Johnny Pearson
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Johnny Pearson (born June 18, 1925, Chesterfield, Derbyshire) is a British composer and pianist. He has written a vast 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 News at Ten (the last of which was titled "The Awakening"). He also wrote the Grampian Television startup music "Sounds On" and the ATV startup theme "Midlands Montage", as well as music used during intervals between schools programmes on ITV.
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[edit] Sounds Orchestral and the Johnny Pearson Orchestra
He was pianist in the group Sounds Orchestral, who had a number 5 hit in early 1965 with "Cast Your Fate To The Wind". As leader of the Johnny Pearson Orchestra, he reached number 8 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.
[edit] 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 Althia and 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 "Bend Me Shape Me" in the programme broadcast on 15th February 1968, which is one of the few surviving recordings of a complete Top of the Pops broadcast from the 1960s [1]. 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.
[edit] 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 later seasons of Monday Night Football.
[edit] 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's afternoon movie series The Early Show for much of the 1970s.
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