Fred Mollin

Last updated
Fred Mollin
Mollin in 2010.jpg
Mollin in 2010
Born
Frederic Ira Mollin

(1953-02-10) February 10, 1953 (age 69)
Amityville, New York, U.S.
Occupation
  • Record producer
  • multi-instrumentalist
  • film & TV composer
  • arranger
  • musical director
  • music supervisor
  • songwriter
Years active1972–present
Children2
Musical career
Instrument(s)
  • Guitar
  • keyboards
  • bass
  • drums
  • percussion
  • vocals
Labels
  • Walt Disney Records
  • Columbia Records
  • eOne Records
  • EMI Records
  • Atlantic Records
  • Melody Place
Website fredmollin.com

Fred Mollin is an American and Canadian record producer, musician, film and TV composer, music director, music supervisor, and songwriter. [1] He has produced records for Jimmy Webb, Johnny Mathis, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lamont Dozier and America, and has composed music for Beverly Hills, 90210 , Friday the 13th (films and television), Forever Knight , Hard Copy , and many more. [2] [3] Mollin rose to prominence early in his career by co-producing (with Matthew McCauley) Dan Hill's international hit record, "Sometimes When We Touch", in 1977. [4]

Contents

As an artist, he has written and produced music for a series of children's albums, including Disney: Lullaby Album: Instrumental Favorites For Baby, peaking at #6 on January 26, 2001, on Billboard 's Kid Album music chart; and Disney's Princess Lullaby Album, which peaked at No. 23 on October 25, 2002 (Billboard). [5] He created the musical group Fred Mollin and the Blue Sea Band, composing and producing albums such as Finding Nemo-Ocean Favorites, Lightning McQueen's Fast Tracks, and others, primarily released on Disney/Pixar albums. [6]

Early life

Fred Mollin was born (February 10, 1953) in Amityville, New York to Edward and Pauline Mollin, and is the youngest of three siblings. He began playing the drums at age six, the guitar at age eleven, and formed his first band at age thirteen, performing at junior high and high school dances. After seeing the Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, he was inspired to become a musician, singer, and songwriter. He attended Calhoun High School in Merrick, New York.

In an interview with Spirit of Harmony, Mollin said, "When my parents would tell their friends that I was leaving high school at 16 to make a life as a musician, they would all say 'we're so sorry,' as if I was terminally ill. In that day and age, it would have sounded better if I had gone off to join the circus". [7]

Career

At age 18, Mollin moved to Toronto, Canada in 1971. His brother Larry had moved there a year before and urged Fred to come and see the creative possibilities. Mollin never looked back and in 1972, they formed Canada's first improvisational comedy group, Homemade Theatre. The four-man troupe consisted of Fred (musician, composer, singer, and actor), Phil Savath, Barry Flatman, and his brother, Larry, who also performed for three years on their own CBC television series, Homemade Television . In 1975, Homemade Theatre was awarded a Canadian Gold Record for their novelty single, "Santa Jaws".

Record producer

Mollin co-produced (with Matthew McCauley) Sometimes When We Touch, by Dan Hill, which became an international hit record in 1977. From 1977 through 1985 Mollin produced such artists as Jimmy Webb, America, and Randy Edelman. He also co-wrote and co-produced Stan Meissner's hit single "One Chance", which was covered by Eddie Money on his platinum album Can’t Hold Back. Mollin started a new career in 1985 as a TV and film composer, which became a full-time occupation until 1996 when he started to make the transition back to record production with the acclaimed album Ten Easy Pieces by Jimmy Webb.

Mollin relocated to Nashville in 2001, where he went back to being a full-time record producer for various artists and projects. In 2019, he started a new label, Melody Place, in partnership with Leigh Shockey, while continuing his freelance career.

Duets producer

Mollin is known as a record producer with a long history of producing duets involving well-known and iconic artists. These include Willie Nelson, Billy Joel, Carly Simon, Vince Gill, Glen Campbell, Crosby and Nash, Art Garfunkel, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Michael McDonald, Amy Holland, David Pack, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Cole, Gregory Porter, Gloria Estefan, and Chris Cornell, among others. The albums by Jimmy Webb, Ten Easy Pieces, Just Across the River, and Still Within the Sound Of My Voice, have the most number of guest artist duet appearances. Other notable album examples with numerous duets are Johnny Mathis' Sending You A Little Christmas, Kris Kristofferson's The Austin Sessions, Barry Mann's Soul And Inspiration, Lamont Dozier's Reimagination, and Rita Wilson's AM/FM.

Mollin's most well-known duet is the 2008 duet, Billboard's #4 country single, "Ready, Set, Don't Go" featuring Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus. [8]

Film and television music composer

In 1987, Mollin's work on Paramount's 'Friday the 13th: The Series' gave way to 16 uninterrupted years of composing for film and television. His most well-known TV series include Tri-Star's Forever Knight , Spelling's Beverly Hills, 90210 , Paramount's Hard Copy , Columbia Pictures' The New Gidget and USA Network's TekWar . His feature film credits include Friday the 13th Part 7 - The New Blood and Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan . His TV movies include NBC's Amy Fisher: My Story , VH1's Daydream Believers-The Monkees' Story, and CBC TV's Little Criminals. He composed and performed the soundtrack for the television series Friday the 13th, mainly using synthesizers and samplers. [9] The music was released on a soundtrack album by GNP Crescendo as the album Friday the 13th: The Series.

Mollin won a Gemini award for Best Original Music Score for a Series, Beyond Reality , in 1991. [10] [11]

Children's music

Mollin co-created the children's musical group Rugrats with Ronney Abramson and Ron Garant. The group's 1983 debut album, Rugrat Rock, was co-produced by Mollin; [12] it won the Best Children's Album category at the Juno Awards of 1984. [13] In 1985 they recorded a second album, The Rugrats Rock On. [14] [15]

In the early 2000s, Mollin began arranging and producing a series of Disney Lullaby albums: Disney's Lullaby Album: Gentle Instrumental Favorites for Babies (2000), Disney's Lullaby Album (2002), Disney's Princess Lullaby Album (2002), Disney's Christmas Lullaby Album (2003), Disney's Lullaby & Goodnight (2004), and Disney's Lullaby Album, Vol.2 (all released on Walt Disney Records).

In 2004, Mollin created Fred Mollin and the Blue Sea Band, a loose aggregate of studio musicians and guest singers Chris Stapleton, Tom Hambridge, Tim Ruppert, Lari White, Kevin Montgomery, Gunnar Nelson, Johnny Neel, and Webb Wilder, among others, primarily heard on Disney/Pixar albums:

Songwriter

As a songwriter, Mollin has written or co-written songs for Cher, Eddie Money, Burning Rome, Toronto, Shania Twain, Stan Meissner, and others.

Awards and nominations

YearNominee / workAwardResult
2007 Jesus Take the Wheel (Passing Stranger Music Publishing)ASCAP - Publisher of the YearWon
2006 Jesus Take the Wheel (Passing Stranger Music Publishing) [16] ASCAP - Publisher of the YearWon
2000 Sending You a Little Christmas - Johnny Mathis SOCAN - Film TV AwardNominated
1994 The Passion - Beyond RealityGemini Award - Best Original Musical Score for TelevisionWon
1984 Rugrat Rock [13] Juno Award - Best Children's AlbumWon
1982 Only the Lucky - Lodi - Ronnie Hawkins [17] Juno Award - Producer of the YearNominated
1979 Frozen in the Night - Dan Hill [18] Juno Award - Producer of the YearNominated
1978 Sometimes When We Touch - Dan Hill [19] Juno Award - Producer of the Year (Single)Won
1978 Longer Fuse - Dan Hill [20] Juno Award - Producer of the Year (Single)Won
1978 Sometimes When We Touch - Dan HillJuno Award - Producer of the Year (Single)Won
1978 Longer Fuse - Dan HillJuno Award - Producer of the Year (Album)Won
1976 Santa Jaws - Fred Mollin/Homemade Television Juno Award - Producer of the YearNominated

Discography

Filmography

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References

  1. ↑ "Fred Mollin". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-09-18.
  2. ↑ Clarke, Frederick S. (1993). Cinefantastique. Vol. 24. F. S. Clarke. p. 85.
  3. ↑ "Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood – A 30th Anniversary Retrospective". Dread Central, By Dave J. Wilson on April 13, 2018
  4. ↑ "Juno Awards - Sometimes When We Touch - Fred Mollin". Junos. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Billboard: Fred Mollin Chart History". Billboard. October 24, 2002. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Amazon - Fred Mollin and the Blue Sea Band albums". Amazon. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Standing On the Shoulder - Fred Molin". Spirit of Harmony. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Billboard Charts - Ready, Set, Don't Go - Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus". Billboard. February 8, 2008. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  9. ↑ " Fred Mollin Friday the 13th: The Series [Original TV Score]". AllMusic Review by Steven McDonald
  10. ↑ Garcia, Frank; Phillips, Mark (27 September 2013). Science Fiction Television Series, 1990-2004: Histories, Casts and Credits for 58 Shows. McFarland. pp. 35–. ISBN   978-0-7864-9183-4.
  11. ↑ "St. Vincent Story Sweeps Geminis". The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Monday, March 7, 1994. page 23
  12. ↑ Stapleton, Lynn (1996). "An Interview with Fred Mollin". Fortune City. Archived from the original on 2003-09-27.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) at the Wayback mMachine.
  13. 1 2 "Best Children's Album 1984". Juno Awards website
  14. ↑ "Pop Encyclopedia article about Ronney Abramson!" . Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  15. ↑ Canadian Children's Literature. Vol. Issues 49-52. Canadian Children's Press. 1988. p. 81.
  16. ↑ "Jimmy Webb, John Rich, Brett James, Rivers Rutherford and Sony/ATV Music Publishing Among Top Honorees at 2006 ASCAP Country Music Awards; "Jesus, Take The Wheel" Named Country Song of the Year". Global News Wire/ASCAP. October 24, 2006. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  17. ↑ "1982 AWARD NOMINEE - Producer of the Year - Fred Mollin, Only the Lucky, Lodi- Ronnie Hawkins". Junos. 1982. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Juno Awards Past and Present Winners". Junos. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Producer of the Year - 1978 - Single Sometimes When We Touch - Dan Hill - Matthew McCauley/Fred Mollin". Junos. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Juno Awards - All Nominations and Awards - Fred Mollin". Junos. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
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