Stephen Bates Baltes

Stephen Bates Baltes
Born	Stephen Bates Baltes August 2, 1953 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	November 2, 2003 (aged 50) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Cause of death	AIDS-related lymphoma
Nationality	American
Occupation	Music composer
Years Active	Barney 1988, 1994-1995
Spouse(s)	Ellen Lloyd (m. ???; div. ???)
Children	1

Stephen Bates Baltes (August 2, 1953 - November 5, 2003) was one of the first composers for the Barney franchise, serving as the musical director for the first three Barney & The Backyard Gang. Mr. Bates worked with fellow songwriter and composer Lory Lazarus on the songs for the third season of Barney & Friends. On November 5, 2003, Baltes died in Chicago, Illinois from AIDS-related lymphoma at the age of 50.

Career

Barney

In 1987, Bates-Baltes was working as a musician on a cruise ship with his partner, Larry Baker. One evening, the two were seated at a table with Dick Leach and his wife, Rosemary, who happened to be on vacation on a world cruise. The couples visited over diner; Dick mentioned that his daughter in-law, Sheryl was working on producing a children’s video series. Impressed with Stephen’s musical abilities, Dick offered both he and Larry a job on the production; Stephen would serve as the musical director, and Larry as an assistant director.

After their contract with the cruise line was up, Stephen and Larry moved to Dallas from May through June of 1988 to work on Barney and the Backyard Gang.

Bates-Baltes was brought back to work on the Barney production as a lyricist in 1995, replacing Phil Parker. He along with his musical partner, Lory Lazarus, were responsible for writing one original song for each episode in Season 3.

Songwriting Credits

(Songs in bold were co-written with Lory Lazarus)

1. Barney Theme Song
2. I Love You (initial arrangements)
3. The Rocket Song
4. Friends are Forever
5. The Raindrop Song
6. I'm Glad I Have a Brother
7. We've Got Shoes
8. Here Comes the Firetruck
9. When I'm a Firefighter
10. Pumpernickel
11. Make the Bread
12. The Baby Bop Hop
13. Our New School
14. Someone to Love You Forever
15. Let's Do the Tricks My Doggie Does
16. Let's Take Care of Our Pets
17. Big and Little
18. Hooray for Moms and Dads
19. What Can We Play on a Rainy Day?
20. The Elephant Song
21. Here, Kitty Kitty
22. Have a Snack!
23. Let's Go On An Adventure
24. That's Hats
25. My Kite
26. Hey, Look at Me! I Can Fly!

Trivia

• He has also done for the music production on General Hospital mentioned by his partner, Larry Baker on the Spots of Love podcast.