Download Johnny Pearson - Crystal Radio

Johnny Pearson
Written by Crystal
Saturday, 06 February 2010 16:33 -
Johnny Pearson (born 18 June 1925, Plaistow, London) is a British composer and pianist. He
has written a catalogue of library music, and has had many of his pieces used as the theme
music to television series, including 3-2-1, All Creatures Great and Small, Captain Pugwash,
Mary Mungo & Midge and ITN's ITV News at Ten (the last of which was titled "The Awakening").
He also wrote the Grampian Television start-up music "Sounds On" and the ATV startup theme
"Midlands Montage", as well as music used during intervals between schools programmes on
ITV.
Sounds Orchestral and the Johnny Pearson Orchestra
He was pianist in the group Sounds Orchestral, who had a number 5 hit in the UK Singles Chart
in early 1965 with "Cast Your Fate To The Wind". As leader of the Johnny Pearson Orchestra,
he reached number 8 in the UK chart in early 1972 with "Sleepy Shores", theme from the TV
series Owen MD. Pearson is also known to have composed under the pseudonym 'Oscar
Brandenburg', a name he shared with Neil Richardson and Alan Moorhouse.
Top of the Pops
He was also musical director of Top of the Pops for many years until the early 1980s,
conducting the programme's orchestra which provided backing for live and pre-recorded
performances of current hits. In some cases, notably Althea & Donna's reggae song "Uptown
Top Ranking", Pearson's versions sounded rather different from the original records. However,
for some other styles of song, Pearson's arrangements and orchestrations could subtly improve
on the original record versions. One example is Pearson's addition of a punchy brass backing to
Amen Corner's cover version of "Bend Me, Shape Me", in the programme broadcast on 15
February 1968, which is one of the few surviving recordings of a complete Top of the Pops
broadcast from the 1960s. His orchestra's version of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" was the
theme tune to Top of the Pops for most of the 1970s.
In the United States
In the United States, Pearson's best known composition is "Heavy Action", originally used as
the theme to the cult BBC sports show Superstars, and subsequently adopted by ABC's
Monday Night Football (the NFL's weekly nationally televised showcase) and the SFM Holiday
Network. In 1989, Edd Kalehoff composed and recorded a new arrangement of this music for
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Johnny Pearson
Written by Crystal
Saturday, 06 February 2010 16:33 -
later seasons of Monday Night Football. His piece "Graveyard" was used in Ren and Stimpy.
In Australia
In Australia, his best known library music piece was "Power Drive," which was used as the
theme for the 1969-75 police drama Division 4. This tune was also famous in the U.S. for use in
some episodes of the 1967-70 cartoon series Spider-Man, as well as being the theme for Los
Angeles station KNXT/KCBS-TV's afternoon movie series The Early Show for much of the
1970s and into the 1980s.
In The Netherlands
In the 1970s, Dutch TV series "Sil de Strandjutter" featured a title theme written and performed
by Johnny Pearson and his orchestra.
Pearson's composition "Heather", as performed by The Carpenters, has served as the
background music to the "Plaat & zijn Verhaal"-section ("A record and its story") at Radio
Veronica, in which a song's lyrics are translated into Dutch and read by the DJ.
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