Angelo Badalamenti

Alfred Hitchcock had Bernard Herrmann. David Lynch has Angelo Badalamenti to match haunting synth-driven scores to vivid, eccentric images. Badalamenti is one of the few Hollywood composers allowed to use his signature style in project after project. It did take him decades to receive that freedom, but his carte blanche arrived when Lynch tapped him to do the score for Blue Velvet and the Twin Peaks TV series. From there, Badalamenti has contributed lushly melodic themes to romantic comedy's such as Cousins and bleak Electro freak-outs for intelligent suspense with Arlington Road. He has also successfully branched into pop albums, working with the Pet Shop Boys, Marianne Faithfull, and Twin Peaks chanteuse Julee Cruise. But above all else, the working relationship with Lynch continues and Badalamenti's beautiful Americana score for The Straight Story was as heartfelt as the movie.