(via Wikipedia)
Shaffer began his music career in 1972 when
Stephen Schwartz invited him as the musical director for the Toronto production of
Godspell,
[1] starring
Victor Garber,
Gilda Radner,
Martin Short,
Eugene Levy,
Dave Thomasand
Andrea Martin. He went on to play piano for the Schwartz
Broadway show
The Magic Show in 1974, then became a member of the house band on
NBC's popular
Saturday Night Live (
SNL) television program from 1975 to 1980 (except for a brief departure in 1977). Though Shaffer was at the piano and appeared to be directing the band's actions,
Howard Shore was credited as
SNL's musical director, eventually turning the actual conducting of the band to sax player
Howard Johnson. Shaffer also regularly appeared in the show's sketches, notably as the pianist for
Bill Murray's Nick the Lounge Singer character, and as
Don Kirshner.
Shaffer occasionally teamed up with the
Not Ready for Prime-Time Players off the show as well, including work on Gilda Radner's highly successful Broadway show and as the musical director for
John Belushi and
Dan Aykroyd whenever they recorded or performed as
The Blues Brothers. Shaffer was to appear in the duo's 1980 film, but, as he revealed in October 2009 on
CBS Sunday Morning, Belushi dropped him from the project. In a memo to fellow
SNL colleagues, Belushi said that he was unhappy that Shaffer was spending so much time on a studio record for Radner. Belushi said that he had tried to talk Shaffer out of working on the album in the first place in order to avoid sharing Shaffer's talents with another
SNL-related project.
[4] Shaffer later reported that he was in (unrequited) love with
Gilda Radner.
[5] He would go on to appear in 1998's
Blues Brothers 2000.
Since 1982, Shaffer has served as musical director for
David Letterman's late night talk shows: as leader of "The World's Most Dangerous Band" for
Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993) on NBC, for which he also composed the theme song, and as leader of the
CBS Orchestra for the
Late Show with David Letterman (1993–present) on
CBS. Letterman consistently maintains that the show's switch to CBS was because NBC "fired Paul for stealing pens" or some other facetious reason. Shaffer has guest-hosted the show twice when Letterman was unavailable, including during Letterman's January 2000 medical leave for quintuple
heart bypass surgery, and during the birth of Letterman's son Harry in November 2003.
In 1984, Shaffer played keyboards for
The Honeydrippers, a group formed in 1981 by former
Led Zeppelin frontman
Robert Plant, on their only studio album,
The Honeydrippers: Volume One.
[6]
Shaffer has served as musical director and producer for the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony since its inception in 1986 and filled the same role for the
1996 Olympic Games closing ceremonies from
Atlanta, Georgia. Shaffer also served as musical director for
Fats Domino and Friends, a Cinemax special that included
Ray Charles,
Jerry Lee Lewis and
Ron Wood.
Shaffer has released two solo albums, 1989's
Grammy-nominated
Coast to Coast, and 1993's
The World's Most Dangerous Party, produced by rock musician
Todd Rundgren. Shaffer has also recorded with a wide range of artists, including
Donald Fagen,
Ronnie Wood,
Grand Funk Railroad,
Diana Ross,
B.B. King,
Asleep at the Wheel,
Cyndi Lauper,
Carl Perkins,
Yoko Ono,
Blues Traveler,
Jeff Healey,
Cher,
Chicago,
Luba,
Robert Burns,
George Clinton,
Bootsy Collins,
Nina Hagen,
Robert Plant,
Peter Criss,
Scandal,
Brian Wilson,
Late Show regular
Warren Zevon, jazz trumpeter
Lew Soloff, jazz saxophonist
Lou Marini and bluegrass legend
Earl Scruggs. In 1982, he co-wrote "
It's Raining Men," with
Paul Jabara. It was #1 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play charts, a #2 hit in the UK for
The Weather Girls in 1984 and a UK #1 remake for
Geri Halliwell in 2001. Shaffer and The World's Most Dangerous Band performed the
Chuck Berry song "Roll over Beethoven" for the 1992 film
Beethoven.
