Another legend has left the building. Johnny Mandel, a longtime arranger and composer, has died at the age of 94.
Mandel was born in New York City in 1925, and went into the music business in the 1950s, going on to write songs for Frank Sinatra in 1960. He won Academy Awards in the 1960s for theme songs he wrote for 1964 film The Americanization of Emily and the 1965 film The Sandpiper. In the 1990s, Mandel was arranging for the likes of Quincy Jones and Natalie Cole.
Johnny Mandel will forever be most famous for composing the music to “Suicide Is Painless," the theme song for the 1970 movie, M*A*S*H, and its long-running TV show. The lyrics were written by director Robert Altman's 14-year-old son, Michael. The song has been covered many times, with a memorable version Marilyn Manson, who called the tune "More depressing and offensive than anything I've ever written."
