked his future collaborator for a tune. Together they
wrote one of the film's memorable songs, ''Mysteries of Love.'' From
that point on, says Badalamenti, ''I felt we had an instant
communication.''
Away from Peaks's frenzy, the low-key composer leads a decidedly
unassuming life. After 22 years of marriage, he and Lonny have just
moved into a modest four-bedroom house in suburban New Jersey, where
the only extravagance is a whirlpool bath off the master bedroom.
Their children – Danielle, 21, an art student in Philadelphia, and
Andre, 19, a clarinetist at Dad's old haunt, the Manhattan School of
Music – are Peaks devotees and follow along with the original
scripts in hand. The Badalamenti household in general is surprised at
the show's success. ''Lonny was the only one who thought it would be
a hit,'' confesses Badalamenti. ''I didn't expect the show to do what
it's done. But I hope it never ends!''
