Devo‘s Mark Mothersbaugh has paid tribute to the late Paul Reubens, saying that creating the music for Pee-wee’s Playhouse and the 2016 film Pee-wee’s Large Vacation “modified the trajectory of his profession”.

Reubens died on July 30 on the age of 70 after privately affected by most cancers.

“He all the time had a superb character and a superb coronary heart,” Mothersbaugh instructed Yahoo Music. “It’s simply stunning and unhappy that he’s gone.” He admitted that he had no concept that Reubens had been identified with most cancers, including, “We’d even been speaking about engaged on an animated model of Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

Mothersbaugh and Reubens met on the comedy improv theatre the Groundlings when Mothersbaugh was relationship founding member Laraine Newman (who was additionally a part of the unique Saturday Evening Reside forged). There, Mothersbaugh witnessed Reubens creating his Pee-wee Herman character. They first collaborated in 1980, on the obscure movie Pray TV, earlier than a scheduling battle prevented Mothersbaugh from writing the rating for Reubens’ breakout movie function within the Tim Burton-directed Pee-wee’s Large Journey.

Nonetheless, they’d ultimately work collectively once more when Reubens approached Mothersbaugh about Pee-wee’s Playhouse, which he composed the theme track and episodic music for. “I’d by no means accomplished a TV present earlier than,” Mothersbaugh remembered. “That took me into the world of movie and tv and video video games. It completely modified the trajectory of my profession.”

On the time, Mothersbaugh was feeling burnt out from the relentless album and touring cycles Devo had and appreciated with the ability to do one thing new. He got here to understand the fast turnaround that got here with engaged on a weekly episodic present: “I’d write 12 songs’ value of music on Tuesday, report on Wednesday, put a tape within the categorical mail on Thursday, they’d combine it into the present on Friday… and on Saturday morning, we’d all watch it on TV. After which the following Monday, I’d get one other tape within the mail. I used to be like, ‘Signal me up for this job!’”

He additionally revealed Reubens took a hands-off strategy to Mothersbaugh’s work. “‘Right here’s my solely notes. When it’s one thing unhappy, make it actually, actually unhappy. When it’s one thing glad, make it actually, actually glad. When it’s one thing stunning, make it actually, actually stunning.” Mothersbaugh defined, “He simply needed every thing to be accomplished to extremes.”

Mothersbaugh went on to jot down the music for your entire run of Rugrats and its three theatrical movies, in addition to different kids’s TV reveals like Clifford the Large Crimson Canine, Beakman’s World, and Santo Bugito. He’s additionally produced music for video video games together with Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter, and extra not too long ago composed the rating for Elizabeth Banks’ viral comedy-horror movie Cocaine Bear.