“Andy Paley is the greatest musical genius I’ve come across in many years… maybe my whole life!” – Brian Wilson/WABC radio interview
“This record is great thanks to the musical genius of Andy Paley.” – Jerry Lee Lewis/liner notes to his Young Blood album
Andy Paley’s credits read like a who’s who of the music industry. It’s tempting to say he’s best known for his work with Brian Wilson as a producer and co-writer – though what one person would find him best known for probably varies according to individual taste, as he’s worked within such a wide range of genres and styles.
He’s written and produced for Jerry Lee Lewis, k.d. lang, Take 6, SpongeBob SquarePants, Little Jimmy Scott, LaVern Baker, Brenda Lee, Mandy Barnett, Hank Ballard, Tommy Page, Plastic Bertrand, Darlene Love, Robert Goulet and April March to name a few.
His songs have been sung by Madonna, The Beach Boys, Solomon Burke, Little Richard, Will Ferrell, Weird Al Yankovich, Alice Cooper, Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris, J.K. Simmons, Grant Lee Phillips, The Watkins Family and others.
He’s produced songs or albums for Lila McCann, Ben E. King, John Wesley Harding, Chris Isaak, Randy Newman, Elton John, Ofra Haza, Succero, The Real Kids, Mighty Lemon Drops, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Dale Watson, N.R.B.Q., Jonathan Richman and Debbie Harry.
He has also been a recording artist as part of The Paley Brothers and Sidewinders. He’s recorded with The Ramones and such legends as Phil Spector, The Shangri-Las and LaVern Baker.
Paley has produced numerous movie soundtrack albums including Election, SHAG, Dick Tracy, Wild Orchid, Rage In Harlem and Drop Dead Gorgeous. He scored Paul Bartel’s Shelf Life, Showtime’s The L Word, Comedy Central’s The Naked Trucker and T-Bones and HBO’s Funny or Die Presents. He co-wrote and produced Will Ferrell’s YouTube smash, “Bat Fight.” He wrote songs for Bobcat Goldthwait’s movies “World’s Greatest Dad” (contributing “When I Get High” to the soundtrack) and “God Bless America.”
Paley has produced and written songs and score for cartoons that include Ren & Stimpy, Camp Lazlo, The Replacements, Moo Beard, Plastic Man, My Gym Partner’s A Monkey, Handy Manny, Annoying Orange, Adventure Time, Olivia, I Am Weasel, and, of course, SpongeBob SquarePants.
Beyond his writing songs and producing records, Paley is a multi-instrumentalist who has toured the world with the likes of Roy Buchanan, Patti Smith, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, Mandy Barnett and Brian Wilson and has played with Carlene Carter, Apollonio and Peter Wolf, among many others.
Paley was nominated for a Grammy® for producing Julia Sweeny’s God Said Ha! album and received a Grammy for his work with Brian Wilson on A Vision Shared. He won an EMMY for Best Original Score for Cartoon Network’s Camp Lazlo.
Paley currently performs as the leader of the Andy Paley Orchestra with The Thrilling Adventure Hour, a staged production and podcast in the style of old time radio. The show is performed monthly at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles, and podcasts are released weekly. He scores every show and writes all the songs with Ben Acker and Ben Blacker, the show’s creators. The show has a revolving all-star cast that includes Nathan Fillion, Busy Phillips, Paul F. Tompkins, Paget Brewster, Chris Hardwick, Neil Patrick Harris, John Hodgman, George Wendt, Billy West, Dave Koechner, Weird Al Yankovich, J.K. Simmons, Dave Gruber Allen, Martin Starr, Linda Cardellinni, Autumn Reeser, Samm Levine, Aubrey Plaza, Danny Strong, Joe Mantegna, Josh Malina, James Urbaniak, Marc Evan Jackson, John Dimaggio, Toby Huss, Dave Foley, Nick Offerman, Yvette Nicole Brown, Julia Duffy, Jim Turner, Mark Fite, Alison Brie and Colin Hanks and more.
The Andy Paley Orchestra performs in other Los Angeles stage shows too, including the Rudy Casoni Show (now known as the Toby Huss Show), a variety show featuring Toby Huss, Mark Fite, James Urbaniak, the Poubelle Twins and the Lampshades (featuring Kate Flannery from The Office). Paley co-wrote most of the songs for this show with Toby Huss, which also spawned a holiday album called “S’no Balls.”
“Clowntown City Limits,” created by and starring Jim Turner, Mark Fite, Dave “Gruber” Allen and Craig Anton, also features music written and performed by Paley.