Richard Wolf
Encyclopedia
Richard "Wolfie" Wolf is a multi-platinum-selling music producer, songwriter and remixer, and an Emmy Award
winning film and television composer.
Wolf got his start writing songs for his band and various artists before working for Warner/Chappell Music
as staff songwriter. Soon after, he wrote and produced music for several feature films. In 1989 he teamed up with Brett "Epic" Mazur
to form the production team Wolf & Epic. Wolf & Epic were among the first record makers to break down the barriers between R&B, Hip-hop & Pop at the beginning of the 1990s. During this time, Wolf worked on projects for artists such as MC Lyte
, Prince
, Seal
, Sheena Easton
, Laquan and Bell Biv Devoe
. Bell Biv Devoe's debut album Poison
and remix album WBBD-Bootcity both featured Wolf's production, and were certified triple Platinum
and Gold
respectively. Acid Jazz
was another new fusion of musical styles which Wolf & Epic helped pioneer with their work on the first Acid Jazz compilation The Rebirth of the Cool Vol.1 (Island Records
).
In the 21st Century Wolf's focus turned back to producing and composing for visual media. His score for the Warner Bros.
cartoon Static Shock
shook up Saturday morning programming with its fusion of hip-hop, electronic and traditional score, for which it was recognized with two Daytime Emmy nominations in 2003 and 2004 and one win. His work continues to regularly appear in film and television, including NCIS
and NCIS: Los Angeles, and the longest running show on the CW, America's Next Top Model
). He also currently works with a diversity of charities and is a board member of the I Have A Dream Foundation.
, while still a freshman at George Washington University
. It was at those sessions that he met legendary Muscle Shoals guitar player Wayne Perkins
, with whom he later co-wrote songs for the funky Southern rock band Crimson Tide. The group released two albums for Capitol Records
in 1978 and 1979, which enjoyed limited success. Wolf then signed as a staff songwriter with Warner/Chappell Music
. While there, he worked on various film and television projects, and artists including Steve Cropper
, Angela Bofill
, Johnny Gill
and Toni Basil
covered his songs.
to form what major west coast artist manager Jerry Heller
(of N.W.A and Eazy-E
) would describe as "the hottest producing team of the early 1990s:" Wolf & Epic (initially named Peace Productions). Wolf's vision was to record live the type of funk and R&B that was commonly sampled by hip hop producers and then overlay scratching and other hip hop techniques to give it a new dimension. Wolf played guitar and keyboards, Mazur played drums and deejayed, and other musicians were brought in to fatten the sound. Mazur praised his older counterpart as having "the knack to come up with that undeniable hook. Even if it's just a keyboard part, he goes beyond just a chorus". The two musicians used the generation gap to their advantage and were able to span several genres and styles in their acclaimed productions.
Wolf & Epic's first project together was with Laquan on his album Notes of a Native Son. This record was one of the first to combine a live band with hip hop scratching, sampling, and rapping. The New York Times praised Laquan, saying that listening to his music is "to hear the shape of urban debates to come" and admired the "slick pop choruses [that] buoy his songs". One of the tracks was included on the compilation The Rebirth of the Cool Vol. 1 (Island Records
), which spawned a string of albums that pioneered the "Acid Jazz
" movement of jazzy hip hop. The duo later wrote and recorded another acid jazz hit, "Eyes of the Soul," on MC Lyte
's Atlantic Records
album Act Like You Know.
In the early 1990s, Wolf & Epic, along with other producers, worked on Bell Biv Devoe
's album, Poison
: a triple-platinum album that pioneered the fusion of soul and hip hop. Wolf & Epic, who had a #1 hit with their remixed version of Bell Biv Devoe's "Do Me", went on to "use the finished record as raw material... [to] completely re-produce it". The result was WBBD-Bootcity!: The Remix Album, the chart topping, certified gold album of Bell Biv Devoe remixes that sealed Wolf & Epic's reputation as "the hot new kids on the remixing block".
Some of Wolf's other notable projects during this time include work on Ralph Tresvant
's "Public Figure," Sheena Easton
's "You Can Swing It
", remixes of Prince
's "Horny Pony" and Seal
's "Crazy
", and work with the New Kids on the Block
and Nona Gaye
.
After Wolf and Mazur amicably parted ways, Wolf continued to write, produce, and remix records with artists including Freddie Mercury
, Coolio
, Ce Ce Peniston ("I Will Be Received
"), MC Lyte
, Ricky Bell
, and Johnny Gill
.
's film, Back to School, in 1985. After that project, Wolf wrote and produced music for several more major film projects including The Karate Kid, Part II
and Madonna
's Who's That Girl. Wolf's work on Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase
marked his entry into composing for animated stories. The filmmakers wanted to move Scooby Doo into the new century, which Wolf fully embraced. Wolf's other film credits include Strictly Business, starring Halle Berry
and debuting Mary J. Blige
; Three Kings, where Wolf worked with director David O. Russell
and actor Mark Wahlberg
; and the Harrison Ford
drama Presumed Innocent
.
, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, ER
, The X-Files
, Fox Sports and ABC News' 20/20.
Wolf's introduction to branding music for TV came when Fox asked him to write original music for its Health Net cable. Then in 1999, he was asked to write original themes and identification music for the Fox Sports Network. The Hollywood Reporter explained, "it's his job to come up with two-minutes pieces of music that are flexible enough to work with sports as diverse as golf and beach volleyball, and distinctive enough to work as a branding device for the network". Since 1999, Fox has used Wolf's themes for almost two dozen network sports programs. The wide variety of Fox Sports themes & underscore cues that Wolf has composed have been played on thousands of sports broadcasts ranging from Major League Baseball
, NASCAR
and NFL to women's volleyball and golf.
Wolf's animation experience from Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase
project led to his job composing for the Warner Bros.
top rated Saturday morning show Static Shock
— a project that would earn him various awards. "The beauty of doing a show like this is that you can draw on a broad spectrum of styles," Wolf says, "Superhero animation tends to be music-driven, and it can be a virtual playground for composers... The breadth of creative self-expression is truly liberating, especially after coming from the field of record production, where you're invariably pigeonholed into a single genre". The score combined hip-hop and electronica with a traditional orchestration and brought an edgy urban soundtrack to Saturday morning cartoons. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
recognized the originality of the score by awarding Wolf Daytime Emmy nominations two years in a row and an Emmy Award
for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition and Direction for a Daytime Program in 2004.
Another one of Wolf's impressive television credits comes from Tyra Banks
' hit television series, America's Next Top Model
. For over fourteen seasons the show has relied heavily on Wolf's original music for everything from hip-hop tunes to themes for judging and elimination sequences. In 2008, a special issue of The Hollywood Reporter honored the 100th episode of ANTM and cited Wolf's musical contributions, explaining how the "music elevates the drama among competitors".
Working from his boutique music production and publishing company, The Producers Lab, Inc., Wolf continues to write and produce music for long time projects such as NCIS, Fox Sports, ABC News
, and ANTM as well as a variety of others.
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
winning film and television composer.
Wolf got his start writing songs for his band and various artists before working for Warner/Chappell Music
Warner/Chappell Music
Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company, and a division of the Warner Music Group. The company traces its origins back to 1811 and the founding of Chappell & Company, a music publishing company and instrument shop on London’s Bond Street that, in 1929, began a rapid...
as staff songwriter. Soon after, he wrote and produced music for several feature films. In 1989 he teamed up with Brett "Epic" Mazur
Epic Mazur
Epic Mazur is an American vocalist, rapper, and record producer. He is best known as a founder and frontman of Crazy Town.-Early life:...
to form the production team Wolf & Epic. Wolf & Epic were among the first record makers to break down the barriers between R&B, Hip-hop & Pop at the beginning of the 1990s. During this time, Wolf worked on projects for artists such as MC Lyte
MC Lyte
MC Lyte is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.-Early life:...
, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, Seal
Seal (musician)
Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel , known simply as Seal, is a British soul and R&B singer-songwriter, of Nigerian and Brazilian background. Seal has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1992, four Grammy Awards, and an...
, Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
, Laquan and Bell Biv Devoe
Bell Biv DeVoe
Bell Biv DeVoe is an American R&B musical group which branched off from New Edition. It consists of three of New Edition's previous members, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe...
. Bell Biv Devoe's debut album Poison
Poison (album)
-Album:-Singles:"—" denotes releases that did not chart.-Chart procession and succession:-Personnel:Information taken from Allmusic and Discogs.*arranging – Carl Bourelly, Roney Hooks, Hank Shocklee*art direction – Bell Biv DeVoe...
and remix album WBBD-Bootcity both featured Wolf's production, and were certified triple Platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
and Gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
respectively. Acid Jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
was another new fusion of musical styles which Wolf & Epic helped pioneer with their work on the first Acid Jazz compilation The Rebirth of the Cool Vol.1 (Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
).
In the 21st Century Wolf's focus turned back to producing and composing for visual media. His score for the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
cartoon Static Shock
Static Shock
Static Shock is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered in September 2000 on the Kids' WB! block and ran for four seasons, with a total of 52 half-hour episodes....
shook up Saturday morning programming with its fusion of hip-hop, electronic and traditional score, for which it was recognized with two Daytime Emmy nominations in 2003 and 2004 and one win. His work continues to regularly appear in film and television, including NCIS
NCIS (TV series)
NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...
and NCIS: Los Angeles, and the longest running show on the CW, America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry....
). He also currently works with a diversity of charities and is a board member of the I Have A Dream Foundation.
Musician
Wolf, a Manhattan native, signed his first record deal, with Quinn Ivy Studios in Muscle Shoals, AlabamaMuscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
, while still a freshman at George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
. It was at those sessions that he met legendary Muscle Shoals guitar player Wayne Perkins
Wayne Perkins
Wayne Perkins is a rock and R & B guitarist, singer, songwriter and session musician. He was the oldest of six children, a brother and four sisters. Both of his parents sang and played guitar...
, with whom he later co-wrote songs for the funky Southern rock band Crimson Tide. The group released two albums for Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
in 1978 and 1979, which enjoyed limited success. Wolf then signed as a staff songwriter with Warner/Chappell Music
Warner/Chappell Music
Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company, and a division of the Warner Music Group. The company traces its origins back to 1811 and the founding of Chappell & Company, a music publishing company and instrument shop on London’s Bond Street that, in 1929, began a rapid...
. While there, he worked on various film and television projects, and artists including Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
, Angela Bofill
Angela Bofill
Angela Bofill is an American R&B vocalist and songwriter.Bofill was born to a Cuban father and a Puerto Rican mother; one of the first Latina singers to find success in the R&B market.She performed with Ricardo Marrero & the Group and Dance Theater of Harlem chorus prior to her 1978 debut album,...
, Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic...
and Toni Basil
Toni Basil
Antonia Christina Basilotta , better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, filmmaker, film director, choreographer, and dancer, best known for her multi-million-selling worldwide #1 hit "Mickey" from 1982.-Early life:Basil was born Antonia Christina...
covered his songs.
Record Producer & Songwriter
In 1989 Wolf teamed up with his former studio intern Brett "Epic" MazurEpic Mazur
Epic Mazur is an American vocalist, rapper, and record producer. He is best known as a founder and frontman of Crazy Town.-Early life:...
to form what major west coast artist manager Jerry Heller
Jerry Heller
Jerry Heller is best known for managing West Coast rap group N.W.A. and rapper Eazy-E. He is co-founder and CEO of Ruthless Records. Heller managed War, Average White Band, Marvin Gaye, Michel'le, A.L.T...
(of N.W.A and Eazy-E
Eazy-E
Eric Lynn Wright , better known by his stage name Eazy-E, was an American rapper who performed solo and in the hip hop group N.W.A. Wright was born to Richard and Kathie Wright in Compton, California...
) would describe as "the hottest producing team of the early 1990s:" Wolf & Epic (initially named Peace Productions). Wolf's vision was to record live the type of funk and R&B that was commonly sampled by hip hop producers and then overlay scratching and other hip hop techniques to give it a new dimension. Wolf played guitar and keyboards, Mazur played drums and deejayed, and other musicians were brought in to fatten the sound. Mazur praised his older counterpart as having "the knack to come up with that undeniable hook. Even if it's just a keyboard part, he goes beyond just a chorus". The two musicians used the generation gap to their advantage and were able to span several genres and styles in their acclaimed productions.
Wolf & Epic's first project together was with Laquan on his album Notes of a Native Son. This record was one of the first to combine a live band with hip hop scratching, sampling, and rapping. The New York Times praised Laquan, saying that listening to his music is "to hear the shape of urban debates to come" and admired the "slick pop choruses [that] buoy his songs". One of the tracks was included on the compilation The Rebirth of the Cool Vol. 1 (Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
), which spawned a string of albums that pioneered the "Acid Jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
" movement of jazzy hip hop. The duo later wrote and recorded another acid jazz hit, "Eyes of the Soul," on MC Lyte
MC Lyte
MC Lyte is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.-Early life:...
's Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
album Act Like You Know.
In the early 1990s, Wolf & Epic, along with other producers, worked on Bell Biv Devoe
Bell Biv DeVoe
Bell Biv DeVoe is an American R&B musical group which branched off from New Edition. It consists of three of New Edition's previous members, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe...
's album, Poison
Poison (album)
-Album:-Singles:"—" denotes releases that did not chart.-Chart procession and succession:-Personnel:Information taken from Allmusic and Discogs.*arranging – Carl Bourelly, Roney Hooks, Hank Shocklee*art direction – Bell Biv DeVoe...
: a triple-platinum album that pioneered the fusion of soul and hip hop. Wolf & Epic, who had a #1 hit with their remixed version of Bell Biv Devoe's "Do Me", went on to "use the finished record as raw material... [to] completely re-produce it". The result was WBBD-Bootcity!: The Remix Album, the chart topping, certified gold album of Bell Biv Devoe remixes that sealed Wolf & Epic's reputation as "the hot new kids on the remixing block".
Some of Wolf's other notable projects during this time include work on Ralph Tresvant
Ralph Tresvant
Ralph Tresvant , aka Rizz, is an American tenor singer, best known as one of the lead singers in New Edition.-New Edition:Tresvant sang lead on many of the New Edition lead singles including "Candy Girl", "Cool It Now" and "If It Isn't Love"...
's "Public Figure," Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
's "You Can Swing It
What Comes Naturally
-Production:*Producers: Vassal Benford, Denny Diante, David Frank, Oliver Leiber, Jeff Lorber, Nick Mundy, Ian Prince, Wolf & Epic*Engineers: Wolfgang Aichholz, Greg Barrett, Shawn Berman, Ted Blaisdell, Bob Cadway, John Chamberlin, David Dachinger, Daryll Dobson, Steve Egleman, Greg Grill, Steve...
", remixes of Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
's "Horny Pony" and Seal
Seal (musician)
Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel , known simply as Seal, is a British soul and R&B singer-songwriter, of Nigerian and Brazilian background. Seal has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1992, four Grammy Awards, and an...
's "Crazy
Crazy (Seal song)
"Crazy" is a song written by English soul artist Seal and producer Guy Sigsworth . The song was produced by Trevor Horn for Seal's debut album Seal . Seal's debut single, "Crazy" is one of his biggest hits, reaching the top five in the United Kingdom and the top ten in the United States...
", and work with the New Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block are an American boy band from Boston, Massachusetts, assembled in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr. The band currently consists of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood.New Kids on the Block enjoyed success in the late 1980s and...
and Nona Gaye
Nona Gaye
Nona Marvisa Gaye is an American singer, former fashion model, and screen actress. The daughter of soul music legend Marvin Gaye and granddaughter of jazz great Slim Gaillard, she began her career as a vocalist in the early 1990s...
.
After Wolf and Mazur amicably parted ways, Wolf continued to write, produce, and remix records with artists including Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
, Coolio
Coolio
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. , better known by the stage name Coolio, is an American musician, rapper, actor and record producer.-Late 80s:He recorded two singles in the late 80s, titled "Watcha Gonna Do" and "You're Gonna Miss Me"...
, Ce Ce Peniston ("I Will Be Received
I Will Be Received
"I Will Be Received" is a 1994 song by the musician CeCe Peniston.The composition was written by James Wirrick and Richard Wolf due to her second studio album Thought 'Ya Knew, released in January on A&M Records...
"), MC Lyte
MC Lyte
MC Lyte is an American rapper who first gained fame in the late-1980s becoming the first solo female rapper to release a full album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock.-Early life:...
, Ricky Bell
Ricky Bell (singer)
Ricky Bell, nicknamed "Slick" is an American R&B singer best known as one of the founding members of New Edition and the lead singer of Bell Biv DeVoe...
, and Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic...
.
Film Music Production & Composition
Wolf broke into the film industry when he co-wrote and produced several songs (including the title song) for Rodney DangerfieldRodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...
's film, Back to School, in 1985. After that project, Wolf wrote and produced music for several more major film projects including The Karate Kid, Part II
The Karate Kid, Part II
The Karate Kid, Part II is a 1986 American martial arts film and is a sequel to 1984's The Karate Kid. Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi, respectively. The original music score was composed by Bill Conti...
and Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's Who's That Girl. Wolf's work on Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase is the fourth of a series of direct-to-video animated films based on Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoons. It was released on October 9, 2001. It features the Mystery, Inc. gang, which includes Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Freddy, Daphne and Velma...
marked his entry into composing for animated stories. The filmmakers wanted to move Scooby Doo into the new century, which Wolf fully embraced. Wolf's other film credits include Strictly Business, starring Halle Berry
Halle Berry
Halle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming...
and debuting Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
; Three Kings, where Wolf worked with director David O. Russell
David O. Russell
David Owen Russell is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work, and is notorious for his explosive confrontations with cast members.-Early life:...
and actor Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
; and the Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
drama Presumed Innocent
Presumed Innocent (film)
Presumed Innocent is a 1990 film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Scott Turow, which tells the story of a prosecutor charged with the murder of his female colleague and mistress....
.
Emmy Award Winning Television Music Production & Composition
Over the span of nearly two decades, Wolf's musical creations have been featured in thousands of TV episodes including top rated shows such NCISNCIS (TV series)
NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...
, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, Fox Sports and ABC News' 20/20.
Wolf's introduction to branding music for TV came when Fox asked him to write original music for its Health Net cable. Then in 1999, he was asked to write original themes and identification music for the Fox Sports Network. The Hollywood Reporter explained, "it's his job to come up with two-minutes pieces of music that are flexible enough to work with sports as diverse as golf and beach volleyball, and distinctive enough to work as a branding device for the network". Since 1999, Fox has used Wolf's themes for almost two dozen network sports programs. The wide variety of Fox Sports themes & underscore cues that Wolf has composed have been played on thousands of sports broadcasts ranging from Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
and NFL to women's volleyball and golf.
Wolf's animation experience from Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase is the fourth of a series of direct-to-video animated films based on Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoons. It was released on October 9, 2001. It features the Mystery, Inc. gang, which includes Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Freddy, Daphne and Velma...
project led to his job composing for the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
top rated Saturday morning show Static Shock
Static Shock
Static Shock is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered in September 2000 on the Kids' WB! block and ran for four seasons, with a total of 52 half-hour episodes....
— a project that would earn him various awards. "The beauty of doing a show like this is that you can draw on a broad spectrum of styles," Wolf says, "Superhero animation tends to be music-driven, and it can be a virtual playground for composers... The breadth of creative self-expression is truly liberating, especially after coming from the field of record production, where you're invariably pigeonholed into a single genre". The score combined hip-hop and electronica with a traditional orchestration and brought an edgy urban soundtrack to Saturday morning cartoons. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences or NATAS was created in 1955 to advance the arts and sciences of television. Headquartered in New York, NATAS's membership is national and the organization has local chapters around the country....
recognized the originality of the score by awarding Wolf Daytime Emmy nominations two years in a row and an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition and Direction for a Daytime Program in 2004.
Another one of Wolf's impressive television credits comes from Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks is an American model, media personality, actress, occasional singer, author and businesswoman. She first became famous as a model, but television appearances were her commercial breakthrough...
' hit television series, America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry....
. For over fourteen seasons the show has relied heavily on Wolf's original music for everything from hip-hop tunes to themes for judging and elimination sequences. In 2008, a special issue of The Hollywood Reporter honored the 100th episode of ANTM and cited Wolf's musical contributions, explaining how the "music elevates the drama among competitors".
Working from his boutique music production and publishing company, The Producers Lab, Inc., Wolf continues to write and produce music for long time projects such as NCIS, Fox Sports, ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, and ANTM as well as a variety of others.