All language subtitles for Killing.Me.Softly.With.His.Songs.2022

["Killing Me Softly With
His Song" playing on piano]

[Charles] So, I have this dream.

I'm in an unfamiliar
place, very far from home.

The culture is different.
The customs are different.

[piano note plays]

But it's beautiful there.

[playing gentle tune]

And all those differences,

those things that are
supposed to keep us apart

really don't matter at all...

because there's music.

["Festival" by
Charles Fox plays]

What's so amazing
about this dream...

is that it isn't so
different from my real life.

How did it happen?

Now, that's a story.

[man vocalizing]

♪

♪

[cheers and applause]

[smooth instrumental
music plays]

I like that. It
feels really nice.

It's lovely to be back.

Lovely to see all of
you fantastic musicians.

And I think you know
what we're doing

is we're gonna do a
song that I wrote with,

uh, Rita Wilson.

And so she's gonna be
here to sing it and...

- and Jason Alexander.
- [man] Dang.

So we have a great day ahead.

About to have a lot of fun.

[Charles] My entire
life has been

a series of musical adventures.

I've written television themes,

film scores, concert
and ballet music,

and hit songs.

[Charles imitates
guitar strumming]

Don't let those... the
eighth notes get lost.

[imitates drum beating]

The halftime samba?

Think of it more if
like Stevie Wonder

- were making this record.
- Yeah. Okay.

You know?

[Charles] Along the
way, I've gotten to work

with some of the greatest
musicians in the world,

and so many amazing
singers and performers.

And if I... if I hear the
chord, I know where I am,

and then I can go, "Oh,
that's a half-step treble."

♪ These dreams ♪

♪ These dreams can
make you believe ♪

♪ In endless possibility ♪

We were talking about

the celebration
of the experience

of going to the movies.

So we said,

"Maybe we should
write this song."

But then...

♪ At the movies ♪

Yeah, perfect.

[Charles] Uh, that's it.

One, two, one.

["At The Movies" by Charles
Fox and Rita Wilson plays]

♪ Room full of strangers
but tonight I'm not alone ♪

♪ It's my story that I
didn't have to write ♪

♪ There's magic in the air ♪

♪ An escape to take me home ♪

♪ Out of the darkness
comes the light ♪

♪ A light and I'm alive ♪

♪ At the movies ♪

♪ That's me dancing
in the street ♪

♪ At the movies ♪

♪ I am flying, I am free ♪

♪ At the movies ♪

♪ I can be most anything ♪

♪ If it's raining in my heart ♪

♪ Then that's me
who is gonna sing ♪

♪ No one can see ♪

♪ If I have laughed
or shed a tear ♪

♪ But we're together
on this ride ♪

♪ This place of dreams can give
a hard wipe, sorrows clear ♪

♪ So you can soar
and feel alive ♪

♪ Alive, feel so alive ♪

♪ These dreams ♪

♪ These dreams can
make you believe ♪

♪ In endless possibilities ♪

[Charles] I feel so
fortunate to have spent

the last 60 years
or so making music.

And to think it all started on
Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx.

[soft instrumental
music playing]

["Ballade" by Charles Fox plays]

[Charles] 2857 Sedgwick.

I was born here.

I lived here till I was 18

with my parents and
my two brothers.

My life then revolved
around my family,

my friends and music.

My roots, right
here in the Bronx.

These are my buddies.

My brother Bernard.

We must have been ten
years old when we met, huh?

Yeah. And actually,
Eddie and I formed a band

when we were probably
about 12 years old.

He played the vibes,
I played the piano.

It was pretty lousy,
but we had a good time.

[Ed and Charles laugh]

[mandolin strumming]

[Charles] My father played
the mandolin, and he played

these sweet little Jewish
melodies, you know?

And when I was old enough, I
could play piano well enough,

I'd accompany him at the piano.

I'd get an extra 10 cents
or 15 cents to my allowance.

So you might say I was
professional from an early age,

- you know.
- [all laugh]

["Ballade" by Charles Fox plays]

[Ira] I wanna tell you a
great story about Charlie.

We were in the
seventh grade or so,

and myself and a
couple of other guys

knocked on his
window and we said,

"Charlie, come on. We're
going to the schoolyard,

play basketball."

Charlie said, "I can't go."

"What do you mean you can't go?"

"I have to take piano lessons."

"Piano lessons? Charlie.

Piano lessons, basketball,
well, you know?"

And meanwhile, he became
this famous piano player,

and I played basketball
and never had a...

I never had a jump shot.

[all laugh]

But you had big
elbows. That was it.

- Yeah.
- He said to me,

"Piano, where's
that gonna get you?"

[laughter]

[Charles] When I
was 14 years old,

I went to the High
School of Music & Art.

And it was a revelation to me

because I found a
lot of other people

who also love music,

great clarinet players
and violin players.

Some of my friends were great
accomplished jazz musicians.

And it suddenly became
my main interest

to play jazz in a band.

So we got a band together...

with the hope that
we'd get a job

in the Catskill
Mountains in the summer.

That was... would be big time.

Somehow, miraculously,
we got a job.

It was a little rundown hotel.

I only made $15 a
week as a pianist,

but it was heaven.

So one day at the hotel,
two guys come to visit us,

who I knew from high school.

And they had played at the
very hotel that we were,

and two years later,

we're now playing with
Randy Carlos' Band.

He was one of the big
Latin band leaders.

And I wasn't even
familiar with Latin music,

but they invited us to
come to see them play

that night at the
Nemerson Hotel.

["Like So" by
Charles Fox playing]

[Charles] The
place was swinging.

There were young, beautiful
women on the floor

dancing and... and guys
sweeping them off their feet.

And I got so taken
with the music

that Randy's band was playing.

Right then and there, I
decided that's what I wanna do.

I wanna play Latin music.

[audience applauding]

And in all these years,
it never left my heart.

It never left my mind.

♪

[conductor] Uno, dos, one, two.

[Latin instrumental
music playing]

[Charles] So I graduated

from the High School
of Music & Art,

and I was playing with
Latin bands around New York.

[audience applauding, cheering]

He was 15, pretending to be
16, playing in Latin bands.

And he wasn't old
enough to drive.

So my father would
drive him to the jobs,

and I would go along on the trip

and hang out with... with
my father in the car.

Our father financed
his first salsa record,

which is pretty amazing
when you think about a...

old Jewish guy
coming from Poland

financing a salsa record.

[Latin music playing]

[audience applauding]

[Charles] So one day I
came home late at night

after a job,

and my teacher was
here walking her dog,

and we stopped to talk.

This is my piano teacher
who taught me piano

from the time I was
eight or nine years old.

And she said, "What are
you doing with your life?"

And I said, "Well, I'm
playing the piano in bands.

I'm studying composition
with my composition teacher

from, uh, Music & Art."

She said, "Well, there's
a teacher in France.

Her name is Nadia Boulanger.
She's very well known.

She's taught some
great composers,

and she is in a summer
school called Fontainebleau.

And, uh, maybe if you
can get accepted to that,

that you would be able to
meet her and work with her,

and that might be
great for you."

Well, the idea of going to
Paris sounded pretty cool to me,

to be honest with you.

I said, "I didn't think
my parents could afford

to send me there."

And she said, "Well,
I know your parents.

I'll talk to your
mother and father,

I'll tell them how
important this is.

Maybe they can find
a way to send you."

And pretty soon, I was
on the plane to Paris.

[soft classical music plays]

[Charles] "Dear family,

this is my first evening
at Fontainebleau,

and I know that I can
expect a truly happy summer.

We have already had
a cocktail party

in one of the beautiful
gardens of the palace.

As you can see, I'm
having a wonderful time,

but of course, I
miss home a little.

Do write and tell
me how things are.

Love, Charles."

[Joseph] Wow, look
at this place.

Remember the first time
you saw this place?

I do remember, Joe.

I was 18 years old,
came from the Bronx.

I had only been to
Brooklyn a couple times,

and here I was in France.

And I remember the
anticipation that I had,

not knowing what
was ahead of me.

And, uh, I remember
my first lesson

with Mademoiselle Boulanger.

I didn't know what to expect.

I heard her a lot about her.

I was very nervous
about it, you know,

being away from home,

from everyone I knew in...
in this foreign world.

[gentle piano music]

"Dear family,

Saturday I had my
first private lesson

with Mademoiselle Boulanger.

She's the most exciting
and thoroughly alive person

I've ever met."

[Charles] "She studied
my string quartet

and said I had a lot
of original ideas,

but of course, my
lack of training

was obvious also.

I can think of no better
teacher to begin with."

Look at these paintings.

It's like our family photos
on the wall of the Bronx.

Just a little bigger,
a little more ornate.

Each one of these is about
the size of our apartment

in the Bronx.

The first time I met her,
she got up to greet me,

and she gave me her
hand, extended her hand.

And, uh, we talked a little bit.

And then we sat at the piano.

And, uh, she has this
beautiful, warm smile...

this loving smile.

And there's a kind
of a depth perception

of what she felt that
somehow permeated from her.

And you knew you
were in the presence

of someone really important.

It wasn't just a lesson,
it wasn't just a person.

It was someone who carried
with them a lot of weight.

[upbeat instrumental music]

[Charles] "Dear family,

I've just returned home

after a lesson
with Mademoiselle.

I'd like to work for
a couple of hours

before dinner, so I
won't write much now.

Needless to say,
my new composition

has been taking most of my time.

I hurriedly finished
it and made revisions.

It will be performed
sometime next week.

I have scheduled the first
rehearsal for tomorrow,

and I'm looking forward to it,

as it will be the first
time that I will conduct."

♪

[Joseph] So here's where
we had the concerts.

It didn't look like
a tennis court.

Like, there was
a big stage here.

There was a Cavaillé-Coll organ.

- [Charles] Yes.
- [Joseph] And, uh,

there were all these
beautiful tapestries.

- Do you remember that?
- Yes. Yeah.

I remember the time

that I conducted
for the first time.

[woodwind music]

I was on the podium,
completely unsure of myself.

And Mademoiselle Boulanger

was in the very first
row on this side.

And right behind her was
Mademoiselle Dieudonné.

And I looked over to see if
they gave their approval,

and she smiled at me.

- [Joseph laughs]
- And that meant everything.

[audience applauding]

And then Mademoiselle said,

there's something she thought
that could improve the piece.

And I didn't think so.

So I never came up against
having a different opinion.

I was afraid to
express my opinion.

But then I said
to the orchestra,

"All right, well, let's do it

halfway between what I said
and what Mademoiselle said."

- Yeah.
- And then she...

she was next to me.

- She took my jacket like this.
- Uh-huh.

Like, to get my attention.

And she said, words
that I'll never forget.

She said, "But my dear,

compromises makes for
very good friendship,

but for very bad music.

Play it your way or play it
my way, but don't compromise."

- Ah, that's...
- And...

and I never... I live with that.

I never forgot that.

[gentle piano music]

Oh, my.

This is Napoleon III's...

private opera house.

[Charles] "Dear family...

there doesn't seem to be so
much to write about these days.

Not that I'm doing
less than before,

but I guess that
I'm just getting

pretty used to
things around here

and take them for granted.

My life is so different
from what it was at home.

It's almost unreal."

Beautiful.

I can picture Boulanger.

[sighs]

I can see her face, I
can see her smiling face.

[Charles] On that
same visit to France,

I was scheduled to do
a set at the jazz club.

["Like So" by Charles Fox plays]

Luckily, I'm working with some
of the best players in Paris.

Are we playing twice at 79?

[woman] Yes.

[Charles] I also
asked my good friend

Alexandre Desplat,

who's a two-time
Oscar-winning composer,

to join us in this set.

What is... going back to when
I was in my early twenties

and I... I used to play
flute and salsa music

and jazz and...

but because I become a composer,
I stopped playing and I stopped,

you know, practicing and
playing with friends.

So when Charlie
offered to do that,

I thought, "Wow, it's like

an old cowboy with
this gun, you know.

- [both laugh]
- The box.

It's okay, it's...
makes [speaking French].

So I've been practicing
for weeks to...

to bring my fingers together.

- Alexandre.
- [Alexandre] Ah, can't film it.

To me it was similar.

I started playing
the piano, and then

I got into writing
music and I...

but at three o'clock
in the morning

when I was busy writing,
I'd stop and go...

[vocalizing]

[Alexandre laughs]

You probably did the same thing.

Absolutely.

One, two, three.

["Nite Life" by
Charles Fox plays]

[Charles] For this set,

I knew that I wanted
to present a new song,

sung entirely in French.

Currently, I've
been collaborating

in a new musical
with Alain Boublil,

who wrote such wonderful shows

as Les Misérables
and Miss Saigon.

And since Alain and I were
doing a show together,

I asked him to write
a song with me.

I became aware of
Charlie Fox back in 1972.

We were both competing
against each other

in this competition,
in this song contest.

Uh, I had a song, you know,

a French song with
French artists there.

Charlie had just
a little new song,

which he wrote
with Norman Gimbel,

called "Killing Me Softly."

So when I heard that song,
not only did I know that

he was going to win the
festival, obviously,

I knew that the
song was going to...

to conquer the world.

As I never thought or dreamed

that I would be
working as a lyricist

with someone having written

the kind of hit song
that Charlie has written.

[Charles] Together we wrote
a passionate love song,

and to sing it, I was so
happy to work with Anne Sila.

Anne Sila is a
wonderful French singer.

She was a winner

of the French
version of The Voice,

but I had never
met her until now.

[Anne] Very nice to meet you.

Thank you so much
for inviting me.

Oh, you are wonderful.

Oh, I'm sorry that I
didn't answer earlier.

It's okay. You're
here. You're here.

- It's all that matters.
- And I'm very happy to be here.

- Thank you.
- [audience applauding]

Anne Sila.

["On N'aime Qu'une Fois Comme
Ca" by Charles Fox plays]

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ On n'aime qu'une
fois comme ça ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ On n'aime qu'une
fois comme ça ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ On n'aime qu'une
fois comme ça ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ On n'aime qu'une
fois comme ça ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ On n'aime qu'une
fois comme ça ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

♪ [lyrics in French] ♪

[vocalizing]

♪ On n'aime qu'une
fois comme ça ♪

♪ On n'aime qu'une
fois comme ça ♪

[audience cheering
and applauding]

["Salsa Suite" by
Charles Fox plays]

[Charles] After I completed

that wonderful summer
at Fontainebleau,

Mademoiselle asked
me to come to Paris

so I could continue
my studies with her.

Those months of intense
one-on-one lessons

completely changed my life.

In the years that followed,

my career kept me
mostly in Los Angeles,

but sometimes I would
come to record in London.

And when I was that close,

Joan and I would
come over to Paris.

Invariably, when I was here

I would pass by Nadia
Boulanger's house.

But this time was very
special, because the new tenant

kindly let us into
Mademoiselle's apartment.

I hadn't been there
in more than 50 years.

Bonjour Madame.

Comment ça va?

[speaking French]

- What is your name?
- Ann.

- Ann?
- Ann.

- I'm Charles.
- Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.
Thank you very much.

This is lovely of you
to allow us to do this

and, uh, revive these memories.

And, uh, um,

it's a very special
memory for me, for sure.

I've carried her with
me all these years.

[Charles] I was
in this apartment

at least three times a week

for private lessons
and composition class.

She had a... a grand
piano like this...

a grand piano where
you are, two of them.

And over there was
a full pipe organ

like you'd see in the church.

[intriguing piano music plays]

[Charles] Mademoiselle Boulanger

was always extremely
demanding with the music.

There were times when, uh,

if I did something that
she didn't like, she'd go,

"Mon dieu, qu'est-ce
que vous faites?"

And boom, she'd give me a
shot in the elbow like this.

A couple times knocked
me right off the seat,

and then she left,
then she left.

But she also let you
know how much she cared.

When Mademoiselle Boulanger
said she'd like me to come on

to Paris and study with her,

and I said, "I don't think
my parents could afford

to send me to Paris
and keep me in Paris."

She said, "Well, do you
think they could even afford

$100 a month?"

Which was not a lot of
money even then, in 1959.

So I said, um...

"Can I live on $100 a month?"

So she said, "Let's
do a budget."

So we made a budget,
this much for... for room

and for food and music paper.

And... and, uh, I said,
"But Mademoiselle,

uh, you didn't leave any
money for your lessons."

She goes... [scoffs] "I
don't care about that.

I just... I'm...
I'm more concerned

you have enough to eat."

So, in fact, I never paid her

for a lesson all
the time I was here.

She wouldn't have it.

But she said, "If
you can ever do it,

you can do the same thing
for someone else one day."

She used to use the
word "the truth."

She'd say, "If you
write something,

it could be with anything.

It doesn't have to
be with composition.

It could be within an
arrangement or a song.

But putting the notes
together in such a way

that they cannot
really be changed,

it becomes the truth."

[low flute note]

[hollow percussion sound]

It's kind of an aesthetic value

that has influenced
me my whole life.

[energetic salsa music]

♪

♪

[audience cheering
and applauding]

["It's De-Lovely" by
Cole Porter plays]

♪ The night is young,
the skies are clear ♪

♪ And if you wanna
go walking, dear ♪

♪ It's delightful ♪

♪ It's delicious ♪

♪ It's de-lovely ♪

♪ I understand the reason
why you're sentimental ♪

♪ 'Cause so am I ♪

♪ It's delicious ♪

♪ It's de-lassic ♪

♪ It's de-lovely ♪

I remember the first
time I saw you.

I came home really
for the summer.

- Mm-hmm.
- I kept my apartment in Paris.

I was gonna go back to
Paris after the summer.

And that first time I saw you,

- I was...
- Laurels Hotel and Country Club.

- Laurels Hotel.
- Yes.

- You were a counselor.
- Mm-hmm.

Yes, I was working

- at the hotel.
- Yeah.

And you were, uh, I...
I can still remember

you had a beautiful blue dress.

Uh, and I took one look
at you and I said...

- "I'm in love."
- Yeah.

What was... what
did you remember?

[sighs] Um, we just tried
to stay away from the band.

- You did?
- Yeah.

- Why the band?
- The band had a bad reputation.

We were cool.

Who wanted to be with musicians?

We had red jackets. What
are you talking about?

We wanted the promise
of a good life.

- Musicians. [laughing]
- [laughing]

All right, well,

- so you gave in on that one.
- Yeah.

[Latin music playing]

[Charles] So when did
you fall in love with me?

- Hmm. Not then. [laughing]
- [laughing]

- Why not?
- I don't know.

[Charles] Do you remember
how we got engaged?

I do. I do.

No ring. There was no ring.

- It was before the ring.
- Before the ring.

I wanted to bring you

- back to Paris.
- Yeah.

I wanted you to meet my teacher.

Yes, and I said my mother
wouldn't allow that.

- Right.
- 'Cause we weren't married.

- Right.
- Right.

So that was kind of an
entree for me to say,

"So if we were married,

then your mother
would let you go?"

Yes, she would let me go then.

So I... [laughs]

I probably said...

- "So, will you marry me?"
- Right.

- And I probably said, yes.
- And here we are.

[both laugh]

[soft music playing]

- And we had no money saved.
- [Joan] We had no money saved.

Never had any money
during the summer.

- But that did not stop us.
- Why would it stop us?

Why would we not go to Europe?

Just 'cause we had no money
didn't really matter, right?

Right, so you know
how we got the money?

- I do.
- How?

- [laughs]
- From our wedding money.

- Right.
- Our wedding present.

We got the envelope,
we took the money out.

And we said, we'll go to
Europe as long as it lasts.

[thrilling music playing]

[Joan] Quite a way to travel.

Only when you're 19,
you could do that.

When we came back
from our honeymoon,

- we had no money.
- We had no money.

- We spent it.
- Right. [laughs]

- We had no furniture.
- We had no furniture.

- You weren't happy.
- No.

That's when I was
really annoyed at you.

[Charles] You were
annoyed at me.

We spent all that
money on this trip,

and now we have no bedroom set.

- We had nothing.
- Nothing. A mattress.

And all your friends who got
married had bedroom sets.

They did 'cause they
didn't go to Europe

- and waste their money. [laughs]
- Yeah.

So look, here it is,

- 60 years later.
- Yeah.

- It's almost 60 years.
- Oh, my God.

We're still remembering
those months, right?

That's true. That's true.

You think those people
remember the bedroom set?

Uh... [laughs]

no, they're all
divorced. [laughs]

♪

[Charles] So I
really had no job.

And we were gonna
have a baby then.

- That's right.
- Right.

- Why wait? [laughs]
- Why wait? [laughs]

- So we had...
- Nothing.

An apartment with no furniture

- and a baby.
- Yeah.

We had a crib for
the baby though.

- It was nice.
- We had a crib, yeah.

And I earned really
very little money.

- Very little.
- And then I started to get work.

[heroic music plays]

[Charles] I got my
first opportunity

to do a television theme.

ABC had a new sports theme show
called Wide World of Sports.

[commentator] The
thrill of victory...

and the agony of defeat.

[Charles] That led
to two years later

doing the theme for
Monday Night Football.

♪

And I started doing
all those game shows.

[announcer] The Match Game.

[announcer 2] What's My Line?

[audience applauding]

[To Tell The Truth
theme song plays]

♪ It's a lie, lie,
you're telling a lie ♪

♪ I never know why... ♪

[Charles] So I did that.

But I always dreamed
about composing for film.

I did The Incident in 1967.

Charlie, you are the
guy who sits with me

and watches the film
silent with just dialogue

and have to add the most
important part of the picture,

the music that you put in
it to surround the film.

That was my first
picture, Larry.

You were a kid
with a lot of hair.

All I remember was
this huge head of hair.

[laughs] And you ended up
making this great score

that really helped
make that film for me.

[Charles] That was the
beginning of my whole career.

How did you go between
your film-scoring career

and your songwriting career?

- How did that happen?
- You know,

curiously enough, I
never had any ambition

about being a songwriter.

- Really?
- Never. I had a friend,

uh, Ed Newmark, who was
a producer, he was head

- of a record company.
- [Tom] True.

And he said to me, "You know,

if you learn to
do rock and roll,

you can get work, you
know, doing arranging."

I was embarrassed
to be listening

- to rock and roll.
- [laughs]

I... I just was. It
wasn't my background.

I liked opera. I
liked classical music.

You know, Stravinsky.

Um, and I loved Latin
music and I loved jazz.

I loved everything
but rock and roll.

So, I'd start listening
to rock and roll

on my car radio, and
with the windows down.

And then if someone drove
next to me at a light,

and I would... I'd
roll up my window

- so they shouldn't hear me.
- [laughs]

[Tom] God forbid.

You shouldn't be listening
to rock and roll.

And eventually, I
got to do a job.

And one job led to another.

And I... I... I
like rock and roll.

♪ Billy, Billy, baby ♪

[Tom] So you wrote arrangements
for rock and roll artists?

[Charles] Arrangements.
All arrangements.

I did a lot of that stuff.

♪ Ninety-nine... ♪

[John] Well, you conformed
in a professional way.

♪ Juanita Banana ♪

But I didn't think of
myself as a songwriter

till I worked with Bob Crewe,

one of the big record industry
producers of the '60s.

There was a picture
called Barbarella,

and they asked Bob if he
would replace the music.

Bob was not a... was not
a composer, film score.

- He was a songwriter.
- No. Songwriter, yeah.

So when he got the
job to do Barbarella,

he said, "We need about
five or six songs.

We'll write the songs together."

I became a songwriter.

♪ Barbarella, psychedela ♪

♪ There's a kind of
cockleshell about you ♪

The... Barbarella
starts with Jane Fonda

going to take a... a... a
long intergalactic voyage.

And for that, she had to
take off all her clothes

and go to sleep.

And I had to go to France

to teach her how to
hum along with this.

So while she was taking off
her clothes, she'd be going...

[Tom] She'd be humming the tune.

♪ La, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la ♪

♪ Barbarella, psychedela ♪

- [laughs]
- So we did that movie.

It was very successful
movie, Barbarella.

Larry Peerce's next picture

was, uh, Goodbye Columbus.

- Oh, yeah.
- [Tom] Oh, sure.

It was the picture that would
take me out to Hollywood.

And that changed my life.

You wanted me to do,
uh, Goodbye Columbus,

- the next picture.
- I did indeed.

But the folks at Paramount
didn't know who I was.

I wasn't getting the job

- very quickly.
- No.

And Stanley Jaffe, he was
the producer of the film.

I know you wanted me, I
knew Stanley wanted me,

but I didn't know
if it would happen.

One day, I..., um,
as... from my office

on the 52nd Street, I put a dime

- in the telephone booth.
- [Larry] Of course.

[Charles] Every...
every telephone booth

- was an office, you know.
- [Larry laughs]

Then I called Joan
and she said, uh,

"Stanley Jaffe called
you, call him quick."

So I put another
dime in and, uh, I...

I can still hear Stanley say

these words to me
many years later.

He says, "How would you
like to come to Hollywood

and score Goodbye Columbus?"

[calm jazz music plays]

Well, that was the
beginning of it.

And that was the
absolute dream for me.

So the very first day,

we sit down to
discuss the orchestra,

what kind of an
orchestra did we need

for Goodbye Columbus?

And there were three
of us in the room.

There was a wonderful man
who was the contractor,

uh, Phil Kagen.

And there was a man
named John Hamell.

So we sit down to
talk and Phil says,

"Who do you like?" I said,
"I don't know anyone."

He says, "Who do
you wanna drum?"

I said, "I don't know anyone."

He said, "How about
Shelly Manne on drums?"

I said, "Shelly Manne
will play for me?

- He said, "Of course."
- [John laughs]

"Of course. And...
and who do you bass?"

I said, "I... I need to..."
"How about Ray Brown?"

I said, "Ray Brown's
gonna play for me?"

"Yes. And Conte Condoli,
and, uh, Pete Jolly

- and Bud Shank and..."
- Yes.

Anyway, so I end up with
a spectacular orchestra.

And then he said, "How
about, uh, strings?

How many strings do you need?"

So I said, "Not that many, uh,

maybe, um, maybe six violins
or something like that.

And two violas and two celli."

A... a budget string
section by those standard.

A budget string. And
I was used to that.

At one point, John Hamell,

who was head of the
music department,

then goes over to the window

and he's looking out on...
on the Paramount lot.

And Phil looks into...
leans into me and he says,

"You got a little
stinky orchestra here."

- [laughs]
- I said, "What?"

He says, "Six violins?

You're gonna be embarrassed
here in Hollywood.

Buddy, it's your first picture.

They're gonna laugh
you outta Hollywood."

- [laughs]
- I said, "Really?"

He says, "Take 20 violins.

- Take ten cellos."
- Amen, brother.

So I... I... I gave
it a quick thought.

John came back, sat
down, and I said,

"Uh, I'm rethinking
of the strings a bit."

You know, I'm trying
to sound cool.

He said, "Yeah."

I said, "So instead
of six violins,

can I have like 20?"

He says, "No problem."

- [John] Whoa.
- Didn't even blink.

And I said, "How
about, uh, ten violas?"

- "No problem." And ten cellos.
- Oh, my God!

So I... I can't believe it.
I got this 70-piece song.

I don't even know what
to do with 70 pieces.

[laughs]

Well, I knew what to do
with it very quickly,

'cause the next morning, at
nine o'clock in the morning,

I get a call from Stanley
Jaffe, the producer, who says,

"Have you gone crazy
here in Hollywood?

You told me 30 musician.
You're up to..."

with some four-letter
expletives and so it's...

"Do you really need 20 violins?"

I said, "No, six will be fine."

- [laughs]
- You caved immediately.

That was on my first
day in Hollywood.

[laughing]

[calm music playing]

The Other Side of the Mountain.
It was a wonderful movie.

The movie was about
Jill Kinmont...

[Larry] Yeah. Yeah.

She was 15 years
old when she had...

[Larry] She was 15
or 16. A young kid.

[Charles] She was
the Olympic hopeful.

- Paralyzed from the neck down.
- A fall that she took.

[melancholic music plays]

[Larry] You talk about strong,

this woman paralyzed
from the neck down

and made a life.

[Charles] Jill Kinmont came

- to some of the sessions.
- [Larry] Yes.

[Charles] She was sitting in
a wheelchair right behind me.

And there was that one scene

that she was learning
to pick up a chip...

- [Larry] Yes.
- And put in her mouth.

Using all the strength
she could possibly muster.

And Jill was crying.

And her mother told me
that she had never seen

- Jill cry before.
- Oh, never.

That music somehow must
have brought it out of her.

♪

So my very first
year I was here,

they have a pilot
for a new series

called Love, American Style.

♪ Love, love ♪

♪ Love, love ♪

♪ Love, American Style ♪

♪ Truer than the Red, White
and Blue, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ Love, American Style ♪

♪ That's me and you ♪

- Do you remember that show?
- Oh, sure.

- I don't know.
- Arlene Golonka. [laughs]

♪ Love, American Style ♪

It's the greatest
celebrity name ever.

I remember the titles,
though. Remember?

It had the Love, American
Style with the heart and the...

♪ That's me and you ♪

[Charles] So in that
same first year,

Universal asked me to do
a movie called Pufnstuf.

They had a successful
television series.

- Sid and Marty Krofft made it.
- [light guitar music plays]

And they asked me
to do the music

and write all the songs.

I needed a lyricist
to work with.

Norman Gimbel wrote some
of the great standards

like "The Girl from Ipanema"
and "I Will Wait for You."

We started to work together

and we wrote six or
seven songs for the film.

And we had a really
good collaboration.

♪ We're alive and well ♪

♪ And living here
on Living Island ♪

♪ Living every happy day ♪

[Charles] Who could have
imagined that our collaboration

would last for over 30 years?

And it all started with the
adventures of Witchiepoo,

a foam rubber dragon,
and a talking flute.

♪ We hope someday ♪

♪ The whole world
will live this way ♪

- What a pleasure to see you.
- Wonderful to see you.

- How are ya?
- Welcome to my home.

[Charles] These days, Henry
Winkler may be best known

for his wonderful role in Barry.

My career is shit, Barry.

[Charles] But when Happy
Days was on the air,

he was the Fonz.

Geez Louise, your
prize is coming.

- Me.
- [audience cheering]

So the first year they used
"Rock Around the Clock"

- as the main title.
- Right.

- Bill Haley & The Comets.
- [Charles] Yeah.

I think it just got
to be too much money

to pay for that song.

So they had the
really good sense

- and taste...
- Mm-hmm.

- To call you.
- [laughs]

So now what happens?

You... you're working
with, uh, your partner.

- Norman Gimbel.
- Okay.

So what's the first
thing that you do?

You start talking
about the show.

We talked about the
song, what it should do.

And because...

What do you mean what...
what it should do?

What does that mean,
what it should do?

What it should do

- is introduce the characters.
- [Henry] Okay.

Should introduce the time.
Should introduce the flavor...

- [Henry] The flavor of the show.
- [Charles] ...of the show.

And in this case,
it's a period piece.

[Henry] Right.

[Charles] So it should
feel like it's the '50s.

So Norman said, "Well, they
like 'Rock Around The Clock.'"

Uh, "One o'clock, two
o'clock, three o'clock rock,

four o'clock, five
o'clock," et cetera.

So Norman said, "Why
don't we just...

"Sunday, Monday,
Happy Days. Tue..."

- It was kind of an offshoot.
- Got it.

He's... he's... he
is like a role model.

And out of that came a song

that everybody knows.

[Charles] There's a group
called The Barenaked Ladies.

They do that song in their act.

For ages, we've been introducing

the Big Bang Theory
song that I wrote,

and I say, "Well, we wrote a
song for a television show."

And then we end up
playing one of your songs

just as a gag saying, "Oh, okay,

- we didn't write that one."
- [Charles chuckles]

But we've been dropping
your songs into our set

for a decade.

You yourself, you
know, have experience

doing television themes.

You just have to capture
the moment, you know?

The theme is almost a character,

I feel like in
the... in the show.

Like it's the first
foot through the door...

- [Charles] Yeah.
- You know?

And it just al... already,
you feel comfortable

as soon as you hear it.

Songs like this have a
time machine quality.

Like, they immediately
bring back,

uh, childhood
memories, you know,

of hanging in the living
room with family or friends.

Well, the word schlemiel

and schlimazel, you
know, they just...

- Hasenpfeffer Incorporated.
- Incorporated.

They just... That'll
get you every time.

[Charles] Yeah. Yeah.

You try to get that
into every song

because every song starts
with "schlemiel, schlimazel."

There's a magic to it, you know?

Unfortunately most of
the time, like Love Boat,

they wouldn't go
for it, you know?

Oh, darn.

- The secret ingredients.
- A Wide World of Sports also.

Schlemiel, schlimazel sports.

Did you do the Wide
World of Sports' theme?

- Yeah. I did, yeah.
- Oh, my God, man.

"The thrill of victory
and the agony of defeat."

I think most people
grew up on your songs,

but we became musicians
on your songs.

You know, we... we
learned how to write,

we learned how to be efficient,

succinct, communicate well.

Those songs, uh, had
an enormous impression

on the way we would
end up writing.

I just love that.

I have to tell you, I
never had the compliment

that you gave me
tonight, right now,

that it... it informed you
for writing songs and, uh...

That really is
very special thing.

Thank you for that, I...
I really, uh, that...

- that means an awful lot to me.
- It's from the heart.

They are the songs that we sing.

We had the pleasure of
writing a theme song...

- [audience cheering]
- for a very popular...

comedic television program.

[man in audience]
Never saw it!

And we'd like to do
it for you right now,

if that's okay.

♪ Sunday, Monday, happy days ♪

♪ Tuesday, Wednesday,
happy days ♪

♪ Thursday, Friday,
happy days ♪

♪ The weekend comes,
my cycle hums ♪

♪ Ready to race to you ♪

♪ These days are all ♪

♪ Share them with me ♪

♪ These days are
all happy and free ♪

♪ Goodbye grey
sky, hello blue ♪

♪ Nothing can hold
me when I hold you ♪

♪ Feels so right,
it can't be wrong ♪

♪ Rockin' and rollin'
all week long ♪

[Charles] 5,000 people
singing the song

that I wrote 50 years ago.

♪ Sunday, Monday, happy days ♪

[Charles] And having
a joyous time.

♪ Tuesday, Wednesday,
happy days ♪♪

♪ Thursday, Friday,
happy days ♪

♪ Saturday, what a day ♪

♪ Groovin' all week with you ♪

♪ These days are all ♪

♪ Share them with me ♪

♪ These days are
all happy and free ♪

♪ These happy days
are yours and mine ♪

♪ These happy days
are yours and mine ♪

♪ Happy days ♪

"Happy Days" will be right back.

- [audience applauding]
- All right. All right.

We didn't write that.

But Charlie Fox,
who wrote that song,

- is here tonight.
- [audience cheering]

Wrote that, The Love Boat theme,

"Killing Me Softly."

The guy is a genius.

- Wonder Woman.
- Wonder Woman theme song.

[speech continues faintly]

So they hand you

- Laverne & Shirley.
- Yeah.

And they go, "Give
us a theme song."

Did the... the lyric exist?

Did it... did anybody
talk about it?

Not at all.

The, uh, the two girls
in the, um, yeah,

uh, did a... a brief...
a brief part of,

uh, Happy Days one day.

- [Rita] Yes.
- [Jason] Right.

Laverne. This is
Laverne DeFazio.

- She's mine.
- [audience laughs]

And this is Shirley Feeney.
She's yours, as you can see.

Apparently, ABC and Paramount
got a lot of letters,

"Who were those two girls?"

And they decided
to do a quick...

Like a little
presentation or something?

A little presentation.
Exactly right.

And that was Garry Marshall,
you know, I mean...

So Shirl, what do you
think of this kid?

- You've been with worse.
- Oh, he's nice.

- And a tie too.
- And a hanky.

Is that for showing
or for blowing?

[laughing]

All we knew about the two girls,

was that they worked in a
factory of blue collar...

collar workers, and
they had dreams.

There was no pilot,
there was no script.

They just two girls.
And they're dreaming.

So we wrote a song about hoping

and wishing our
dreams come true.

One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.

Schlemiel! Schlimazel!
Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

♪ Give us any chance
we'll take it ♪

♪ Read us any rule
we'll break it ♪

♪ We're gonna make
our dreams come true ♪

♪ Doing it our way ♪

♪ Nothing's gonna
turn us back now ♪

[Charles] I had no idea
the impact that song

and that title
sequence would have.

♪ We're gonna make
our dreams come true ♪

♪ Doing it our way ♪

♪ There is nothing
we won't try ♪♪

♪ Never heard the
word impossible ♪

♪ This time there's
no stopping us ♪

♪ We're gonna do it ♪

♪ On your mark, get
set, and go now ♪

♪ Got a dream and
we just know now ♪

Hey, wait a minute.
What are we doing?

♪ And we'll do it our
way, yes our way ♪

♪ Make all our
dreams come true ♪

♪ For me and you ♪

Schlemiel! Schlimazel!
Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

I love it! Drew! Got
it. We got most of that.

When my wife and I got
married 28 years ago,

and we had the lovely
woman doing the service

read a small poem

written by the great
poet, Mr. Charles Fox.

She said to the guests,

"Love, life's sweetest reward,

it's a friendly smile
on an open shore.

Love, exciting, and new.

Come aboard, we're
expecting you."

- [laughs]
- Okay.

I... I love it, but I have
to correct you of one thing.

- The poet was Paul Williams.
- Oh, of course.

[piano version of "Theme
from Love Boat" playing]

Maybe you can speak this.

♪ Love ♪

♪ Exciting and new ♪

♪ Come aboard ♪

We should do...
redo this series.

♪ We're expecting you ♪

♪ The Love Boat, the love ♪

Excuse me.

♪ Today we'll be
making another run ♪

[Jason] I'll follow you.

♪ The Love Boat ♪

♪ Promises something
for everyone ♪

♪ Set your course
for adventure ♪

♪ Your heart on a new romance ♪

♪ And love ♪

♪ Won't hurt anymore ♪

♪ It's an open smile ♪

♪ On a friendly shore ♪

♪ Welcome aboard, it's love ♪

Oh, my God. Listen to that.

[Charles] Look at that,
we can still do that.

I couldn't get up to that note

if my children's
eyesight depended on it.

But what was interesting is that

neither of us were
great prognosticators

about the future
of The Love Boat.

How long would it last?

I know it's like, "How
long was it gonna last?"

Turned out to be 11
years, first time.

When we did that show,
there were only two boats.

Princess Lines. Now
there's about 1,000.

I don't know. It actually...

That show created the
whole cruise industry.

They'd be begging in the
streets with a tin can

- if it wasn't for us.
- [Charles laughs]

- [laughing]
- Okay, then there's this one.

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

Oh, yeah! =♪ Wonder Woman ♪

- I didn't know that was you.
- ♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ All the world is
waiting for you ♪

[laughs]

♪ And the mirrors I possess ♪

♪ In... ♪

I love this.

♪ In your satin tights ♪♪

♪ Fighting for your rights ♪

♪ And the old Red,
White and Blue ♪

[upbeat orchestral riff]

[Latin music playing]

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish],
Wonder Woman ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish],
Wonder Woman ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

[speaking Spanish]

[audience cheering]

[Charles] Diane Warren
has written huge hits

for some of the
greatest singers.

She's written many
Oscar-nominated songs,

and she's my good friend.

How did you become a songwriter?

I became one when I, you
know, looked on a record

and saw the parentheses and
my older sister's singles,

45s, back in the day.

- And I imagined myself there.
- [Charles] Mm-hmm.

[Diane] I started
making up songs.

- [Charles] Oh, really?
- [Diane] Yeah. Yeah.

But when I was 14,
I became obsessed.

I just... I studied.
That was school to me.

Billboard, the radio,
that was school.

I had no plan B, I... I was...
This is what I was gonna do.

- And I never looked back.
- I had no plan B.

- I had no problem.
- You can't have a plan B.

Well, you've written a
lot of scores and songs.

I just... I only write
songs, um, but, um, I, um...

Just wait a second.
It's not only songs.

Songs are the... So important
to every person's life.

- You know, we know that.
- Yeah, songs are...

- Well, they... they move us.
- They do.

And we... we take
songs with us.

Three and a half minutes
just can change your life.

♪ You remind me... ♪

[Charles] Norman and
I wrote the theme song

for a movie called Foul Play.

"Ready To Take a
Chance Again" became

a huge hit all around the world.

I think because the emotions
in that song are universal.

I'm sure you have
that experience,

a lot of people tell you how
meaningful a song was to you

- in your life.
- Yeah. I get that a lot.

How they... It carried them
through bad times, hard times,

- good times, you know.
- 'Cause songs go right

to your heart. They
don't go to your mind.

- They just, they touch you.
- They do. Yeah.

♪ And I'm ready to
take a chance again ♪

And writing songs
for movies, you know,

we've both done that
a lot. And I love to

read a script, or
ideally to see a movie,

and then, like,
what do I wanna see

at the end of that movie?

Or what's gonna be
the heart of that?

Like, it's all the emotion
and the heart for me.

With songs for pictures,

sometimes you
wanna write against

what the actual
action is going on.

Right.

You wanna tell something deeper.

- The subtext. Yeah.
- You wanna see the subtext.

♪ Lost, lost as a
child's first thought ♪

I'll never forget, you
called me and you said,

"What do you think
of this lyric?"

And you... and you read to me,

"Lost, lost as a
child's first thought."

♪ I must have arms to hold me ♪

♪ Lost without loving care ♪

♪ I must have my fair share ♪

Lost as a child's first thought.

What a fantastic idea that is.

It was in your music, Charlie.

Basically, I think
I'm a translator.

I hear words in music.

♪ Justice, if
you're still there ♪

And the words in your
music are exquisite.

♪ I will have my fair share ♪

♪ Justice is a lady ♪

♪ Lay me down with justice
in a long white gown ♪

♪ With a breath of
love, we can share ♪

♪ Share, sleep with
me if you dare ♪

♪ Celebrate my fair share ♪

And Seals & Crofts, it made
a really pretty record.

- [Charles] Beautiful.
- [Paul] Yeah.

I love Charlie so much.

I'm willing to...
I'll let you see this.

But this is, you know,

52, which is I think just
is the inches of my height.

[Charlie] They had us,
um, basketball uniforms

of the team that
Robby Benson was on.

How... who's this
guy with an afro?

- [Paul laughs]
- You recognize him?

This just screams
machismo, doesn't it?

[laughs] It just... I
mean this just says,

"Don't screw with
this little cougar

because he will just have
at you in a heartbeat."

[intriguing music]

[Charles] A.J. Croce is the
son of the late Jim Croce

who had a huge hit with a song

that Norman Gimbel
and I wrote called

"I Got a Name."

A.J.'s an incredibly
gifted musician,

with a style that's all his own.

Your father's one of
the great storytellers.

- I... I agree.
- Literally, I mean,

The characters he invented,
the Roller Derby Queen.

- Mm-hmm. Rapid Roy.
- And Rapid Roy.

- Bad Leroy Brown, I mean.
- Yeah, yeah.

He made heroes out of...

- out of everyday people.
- Yes, he did.

And I find it hard to believe
that all of it was written

- in 18 months.
- Wow.

- Yeah.
- Pretty amazing.

I was told "I Got a
Name" was for the film.

It was.

["I Got a Name" by Jim Croce]

♪ Like the pine trees
lining the winding road ♪

♪♪ I got a name,
I got a name ♪

It's interesting how
many people have told me

how they relate to
from their fathers.

Mm-hmm.

Um, that's what your
father said to me.

Yeah, and I think it was always,

you know, a heavy song for me

- in the same way.
- Yeah.

Because, you know,
my... my father

never really saw his success.

♪ And I carry it with
me like my daddy did ♪

[Charles] Your dad
singing my song

was one of my great moments.

♪ ...that he kept hid ♪

[Charles] He died the day
the record was released.

♪ Movin' me down the highway ♪

[A.J.] I never
performed his music.

I've been asked my whole
life to play his music

and never wanted to,

I didn't think there was
any integrity in doing it.

But probably 20 some years
ago, I was in my early thirties

and I was transferring
these old tapes,

and I listened to this
one tape of covers.

And I had been
playing these songs

- since I was 12 years old.
- Of course.

When I realized the connection
that we had to music,

and how important that
is, and how the...

important the connection is
that we have with our... the...

our family and the
people we love...

- [Charles] Yeah.
- It... it resonated.

What a great story. Great
story, how you came to it.

It... it didn't just
hit you over the head.

You... you grew into it from...

- from your own roots.
- [A.J.] Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

Which is probably the best
way to do it, you know?

It comes... it comes organically
from your own past music

that you grew up listening to.

Some of my other songs have

- lots of covers on.
- [A.J.] Mm-hmm.

[Charles] We've had
some covers of this.

[A.J.] Yeah.

But really, they go back to
Jim Croce singing this song.

He's a definitive
voice, and now you.

[gentle music]

♪ Like the pine trees
lining the winding road ♪

♪ I've got a name,
I've got a name ♪

♪ Like the singin' bird
and the croakin' toad ♪

♪ I've got a name,
I've got a name ♪

♪ And I carry it with
me like my daddy did ♪

♪ But I'm living the
dream that he kept hid ♪

♪ Movin' me down the highway ♪

♪ Rollin' me down the highway ♪

♪ Movin' ahead so life
won't pass me by ♪

♪ Like the north wind
whistlin' down the sky ♪

♪ I've got a song,
I've got a song ♪

♪ Like the whirlpool
whirl and the baby's cry ♪

♪ I've got a song ♪

♪ I've got a song ♪

♪ And I carry it with
me and I sing it loud ♪

♪ If it gets me nowhere ♪

♪ I'll go there proud ♪

♪ Movin' me down the highway ♪

♪ Rollin' me down the highway ♪

♪ Movin' ahead so life
won't pass me by ♪

♪

♪ And I'm gonna go there free ♪

♪ Like the fool I am
and I'll always be ♪

♪ I've got a dream ♪

♪ I've got a dream ♪

♪ They can change their minds,
but they can't change me ♪

♪ I've got a dream ♪

♪ I've got a dream ♪

♪ And you know I could
share it if you want me to ♪

♪ If you're goin' my way ♪

♪ I'll go with you ♪

♪ Movin' me down the highway ♪

♪ Rollin' me down the highway ♪

♪ Movin' ahead so life
won't pass me by ♪

Once again.

♪♪ Movin' me down the highway ♪

♪ Rollin' me down the highway ♪

♪ Movin' ahead ♪

♪ So life won't pass me by ♪

♪

[laughing]

[upbeat music playing]

- Right, good. Ready?
- Can I do my thumb?

One, two...

["Blue Pachanga" playing]

Mr. Charlie Fox, he's a legend.

And also for me,

what's important and very nice

is to be able to play

the music he wrote, with him.

♪

For me, it is a big honor to
play with Charlie Fox musics.

You can be Cuban,
you can be French,

you can be Chinese, Japanese,

and you would love this music.

So natural, so
spontaneous, so human.

And whoo!

He can play.

And also, yeah, for sure.

I... "Killing Me Softly."

I wanna talk to...
to my wife that

I'm gonna play Charlie
Fox music, she said,

"Charlie Fox music?"

"Yeah, the guy who wrote
'Killing Me Softly.'"

She was like, "Wow, really?"

Do you know my song
"Killing Me Softly?"

Yes, of course.

- Would you sing that in French?
- Oh, of course. Oh...

No one... no one
sings it in French.

You'll be... you'll
be the only one.

I've never heard "Killing
Me Softly" in French,

so I'm... I'm very,
uh, happy and excited

to be able to sing
it, uh, tomorrow.

You know what?

I used to sing it in
Turkish every time.

In Turkish?

Because my father is Turkish
and I used to sing...

[singing in Turkish]

♪ Singing my life
with his words ♪

♪ Killing me softly
with his song ♪

♪ Killing me softly
with his song ♪

- What year did that come out?
- '73.

So I was 13 when
that song came out.

It's not a song that
would normally speak

to a 13-year-old kid,

but within six months
of that song coming out,

- I knew it inside out.
- Oh, totally.

Every kid I knew, like if
we got together for the,

you know, the school chorus,
the girls would start in with...

♪ Killing me softly... ♪

And the guys would... be
start making up harmonies.

How did that come about?

Was it a... just a
typical writing session?

Did you write it in
the back of a cab?

As it happened, uh,
Norman Gimbel and I

were working the new album.

We had recorded nine songs,
they were in the can.

And we needed a tenth song.

So we're sitting on
the piano like this,

and, uh, Norman had a book of...

of lyrical ideas and titles,

- thoughts that he had for...
- Yep.

And he's looking
through the book

and he said, "Well, here's
something interesting.

What do you think about

"Killing Me Softly
With His Blues?"

- With his blues.
- His blues.

So he thought, well,
blues, even in 1972,

sounded kind of, like,
an old-fashioned word.

So, he thought of it
for a while and he said,

"How about with his song?

Killing Me Softly
With His Song."

There was... Seemed to be
no song that talked about

how one feels and
listening to someone else

sing a song that moves him.

So he went home,

he called me a couple
of hours later,

and with the
telephone like this,

I wrote the lyrics down.

He just gave you the
lyric and... and then

that inspired you enough
to sort of get that melody.

It just kind of wrote
itself, you know.

- I mean the...
- [playing piano]

♪ Killing me softly
with his song ♪

♪ Killing me softly
with his song ♪

And then I think I told again.

♪ My whole life ♪

So he came up with that...

♪ ...whole life with his words ♪

♪ Killing me softly
with his song ♪

Yeah.

We got that record released,

and one of the nice things
that Capitol did for us

was to get it programmed
on American Airlines.

Like, when you would go
and you'd put those, like,

things that look like
stethoscopes in your ears,

and then you would
listen... Yeah.

So, how did Roberta
get it, then?

So, Roberta was on
American Airlines,

and she fell in love with
the song on the plane.

When she got to New York,

she called Quincy
Jones and she said,

"How do I meet Charles Fox?"

I was at Paramount Pictures
in the music library,

and someone hands me
a telephone, says,

"Hey, this is for you."

And she said, "We haven't
met, I'm Roberta Flack,

but I'm gonna sing your songs."

♪ I heard he sang a good song ♪

♪ I heard he had a style ♪

♪ And so I came to see him ♪

♪ To listen for a while ♪

[Charles] Several months later,

I got a call from someone

at Columbia Pictures
Publications in Florida,

and they asked me
if the print rights

are available for
"Killing Me Softly."

So I said, "Yeah, they're
available, why do you ask?"

He says, "Well, come on
man, it's a big hit."

I said, "It's a hit?"

He said, "Don't you
know?" I didn't know.

So I ran down to the
local newspaper stand,

and I bought Cashbox

and Record World and
all those things.

- [Rita] Oh, my God.
- And there it was all over.

It was like 40 with a
bullet, with charts with...

[Rita] Oh my goodness.

[Charles] And the one
thing I always remember,

one paper said,
"Killing Me Softly

is gonna be bigger than
swimming pools in California."

[all laughing]

Roberta was out
here for the Grammys

a couple years ago.

They honored her with a
lifetime achievement award.

- [Rita] Yes.
- And so we got together.

Hey, my dear.
Wonderful to see you.

- Good to see you.
- Oh, you look beautiful.

- Thank you.
- You look beautiful.

[Charles] And I said to her,
"How lucky for me, Roberta,

that you found the song."

And she's a very spiritual
person, you know,

she's a beautiful person.

And she said, "No." She
said, "The song found me."

[Rita] Oh!

["Killing Me Softly With
His Song" playing in French]

[musicians speaking faintly]

♪ Elle chantait ma
vie en musique ♪

♪ Elle disait mes
mots en chanson ♪

♪ Je revoyais l'Amérique ♪

♪ Elle touchait mon
coeur, tendrement, ♪

♪ Parlait doucement ♪

♪ M'emportait
loin du présent ♪

♪ Du présent ♪

♪ On m'avait dit
qu'elle chantait ♪

♪ Dans un quartier perdu ♪

♪ Alors ce soir
pour l'écouter ♪

♪ Je suis venu ♪

♪ Et les mots de sa chanson ♪

♪ Semblaient être
écrits pour moi ♪

♪ Elle chantait ma
vie en musique ♪

♪ Elle disait mes
mots en chanson ♪

♪ Je revoyais l'Amérique ♪

♪ Elle touchait mon
coeur, tendrement ♪

♪ Parlait doucement ♪

♪ Elle m'emportait
ici, loin du présent ♪

♪ Du présent ♪

♪ Les notes de mes années ♪

♪ Défilaient sous mes mains ♪

♪ Et sans me connaître ♪

♪ Elle semblait me
connaître bien ♪

♪ Oh, oh ♪

♪ J'étais seul avec elle ♪

♪ Elle racontait mon passé ♪

♪ Elle chantait ma
vie en musique ♪

♪ Elle disait mes
mots en chanson ♪

♪ Je revoyais l'Amérique ♪

♪ Elle touchait mon
coeur, tendrement ♪

♪ Parlait doucement ♪

♪ M'emportait si
loin du présent ♪

♪ Du présent ♪

♪ J'aurai voulu deviner ♪

♪ Qu'elle a chanté pour moi ♪

♪ Mais il y avait tendre ♪

♪ tristesse dans sa voix ♪

♪ ♪ [lyrics in French] ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ [lyrics in French] ♪ ♪

♪ Elle chantait ma
vie en musique ♪

♪ Elle disait mes
mots en chanson ♪

♪ Et je revoyais l'Amérique ♪

♪ Elle touchait mon
coeur, tendrement ♪

♪ Parlait doucement ♪

♪ M'emportait si
loin du présent ♪

♪ Du présent ♪

♪ Elle chantait ma
vie en musique ♪

♪ Elle disait mes
mots en chanson ♪

♪ Et je revoyais l'Amérique ♪

♪ Elle touchait mon
coeur, tendrement ♪

♪ Parlait doucement ♪

♪ M'emportait si
loin du présent ♪

♪ Du présent ♪

♪

- Thank you so much.
- [audience applauding]

- Anne Sila.
- [Anne] Anne Sila.

[audience applauding
and cheering]

Merci beaucoup.

[Henry] Let me ask
you a question.

This is... You... you
said that when you were...

When you were growing
up, you were thinking,

"Oh, I... I'm classical music,

I'm going to compose
classical music."

Now you're creating songs
for television shows.

Did that ever... did
you ever resent that?

Or did you think, "Hey,
here I am, this is great."

I thought I was the
luckiest guy in the world.

- Yeah, really.
- The luckiest guy.

- It never got old for me. Yeah.
- No.

[Charles] Henry wasn't the
first person to ask me,

"Was I missing classical
music in my life?"

I always felt like the
luckiest man in the world

to be doing whatever
I was doing.

But yes, I did
wish that one day,

I'd have the opportunity to
get back to classical music.

Then in 1983, Michael Smuin,

the artistic director
and choreographer

for the San Francisco Ballet,

asked me to compose a new work

based on the story
of Richard Oakes,

the leader of the
Native Americans

who took over Alcatraz
Island in the 1960s.

[classical music playing]

"A Song for Dead Warriors"

was a turning point
in my life in music.

It took me a year or
maybe two years to write,

I don't know.

I can only tell you
that I said to my agent,

"Don't even call me about
any other opportunities.

This is all I wanna
do right now."

And then Michael asked me
to compose the music for

a ballet based on
The Legend of Zorro

for his new company,
the Smuin Ballet.

Zorro was a very
lighthearted work,

very romantic, and a lot of fun.

These ballets opened
up the door for me

to get back to concert music.

It was like I
needed a pivot point

to go back to something that
I was missing in my life.

[chorus singing]

I was asked if I
could write a piece

based on the words
of Pope John Paul II.

I jumped at the chance to do it.

[hopeful music playing]

I conducted the piece at
the Warsaw Opera House.

They had 140 singers,

including 40 children and
a full symphony orchestra.

[chorus singing]

It was a very moving
moment for me,

because I was also
standing not far

from where my father came from

when he left Poland
as a young man.

[chorus singing]

[audience applauding]

I've never wanted
to limit myself

to any one genre in music.

I love to respond to challenges

and to explore different
musical possibilities.

- [piano playing]
- [Charles humming]

♪ Listen to the children sing ♪

♪ Give the world a song ♪

[Charles] Common is one
of the legends of hip-hop.

We've been friends, but
I haven't had the chance

to collaborate with
him until today.

♪♪♪

♪ I can write a song
for the world to sing ♪

♪ [mumbling] the
world to dream ♪

♪ [mumbling] the law supreme ♪

We really created
something that felt like

was speaking to
a person in love,

like, you know, like
a partner in love.

But... but then it really
took on a universal...

- But to the world also.
- Thing to the world. Like, yeah.

Giving the world a new
song, a brand new song.

We... we may call
it that, right?

♪ Give the world
a brand new song ♪

♪ Let the rhythm of the
love keep giving on ♪

Yeah.

♪ When tonight turns to day ♪

♪ There's a light
to show us the way ♪

♪ To a brand new song ♪

Yeah.

- Yes, that's great.
- It feels good.

Yeah, it feels definitely
good. It feels good.

I have crazy covers of...
of my songs and that's...

I love them, I love
going on YouTube

- and looking at cover versions.
- Me too.

Isn't it fun? And
you realize, like,

sometimes it's
kids in their room

and some far away country

that you've never
met in your life.

How cool is that, that
your song got to them?

[Charles] It's so touching
to me that my music

is meaningful to so many people.

♪ Strumming my pain ♪

♪ With his fingers ♪

♪ Movin' me down the highway ♪

♪ Rollin' me down the highway ♪

♪ Ready to take ♪

♪ A chance again ♪

♪ Ready to put my love ♪

♪ On the line with you ♪

[Charles] Princess Lines uses

my Love Boat theme
on their foghorn.

[foghorn playing theme]

It's one of the ugliest
sounds in the world,

but it makes you feel great.

One day just for the fun of it,

I did a web search for my
name and the word salsa.

[salsa music playing]

And lo and behold,

20 or 30 countries
around the world

had videos of people
dancing to music

from the record that
my father paid for

50 years ago.

Maybe the time was
right to take a chance

on the dream that I had
when I was in my twenties.

I'd been invited to Cuba
to do a concert of my music

at the Opera House,

and I jumped at the opportunity.

[upbeat music playing]

Somehow, it seemed
my musical journey

would come full
circle in Havana.

The concert was organized
by my dear friend,

Edesio Alejandro.

[singing in Spanish]

Edesio was a wonderful
and prolific composer

of Cuban films and television.

[singing in Spanish]

His pop song "Blen
Blen" was a huge hit

on the international club scene.

[singing in Spanish]

And he's a very sweet man.

[car honking]

Fuck you! Fuck you, mamalon.

♪

Edesio's son Cristian Alejandro

is the wonderful young singer
who's very popular in Cuba.

When you were 15 years old,

you started your first
professional orchestra?

- Yes. Yeah.
- Wow.

And we had a job for
two months in the summer

in a small rundown hotel,

but it was in the area

where there were big hotels
where Machito played.

- [Cristian] Machito.
- [Charles] Machito and Joe Cuba.

And, uh...

One of the great Cuban musicians

who I was so excited to visit
was the legendary Chucho Valdés.

I'm excited to see Chucho.

Chucho Valdés is
one of the greatest

Latin jazz pianists
in the world.

I hear music. [chuckles]

I've been a fan of
his for many years.

- Hola!
- Hola!

- Comment allez vous?
- How are you? Oh, very good.

[piano melody playing]

[Charles] There's
no one like Chucho.

He's the master.

Music is truly the
international language.

It's not a cliché at all.

My first three days in Havana
were filled with rehearsals.

Okay, it's all very good.

At the end though...

Dinners.

Happy Birthday!

Let's bring the old celebration
for Joan's birthday.

Impromptu performances...

and press conferences.

Thank you all very
much for the...

This is really a
great honor for me.

I know that Cuba is
filled with music.

It's filled with
the joy of music.

And I know that because
when I was very young,

when I was 15 years old,

living in New York, in
the Bronx, it touched me.

[jazz music playing]

[Charles] I always
remember the generosity

that Mademoiselle
Boulanger showed to me

when I was her student.

[violin playing]

And I never forgot
my promise to her

to do the same when I could.

I love working with
young musicians.

I always hope to
inspire them to believe

that what's in their
hearts is possible.

And I always encourage them
to follow their own dreams.

♪

I knew they were
giving it their all.

They got very spirited

and wanted to play my
music as best they could.

There's a very spiritual
bond between people

who sit next to each other
and play the same notes.

We sing the language
of music together.

Bravo. Bravo.

[all applauding]

- That was wonderful.
- [speaking Spanish]

- That was really good.
- [speaking Spanish]

[cheerful music playing]

[Charles] What a
pleasure it was for me

to meet all those bright,
cheery-eyed, young,

hopeful musicians.

Their high spirits about
their future in music

was the same that I remember
from my high school days.

[Cuban music playing]

Feels like we should
be singing opera.

- We'll have the lid down.
- Literally down.

[Charles] Life in Cuba is
obviously very different.

But you know,

the people are wonderful...

and they love music.

It's completely intertwined
with the culture.

And the talent in
Cuba is extraordinary.

How do you feel?

Are we where we need to be?
Are you a little nervous?

Why?

♪

I'd like to gather
everyone together

and let that energy
flow just all around us

and just let it take over.

There's a thing about Cuba,

and I learned that ten
years ago when I came.

Nothing ever goes as
planned, but it...

everything always happens...

uh, smoothly.

Right in the last moment,
everything falls into place.

[audience cheering
and applauding]

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

♪ [lyrics in Spanish] ♪

[Charles] Music is
taking me on a journey

I never dreamed about.

It's given me opportunities

to meet people
around the world...

play with musicians
around the world...

and have great
friendships through music.

It's a very satisfying feeling
knowing I can communicate

with an audience what
I feel musically.

[audience applauding
and cheering]

[Charles] For me, the
greatest reward is the doing,

the writing of it.

That's the journey for me.

[playing piano riffs]

["Killing Me Softly
With His Song" playing]

[audience cheering]

[Charles] When I was in Paris,

I always would send
my teacher flowers

from the flower shop downstairs.

And one time Joan
and I were in Paris.

We were driving someplace
together. I said,

"I would like to send
flowers to Mademoiselle."

So we parked the car and I said,

"I'm just gonna run in
and send flowers up."

So, I went into the
little flower shop

and bought some flowers.

Then Giuseppe, who
worked for Mademoiselle,

passed by and said, "Oh,
Mr. Fox, how are you?

Nice to see you. What
are you doing in Paris?"

And I said, "I'm just
here sending some flowers

up to Mademoiselle."

He said, "Oh, but you
must bring them up to her.

You can't just
send." And I said,

"I didn't wanna disturb her

in the middle of a lesson."

He said, "No, no, but you must."

So he convinced me, and I went
upstairs with the flowers.

And the moment she
came to the door,

and she held my hand in
both of her hands like this,

she kissed me on both cheeks
and "How are you, my dear?

And how is your lovely wife?

And how is your
beautiful children?

And how are you? And are
you composing music?"

That's all she ever want to know
if I'm com... composing music.

I said, "Yes, I'm composing."

And she said, "You
know, I'm so sorry.

I'm in the middle of a lesson,

I can't give you a
proper greeting."

And she again, held my hand

and she kissed me
again on both cheeks.

And she left.

But I was so happy
to have seen her

that I bounded down the
staircase out the door,

around the corner.

I started walking up the
hill to my apartment,

20 years from my past.

I totally forgot
that I had a wife

waiting for me in
the car. [chuckling]

And when Joan saw me walk
up the hill, I passed her.

And I suddenly hear,
"Charlie, Charlie."

And I... I turned around.

She's like, "Where
are you going?"

I was transported
back to my youth.

It sounds silly, but I... I
was truly transported back.

That was the effect
that she had on me.

And that was indeed
the last time

I ever saw my teacher.

["Killing Me Softly"
playing on piano]

In this room,

I realized I would spend
my life writing music.

When I was a young
boy in the Bronx,

my life revolved
around three things.

Family, friends, and music.

And, you know,

after all these years,
nothing has changed.

Mil gracias, Havana.

[audience applauding
and cheering]

["Sing A Brand
New Song" playing]

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Listen to the children sing ♪

♪ Give the world a song ♪

♪♪ Teach them all to sing ♪

♪ And we'll know
where we belong ♪

♪ We can go where we are free ♪

♪ You and me, sweet melody ♪

♪ Dent your heart away ♪

♪ And trip the
light fantastic ♪

♪ Live another day ♪

♪ And make the
night fantastic ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Open up your heart ♪

♪ And you'll hear the
voices in the air ♪

♪ Voices in the air ♪

♪ You can hear the angel sing ♪

♪ Love is living there ♪

♪ We can walk
when we are free ♪

♪ You and me, sweet harmony ♪

♪ Dent your heart away ♪

♪ And trip the
light fantastic ♪

♪ Live another day ♪

♪ And make the
night fantastic ♪

♪ Give the world ♪
♪ The world ♪

♪ A brand new song ♪
♪ A brand new song ♪

♪ Let the rhythm of
the love we have ♪

♪ Keep moving on ♪
♪ Moving on ♪

♪ When the night ♪
♪ When the night ♪

♪ Turns to day ♪
♪ Turns to day ♪

♪ There's a light
that shows the way ♪

♪ To a brand new song ♪

♪ Listen to the children ♪

♪ Listen to the children ♪

♪ Listen to the children ♪

♪ Listen to the children ♪

♪ Listen to the children ♪

♪ Listen to the children sing ♪

♪ Give the world a song ♪

♪ Teach them all to sing ♪

♪ And we'll know
where we belong ♪

♪ We can go where
we are free ♪

♪ You and me, sweet melody ♪

♪ Dent your heart away ♪

♪ And trip the
light fantastic ♪

♪ Live another day ♪

♪ And make the
night fantastic ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Fantastic ♪