Richard "Dick" Hieronymus, born in 1931 in Chicago, Illinois, is a notable composer, arranger, and producer. His musical journey began at the age of eight with his first piano lesson, and by nine, he was proficiently playing the trumpet. By 17, in 1947, he had formed his own ten-piece swing band under the stage name Gene Richards. After graduating high school in 1949, he joined the Jay Jaumotte Territory Band based in Omaha, Nebraska. The following year, he enrolled in music arranging classes at the Roy C. Knapp School of Percussion, where he connected with fellow student Hal Blaine, who would later lead the renowned L.A. Wrecking Crew.
In 1951, Dick was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he played trumpet in the 264th Army Band stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, alongside fellow Chicago tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, known as "the Little Giant of Jazz." Upon his return to Chicago in 1954, Dick began arranging music for the Jerry Fifer dance band. His first recorded arrangement, “My Little Blue Book,” performed by Jerry Fifer, was released as a 78 rpm single on the Mar-Vel label.
In 1955, he performed trumpet at Leon & Eddie's World Famous Burlesque Theater in Miami, Florida, and later with The Jay Smith dance band at the Miami Springs Villas. By 1959, Dick had moved to Hollywood, California, where he worked as a music copyist for The Red Skelton TV show and others. His career progressed as he arranged the Christmas Show at the Riverside Hotel in Reno, Nevada, which led to opportunities arranging show openings for Moro-Landis Productions, including “Most American Girls In The World” at The Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas and several other nightclubs.
A few years later, Dick became the music director for The Millionaire Club in Los Angeles, which would later evolve into the well-known Disco Osko’s in the late 1970s, appearing in the 1978 disco comedy film “Thank God It’s Friday” and episodes of the TV shows “C.H.i P.’s” and “Wonder Woman.”
In 1965, Dick composed and recorded “Indian Suite,” a five-part ballet for Burch Mann's American Folk Ballet World tour. Shortly after, he created the novelty tune “Bounce Your Boobies” and the ballad “Life Is Really Worth Living” for Rusty Warren. His prolific output continued with the recording of seven original songs with crooner Gary Lemel, and he became the lead sheet copyist for Rod McKuen, often producing five songs a week in 1966 and 1967.
By late 1967, Dick collaborated with Joe B. Mauldin, Buddy Holly's bassist, to compose the instrumental “Prophesy Of Love,” which was recorded by Tommy “Snuff” Garrett’s Easy Listening project, The Midnight String Quartet, on Viva Records. Snuff also included it in his “50 Guitars Of Tommy Garrett” album series.
As the 1960s drew to a close, Dick joined Dot Records as an in-house arranger, scoring numerous records over the following years. Notable projects included Val Stoecklein’s 1968 cult classic album “Grey Life” and Brian Hyland’s million-selling album “Tragedy – A Million To One” in 1969. His arrangements specializing in strings for various record companies continued for the next 15 years.
In 1971, Dick's career took a significant turn towards film and television music, beginning with the score for the short comedy film “Frog Story,” which won an Academy Award in 1972 and marked the acting debut of future TV and film actress Pamela Susan Shoop. Following this, he served as both music supervisor and original score composer for a series of biker films by Roger Corman and Jonathan Demme, including “Angels Die Hard” and “Angels Hard As They Come.” Throughout the mid-1970s, he balanced producing and arranging for commercial pop and country records alongside various film scores, including a long-term collaboration with cult film writer/director Don Jones.
During this period, Dick also contributed original songs to the educational Metric Man cartoon and live-action series, releasing two albums in 1975. One of these, “I Weigh With Kilos”—co-written with Jimmy Vann—was sampled in 2007 by rapper Ghostface Killah from Wu-Tang Clan in his song “Kilos,” introducing Dick's work to a younger hip-hop audience.
In the late 1970s, Dick began producing a substantial body of instrumental library music across Disco, Funk, and Easy Listening genres, characterized by his distinctive style. Although only two complete albums of this music were made available to the public through the now-defunct Robert Hall Productions/New World music library in 1978, much of his library work was accessible primarily on tape reel through his Bosch Music Library (also known as the Hieronymus Bosch Music Library) from 1977 to 1988. Select tracks were also uncredited on a 1979 NFL Films Music Library vinyl LP. His library music found a home in various NBC and CBS television shows and specials throughout the late 1970s and mid-1980s. During this time, Dick also arranged a few country music albums for artists on Curb Records, including Hank Williams Jr. and Susie Allanson.
As the 1980s began, Dick continued to arrange commercial records and compose film scores. His work in 1982 included scoring Don Jones's cult horror classic “The Forest,” the made-for-cable movie “Balboa” starring Tony Curtis, and the teen comedy film “Goin’ All The Way.” The soundtrack for "Goin' All The Way" featured the first commercial release of Dick’s sought-after 1979 disco tune “Ask Me To Dance” performed by singer Sassy Alan, which gained popularity after being featured in an episode of the NBC sitcom “The Facts Of Life” in late 1980 and remains a cult favorite today.
As the decade progressed, Dick continued to arrange pop and country music and scored the 1988 action film “Lethal Pursuit,” which included three original songs and marked the acting debut of future Silk Stalkings star Mitzi Kapture. Following this project, Dick retired to the San Juan Islands, where he enjoys a quieter life, composing classical pieces for local concerts and jazz vocal ballads for independent artists.
