Dennis Scott
Appearances
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
I will give it a shot. I guess I would start by saying I started my career in my early life as a child actor. I was on Broadway when I was seven years old in a show written by Noel Coward. And I thought that was where I was going to be going. I told my parents, I'm either going to be a world-famous actor or a veterinarian.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
Then when we got to high school, my biology grades were so bad, my teacher said, no, you better stick with the other thing. But that too changed because at one point I realized that when I got to be a teenager, I was not the little adorable seven-year-old that used to get jobs on television and commercials.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
So I got more interested in music when that led me to, like a lot of people, when the Beatles came out, picking up a guitar and learning how to play from my big brother. It led me into more discovery about music and later on became a musician in bands in New York. And eventually that led me to songwriting. And the songwriting is something that I explored.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
And the quick story, I'll try to make it as quick as possible, is that I was writing songs and I was on the road with a group called the New Christy Minstrels. And I wrote this song called Captain Kirk's Disco Trek. And I thought, well, this is fun. It's a novelty song. Little knowing that novelty songs are a little hard to get placed on the radio these days.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
So I took it around and somebody said, well, why don't you take it to a children's record label? Which I did, which led to a writing assignment for that label. And I took that to Sesame Street and said, here's something I've done. And I was pretty new at it, but I felt good about it. And they said, well, sure, stick around.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
And if you want to answer a few phones here, and we got this project in the wings called Sesame Street Country, and see if you can get some celebrity artists to appear on it. So I said, okay, I'll give it a try. And so without any pay, I went in every day to New York City, and I put on a tie, and I got on the phone, and I tried to call every country artist you can imagine.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
We ended up getting the Crystal Gale, and Glen Campbell, and Tanya Tucker, and Loretta Lidden, queen of country music. And then the man who was the head of the record label at Sesame Street said, well, do you want to produce it? And I said, yeah, sure. At that point, I had only produced my own little demos in my bedroom with a four track recorder. But my mother always said, ever say no.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
So I said yes, and that ultimately led to a Grammy Award for my first time out. So there you go. Wow.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
I think about the first Grammy that I received for the Sesame Street album, My Parents Went With Me. You know, when you're a musician in kind of the arts fields, you wonder, you know, do your parents really get what you're doing or do they think it means something, it's worthwhile? And I knew that night, something, maybe it was always there, but something clicked in them and said,
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
okay, this is my son, the Grammy winner. So I think they always felt that way, but I didn't perceive it, but I know now and will know forever.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
It's so great meeting you and hopefully I'll see you at the next concert.