Alf Clausen, ‘Simpsons’ composer, dead at 84

Alf Clausen, the TV and film composer who most famously worked on The Simpsons from 1990 through 2017, died On May 29 at age 84. He had been living with Parkinson’s Disease for the last decade.

While Danny Elfman wrote The Simpsons theme song, Clausen was responsible for all the incidental music on the show from the “Treehouse of Horror” episode in Season 2 through August, 2017, and his work includes the closing credits music, the “Itchy & Scratchy” theme, and many of the show’s many songs, like “We Put The Spring In Springfield,” “Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart?,” “We Do (The Stonecutters’ Song),” “See My Vest,” the songs from the “Stop This Planet of the Apes I Want to Get Off!” musical, and more.

Clausen also worked on Moonlighting, ALF (very appropriate), The Partridge Family, Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, Weird Science, Splash, and more. He was nominated for 30 Emmys, including 20 for The Simpsons where he won twice. Simpsons creator Matt Groening has called Clausen “our secret weapon.”

He was let go from The Simpsons in 2017 as what was described as a cost-cutting move, and he sued FOX in 2019 for age discrimination.

Rest in peace, Alf.