Q&A with Stacy Widelitz

Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen
Photo of Stacy with Patrick and Gloria provided by Kenjamin Franklin/RadioTV.com
Black and White photos credit: Stacy Widelitz

Stacy Widelitz co-wrote the TV-theme for The Richard Simmons Show when he was only 24. Patrick Swayze lived around the corner from him, and they became friends. They wrote “She’s Like the Wind” together for the Dirty Dancing movie. Stacy is a renowned photographer as well and his black and white photography has turned into three solo shows, sales of framed pieces, seven awards, and two upcoming shows, one at Nashville Airport.

KB: At 24 you wrote the TV-theme for The Richard Simmons Show. The show became a big hit. How did you feel and was this the start of everything that came next?

I co-wrote that theme with Wendy Fraser, a great singer with whom I was living in Astoria, Queens. When the show debuted in September of 1980, it didn’t feel like much at first considering that it was a small, syndicated show on at very odd hours (7am in NY, for example). But by late 1980 it was clear that the show was a hit. Because the show was based in Los Angeles, it prompted serious discussions between Wendy and me about moving to LA, something I didn’t really want to do. But if we wanted to capitalize on the success of the Simmons show, we had to move, and we did in October of 1981. Considering everything that came afterward in LA, I’d say it was the right move, and the start of another era.

KB: You became friends with Patrick Swayze who lived around the corner from you. You wrote “She’s Like the Wind” with him for Dirty Dancing. How did the friendship start and who came up with the song idea?

Yes, Patrick, whom I always knew by his nickname, Buddy, and I met in his acting class in 1983. We realized we lived two houses away from each other, and he, his wife, Lisa, Wendy and I started hanging out, talking music, dance, acting, etc. We became fast friends – he was funny, charismatic, and very driven and passionate about his work. But we didn’t write “She’s Like the Wind” for Dirty Dancing. We wrote it for a different movie, “Grandview, USA”, two years before DD. He had the initial idea, came over to my apartment with his guitar, and played me what he had. We started working on it, and when we realized that the first line of the song was also the hook and title, we knew we were onto something.

We did a great demo of it – I programmed the synths and drums, brought in a guitarist, and Buddy did the lead vocal, with Wendy doing background vocals and a little duet at the end of the song. Ultimately, the demo served as a model for the final version, which was brilliantly produced by Michael Lloyd. But the song wasn’t used in Grandview, and in 1986 Buddy called me from the DD location in Lake Lure and told me the producers and director wanted the song for the soundtrack. No one thought the movie was going to be a success, and we were all stunned by its reception. The rest is history.

KB: Your friendship with Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers. How did it start? What did you do together?

Baxter and I were introduced by my agent, Joel Roman, back in 1988. Of course, I knew who he was, and was a huge fan of his playing, so meeting him was exciting for me. Joel thought the two of us might collaborate on scoring work, which we did for several shows, notably the original theme song for Beverly Hills, 90210 (featuring Edgar Winter on sax!). In hanging out, Jeff and I discovered we both had a love of American and world history, and of the English language.

I think within a very short time of our initial meeting we were friends, which we are to this day. Also, one of the most fun live experiences I ever had was playing in a pick-up band with Jeff at the China Club in its LA heyday. I was on keyboards, Jeff on electric and pedal steel guitars. We were backing a very talented singer, Teri Garrison, and we did four or five killer shows with her.

KB: Your love for photography. How did it start? Why black and white pictures?

I’ve always loved looking at great photography, and my parents had coffee table books of some of the greats in black and white, notably the street photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson, who has since become my favorite. But in 2015 I was headed to Tuscany for a songwriter’s workshop headed by Gretchen Peters. I was always an avid travel photographer – buildings, landscapes, historical sites, the usual. But for this trip I bought a new, higher quality camera for a trip to Tuscany. On this trip, I became fascinated with the faces I encountered on the streets and in the cafés and started photographing them in black and white. Always a fan of film noir, as well as classic B&W street photography, I discovered that those influences were coming out in the photos I was taking.

I posted some to Facebook, a photographer friend in Nashville saw them, was impressed, and advised me to take a camera whenever I travel. I did, and that has turned into three solo shows, sales of framed pieces, seven awards, and two upcoming shows, one at Nashville Airport. It’s a huge surprise to me, and very gratifying to start another creative pursuit at my age.

KB: Album with 7 of your most favorite songs (not your own): what would you pick and why?

That’s a tough one – seven good songs on any album would be a lot, even on a great record! But I have two picks; one is “Child is Father to the Man,” Blood, Sweat & Tears’ first record, featuring Al Kooper’s vocals and brilliant arrangements. Every song is exceptional. The other would be “Bookends,” by Simon and Garfunkel. The songs are amazing – America, Hazy Shade of Winter, Old Friends, etc. – the writing, vocals, and production is all brilliant.

KB: You wrote a lot of themes for TV shows. Can you rattle them down and do you have a favorite?

Wow, there were a lot, so here are a few I remember – The Richard Simmons Show, Up Close and Personal with Rona Barrett, America (for Paramount), The Regis Philbin Show (his short-lived morning show on NBC), People to People with Jimmy Breslin, and, as I mentioned, the original theme for the pilot of Beverly Hills, 90210. That would probably be my favorite because of working with Jeff Baxter and Edgar Winter, but second-in-line would be People to People. It featured a jazz quintet, with Spanky Davis on trumpet, and we recorded it in NYC. But that covers theme songs – there also all the shows I scored, and there are a lot of them.

KB: What are you currently up to?

I’m heading back to London and Paris soon for more street photography, preparing for my show at the airport, and still doing some songwriting here and there. Just trying to stay creative and trying to enjoy my life!

Check out Stacy’s website: HERE
Find him on Instagram: HERE

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