In 1977, he took a brief break from the show to star in the CBS comedy series “A Year at the
Top,” produced by Norman Lear and Don Kirshner. After his return to “Saturday Night Live,” he 
collaborated with Gilda Radner on the songs for her Broadway show, in which he also appeared. He 
served as musical director for the Blues Brothers – John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd – for their triple 
platinum album and national tour. His guest starring television appearances include “Ed”, “The 
Sopranos”, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”, and “How I Met Your Mother”. Paul recently starred with 
Bill Murray in and was musical director for the Netflix special “A Very Murray Christmas”, directed by 
Sofia Coppola, for which he received his fourth EMMY nomination.

In addition to recording his own albums, Coast to Coast (1989) and The World’s Most Dangerous 
Party (1993), Shaffer recorded with such diverse artists as Diana Ross, Yoko Ono and Robert Plant’s 
Honeydrippers. He composed the LATE SHOW theme song and, with Paul Jabara, wrote the Number 
One ’80s dance hit “It’s Raining Men,” performed by the Weather Girls and re-recorded by Geri Halliwell 
for the “Bridget Jones’s Diary” soundtrack, topping the British pop charts in 2001. In 2002, he received 
his first GRAMMY, Best Country Instrumental, for the Earl Scruggs and Friends album, and coproduced 
an avant-garde jazz album for his mentor, Tsziji Munoz.