Short Take on Scott Schachter, Audio Engineer

by G. Jack Urso

 

In our ongoing exploration of the top talent NBC employed for Hot Hero Sandwich, we turn our attention to Scott Schachter who shared duties with Joel Spector as audio engineer for the series. They also shared a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1980 for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming for Hot Hero Sandwich, episode 4. In fact, 1980 seems to have been a good year for Schachter as he also won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement — Creative Technical Crafts for Live from Studio 8H: A Tribute to Toscanini.

Spector was the audio engineer for the first two episodes after which Schachter takes over for Spector beginning in episode 3, and they both join forces for episode 10 and the finale episode 11. Schachter, who had a few years on Spector, had a career dating back to the late 1950s and the legendary Steve Allen Plymouth Show, which introduced the world to Allen’s regular cast of zanies such as Don Knotts, Louis Nye, Gene Rayburn, Pat Harrington Jr., and Tom Poston. The Internet Movie Database’s credits listings are woefully short for technical personnel (and sometimes not so great for those in front of the camera either), so we don’t have a complete list of the other shows from the Golden Era of Television Schachter worked on, but, without doubt, the Hot Hero Sandwich sound benefitted from the experienced and steady hand Schachter brought with him.

Scott Schachter, 1977.

According to Joel Spector in his interview with the Hot Hero Sandwich Project, Schachter left broadcasting for a while during the 1960s to work in his family’s millinery business. Millinery encompasses the women’s hat trade, which, along with men’s hat sales, took a big hit in the 1960s as fashions changed dramatically, as noted in the New York Times article, “The '60s Changed Everything in American Style,” Apr. 22, 1990. Indeed, the entire market for women’s hats bottomed out in the 1960s. Except for some high-fashionistas and older women, Baby Boomers weren’t wearing hats like their parents did. Considering this, Schachter must have found his work challenging. Nevertheless, it was a far cry from being the audio engineer for a national network working on some of the most important shows in television history. Yet, Schachter wasn’t quite done with television and by the mid-1970s he returned to NBC and began working on Saturday Night Live beginning with Season 1, Episode 1, in 1975 and for another 186 episodes over the next ten years.

With Hot Hero Sandwich and Saturday Night Live both being taped in Studio 8H, using the same equipment, and sharing a similarity in the presentation of its music performances on stage, Schachter, Spector, and other members of the crew who also worked on SNL, easily adapted to the HHS format and gave the show a polished, professional look and sound other live-action children’s entertainment variety shows could not easily emulate.

Scott Schachter behind the sound board in Hot Hero Sandwich episode 11.

Ironically, I had been listening to Schachter’s handiwork all the way back to that first season of SNL. That Christmas of 1975, my parents bought me and my siblings our own small black and white televisions. One of the first uses my brother and I had for our sets was to retire to our bedroom after watching The Carol Burnett Show with our parents and wait for Saturday Night Live to come on. Many times in the course of my research for the Hot Hero Sandwich Project have I discovered that someone connected to the show I thought I was just learning about for the first time, I actually had been watching or listening to all along. Scott Schachter’s work is a good example of that.

Schachter, 1981.

Being a Saturday Night Live fan, it was to my surprise that Schachter turns up as a minor character in the 2024 biopic Saturday Night, which chronicles the events leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night Live. In it, Schachter, portrayed by actor Jeff Pope, is called “Scotty.” This was the first I ever read of Schachter being referred to as “Scotty,” so I asked Joel Spector about it and he confirms that Schachter preferred Scott. Spector reports that when the credits for Hot Hero were being prepared, Schachter was asked if he wanted to be identified as “Scott” or “Scotty,” and Schachter specified the former.

[Note: One other Hot Hero Sandwich production team member, Bob Pook, graphic designer, also appears as a minor character in Saturday Night.]

Scott Schachter’s New York Times Obituary, Sep. 2, 2000.

According to his obituary in The New York Times, Schachter died after surgery on Aug. 31, 2000, at age 74. Married for 51 years, he spent his retirement traveling the world with his wife and doing The New York Times crossword puzzle — in ink. Hot Hero Sandwich was just one show he worked on for a few weeks out of a long career, but the show’s sound, as proven by the Emmy nominations for Schachter and Spector, is a defining element of the series’ legacy. Schachter brought the same level of quality to Saturday mornings as he did to Saturday nights.

Note: Headshot photos of Scott Schachter courtesy of Joel Spector.

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Short Take on Stephen Lawrence, Composer

by G. Jack Urso

 

Stephen Lawrence in front of his three Emmys, from his blog.

Stephen Lawrence, along with Bruce Hart, wrote the music and lyrics, respectively, for the Hot Hero Sandwich theme song. That song lived rent-free in my head for decades, quite an accomplishment considering there were no recordings released of the music or of the series itself. The catchy ear-worm with a Hard Rock beat immediately set the tempo and tone of the series, as well as its mission statement — just surviving adolescence makes you a hero and you’re not the only one going through it.

The Hot Hero Band performs the show’s theme song.

Stephen Lawrence collaborated with Bruce Hart on Marlo Thomas’ landmark children’s record album Free To Be . . . You and Me (1972), later produced as a TV special in 1974, before moving on to Hot Hero Sandwich. Beginning in the early 1980s, Lawrence began writing for Sesame Street, contributing over 300 songs and winning three Emmys for his efforts. Hart himself had prior experience with Sesame Street, co-writing the lyrics to the show’s classic theme song, “Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street.” Lawrence and Hart also worked together on the Hart’s 1979 TV movie, Sooner or Later, composing on the title song which became a hit for its star Rex Smith.

Rex Smith performs “Sooner or Later” backed up by the Hot Hero Band on Hot Hero Sandwich.

Yet, it is the Hot Hero Sandwich theme song that marks his importance here. Hot Hero Band bassist Robert Brissette in his interview with the Hot Hero Sandwich Project discusses how they got the demo tape with Stephen Lawrence pounding out the show’s theme song.

The HHS theme song was given to us on a cassette. It was nothing more than a middle-age guy (not Bruce Hart) at a piano singing the melody and lyrics with a discernible New York accent, at least to my ears. Very bare bones recording by any standard measure, but we knew what to do with it. We went to the rehearsal studio to begin fleshing it out. Mike [Ratti] started the drum figure — ideal for a television theme — then I added the bass line; Mark [Cunnigham] and Richie [Annunziato] came in with the guitar parts. We added the vocal harmonies and Felix [Pappalardi] brought it all to life when we recorded it.

Stephen Lawrence, 1975

As noted in his New York Times obituary, Jan. 8, 2022, Lawrence, in an essay on his now-defunct blog, wrote, “One of the most effective devices, and for children one of the most important, is repetition. Did you write a first line you like? Why not repeat it?” We can see this this principle utilized to great effect in the Hot Hero Sandwich theme. In many other articles, I have noted how the song stuck in my head for decades — a remarkable achievement given that there were no recordings released in any format, including LP, cassette, 8-Track, VHS, CD, or DVD. This is a common sentiment among the show’s fans and, frankly, the memory of that theme song helped nurture the memory of the series for  decades even with the absence of any media to support it.

While better known for music aimed at children, Lawrence and Hart also co-wrote the theme song for the 1973 film Bang the Drum Slowly starring Robert De Niro. Other songs they collaborated on include “One Way Ticket” (recorded by Mama Cass and Helen Reddy) and “Who Are You Now” (recorded by Olivia Newton-John), in addition to the aforementioned song, “Sooner or Later,” for the TV movie of the same name.

Stephen Lawrence died on Dec. 30, 2021 at 82, just 16 days after series writer David Axlerod passed away on Dec. 13, 2021. The Hot Hero Sandwich Project began just a year later. Their passing leaves a gap in our knowledge of the series that cannot be replaced.

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Eddie Palmieri, pioneering Latin jazz musician and Grammy winner, dies at 88

by G. Jack Urso

Left - Right: Charlie Palmieri, Felix Pappalardi, and Eddie Palmieri 

on Hot Hero Sandwich, episode 8.

Billboard Magazine, Aug. 6, 2025: Eddie Palmieri, Legendary Pianist, Composer & Bandleader, Dies at 88

Eddie Palmieri, along with his brother Charlie, performed an absolutely HOT Latin jazz set during episode 8 of Hot Hero Sandwich. Growing up, I mostly listened to Rock, so this set blew me away with the brothers’ energy and their virtuoso performances. It helped start me on the road to a wider appreciation of music — especially Jazz.

Interestingly, Hot Hero Band drummer Mike Ratti reports laying down some tracks with the Palmieri brothers, produced by Felix Pappalardi, just prior to their Hot Hero performance. Unfortunately, those tracks never made it on air and what became of them remains unknown. Another example of some of the lost treasures we’ll never get to experience. Below is their performance, along with Hot Hero Music Director Felix Pappalardi, on Hot Hero Sandwich for you to judge for yourselves!

The Palmieri brothers, Charlie and Eddie, on Hot Hero Sandwich, episode 8.

 

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Learn to Play the Hot Hero Sandwich Theme Song on Chordify!

by G. Jack Urso

 

Screen shot from Chordify.

Chordify is a music platform that runs software which can automatically identify a song’s chords and synchronize them with the music, and video if available, so musicians can learn their favorite songs. Chord progressions with finger positions are available for guitar, mandolin, piano, and ukulele. The Hot Hero Sandwich theme song has received that treatment at the following link:

Hot Hero Sandwich Theme Song Chords - Chordify

Chord progression for the Hot Hero Sandwich theme song.

Even if you’re not a musician, you’ll find this an informative and entertaining program and gain a better appreciation for the writers Bruce Hart and Stephen Lawrence and, of course, the Hot Hero Band!

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