- - To modern ears, Raymond Scott Quintet recordings sound like classic cartoon music. The producers of Ren & Stimpy felt so, and added Scott's novelties to their anarchic creations, thereby introducing Scott to a new generation of cartoon cultists. The Simpsons, Animaniacs, The Oblongs, and Duckman and have also featured Scott melodies.

- - Ironically, Raymond Scott never wrote a note for cartoons. He had moved on to other projects by the time his early compositions acquired a new life through the craftsmanship of Carl Stalling, the music director for Warners. Stalling adapted many familiar strains in his soundtracks, concocting a slice'n'dice gumbo of jazz, pop, classical, folk, and country-western flavorings. He used operatic motifs, marches, anthems--and a lot of Scott.

- - The Raymond Scott Quintet recorded from 1937 to 1939. In 1943, Warner Bros. bought Scott's publishing; thereafter, Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes rolled off the assembly line with liberal splashes of Scott. These cartoons, in effect, immortalized his early work, preserving it for future generations.

- - The most familiar and oft-used was "Powerhouse." The original composition contains two distinct, unrelated melodies, which found their ways into numerous scores by Stalling (and his successor, Milt Franklyn, who did many of Stalling's orchestral arrangements). "Powerhouse" weaves maniacally through "The Swooner Crooner," makes five cameos in "It's Hummer Time," and surfaces in "Baby Bottleneck," "Porky Pig's Feat," "Little Red Riding Rabbit," and at least 35 other features. Scott tunes quoted in WB productions include "The Penguin," "In an 18th Century Drawing Room," "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals," "Huckleberry Duck," "The Toy Trumpet," "War Dance For Wooden Indians," "Reckless Night on Board an Ocean Liner," and many more. That Scott's melodies have become world renowned through their association with animation is doubly ironic. Not only didn't Scott compose for cartoons--according to his widow, Mitzi, he didn't even watch them.

In the late '30's, Scott music was everywhere. The Quintet were regulars on Your Hit Parade, and appeared on such programs as This is New York and The Rhythm Roundup. Dozens of ensembles interpreted Scott, including the famous Paul Whiteman band, which commissioned 17 full orchestral arrangements of RS titles.

Columnist Walter Winchell called Scott's music "instrumental literature," and described the Quintet as "positively zzymzzy"--

meaning, "the last word."

- - In 1938, Scott was named music director for CBS. The following year he expanded the Quintet into a big band, for several reasons: large dance bands were in vogue; a larger ensemble presented a challenge to this restless musical nomad; and Scott probably wanted to follow the example of one of his idols, Glenn Miller.

- - In 1940, he left CBS to take his orchestra on the road. They were a good drawing card, on a par with popular outfits of the day. In 1942, Scott returned to CBS, where he broke the color barrier by recruiting the first racially-mixed network studio orchestra. He had some prodigious talent on board, including Cozy Cole, Benny Morton, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Emmett Berry, and Charlie Shavers.