Composer Don Ralke dies at 80

February 9, 2000

By JILL FEIWELL

Don Ralke, composer-arranger for TV shows and films including "77 Sunset Strip," "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley," died Jan. 26 of natural causes in Santa Rosa. He was 80.

A Michigan native, Ralke was a key innovator in pioneering production and arrangement work for the L.A. music scene. Gold Star Recording Studio founders Stan Ross and Dave Gold remembered Ralke as the most well-known unknown in the business. Ross told Daily Variety that everybody has at one time heard something arranged by Ralke, from the ubiquitous "77 Sunset Strip" TV theme song to the 1960s Jules Akins tune "Birds and the Bees," which he co-produced.

A creative musical force throughout the 1950s, '60s and '70s, Ralke arranged six gold records and many pop hits, including the Connie Stevens song "16 Reasons."

Other notable credits in Ralke's catalog include the Edd "Kookie" Byrnes cult classic "Kookie -- Lend Me Your Comb." He also co-produced and arranged for the Sunrays, scoring the singles "I Live for the Sun" and "Andrea."

He is survived by his daughter Pam and three grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. at Hollywood's Church of Religious Science.