Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH (February 8, 1937 – February 5, 1989) was an American composer and songwriter. He is best known for his work on the children's television series Sesame Street, for which he wrote the theme song, and several notable songs, including "Bein' Green", "C Is For Cookie" and "Sing" (later a #3 hit for The Carpenters). He also wrote music for other television shows including The Electric Company, Shining Time Station and the sitcoms Three's Company and The Ropers, including their theme songs. Additionally, he composed scores for three Dr. Seuss television specials produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises: Halloween Is Grinch Night (1977), Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? (1980), and The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982).
Raposo was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, as the only child of Joseph Soares Raposo and Maria "Sarah" da Ascenção Vitorino Raposo, who immigrated to the U.S. from São Miguel (Azores), Portugal. Within his family, he was known by the nickname "Sonny". His father, Joseph Sr., was a musician proficient in classical guitar, violin, flute, and piano, and also worked as a music teacher. He was Raposo’s first music instructor.
Raposo graduated from B.M.C. Durfee High School in Fall River and received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1958, where he composed music for several Hasty Pudding Club productions. He later studied at the École Normale de Musique de Paris under the tutelage of Nadia Boulanger.
Raposo worked in musical theater both before and after his involvement with the Children's Television Workshop and Sesame Street. It was in the context of musical theater that he first met future collaborator Jim Henson. During the mid-1960s, Raposo performed in piano bars in Boston and served as a pianist and music director for a jazz trio at WNAC-TV in Boston.
Raposo moved to New York City in 1965. He served as the musical supervisor and arranger for the original off-Broadway 1967 production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and contributed additional music to the show. He also composed the theme music for WABC-TV's The 4:30 Movie. The piece, titled "Moving Pictures," was later used for other movie presentations on WABC-TV and other ABC owned-and-operated stations.
Raposo is widely recognized for his work on Sesame Street, composing songs for the program from its debut in 1969 through the mid-1970s, and again during the 1980s. He wrote the show's theme song "Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?", as well as several of its most well-known songs, including "Bein' Green", "C Is for Cookie", and "Sing". A version of "Sing" recorded by The Carpenters in 1973 reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Raposo also composed much of the background music used in the show’s film segments and frequently performed the vocals for these pieces.
In addition to his musical work, Raposo portrayed various uncredited stock characters on Sesame Street during the early 1970s. According to his son, Nicholas Raposo, in a 2002 interview, these performances typically involved humorous, unnamed roles featured in short film segments. Raposo also provided voice-overs for select animated segments.
The Sesame Street character Don Music featured a framed, autographed promotional photograph of Raposo displayed in his fictional studio.
One of Raposo's compositions for Sesame Street, titled "The Square Song", was used in the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Other work in children's television
In 1971, the Children's Television Workshop launched The Electric Company, a television program designed to support reading instruction for children who had aged out of Sesame Street. Raposo served as the musical director for the show's first three seasons and continued to contribute songs throughout its run until 1977. Raposo performed comedic characters for film segments on The Electric Company, similar to his earlier work on Sesame Street.
Raposo performed several character voices in the television special Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?.
The HBO animated adaptation of Madeline, for which Raposo composed the music and songs in collaboration with Judy Rothman, was broadcast four months after his death. Around the same time, the animated series The Smoggies, for which Raposo composed the theme song, premiered in Canada.
Additional film, stage and other television work
Although primarily known for his work in live-action and animated children's television, Joe Raposo had aspirations to become a composer for Broadway musicals.
In 1962, Raposo composed music for A Man’s a Man, using Eric Bentley’s English-language translations of song texts and poems from Bertolt Brecht’s play Man Equals Man. The production was staged at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later at the Masque Theatre in New York City. Portions of the performance were broadcast on CBS, and the full production was recorded and released in 1974.
In the 1970s, Raposo composed the original score for the animated film Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. He subsequently collaborated with playwright William Gibson on a stage musical about Raggedy Ann. This production became the first theatrical performance from a United States company to be staged in the Soviet Union following the resumption of cultural exchanges between the two nations. The musical later had a limited Broadway run in 1986.
Raposo also worked with lyricist Sheldon Harnick on a musical adaptation of the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. Titled A Wonderful Life, the musical was first performed at the University of Michigan in 1986 and later staged at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in 1991. A concert version was performed on Broadway for one night on December 12, 2005, featuring Brian Stokes Mitchell, David Hyde Pierce, and Judy Kuhn.