Johnny Pearson
Encyclopedia
John Valmore Pearson (18 June 1925 – 20 March 2011) known as Johnny Pearson, was a British
composer
, orchestra leader and pianist
. He led the Top of the Pops
orchestra for sixteen years, wrote a catalogue of library music, and had many of his pieces used as the theme music
to television series
.
, Derbyshire
Johnny Pearson showed talent with the piano at an early age. By nine, he had won a scholarship with the London Academy of Music
. Here he spent four years under English pianist, Solomon. In his teens, he would give classical recitals, but his true love at the time was jazz. His first band was the Rhythm Makers. After World War II
, he signed up and became one of the founding members of the Malcolm Mitchell Trio, before leaving in 1954. During his time with the trio, he toured England and Europe, playing the West End
and theatres.
After leaving the trio, Pearson turned his talents to British radio
, as well as performing in the Peter York Concert Orchestra. By 1960, he was conducting the Romance in Rhythm Orchestra. He recorded two singles for Parlophone
, "Waterfall" in mid 1959, and "Theme from an L shaped room" in 1962. He was then offered a solo album deal with Oriole Records
, which first teamed him up with John Schroeder
. The Oriole album, Piano Sweet - Piano Wild, had a single taken from it, "Ooh La La", released in 1962. After the Oriole releases, Johnny Pearson continued to perform with various concert orchestras until 1964.
, a rising singer who had been spotted by The Beatles
producer
, George Martin
. She had released her first 45 single, "Love of the Loved
", in 1963, but it had charted only modestly despite having being written by John Lennon
and Paul McCartney
. A scout for George Martin had spotted the track "Anyone Who Had a Heart" after hearing the US singer Dionne Warwick
's version. Originally the song was to have been recorded in the UK by Shirley Bassey
, but George Martin saw the piece as being more suitable for Black's voice. Early in 1964, "Anyone Who Had a Heart" was recorded by Cilla Black at London's Abbey Road Studios
, in an arrangement by Pearson which featured the use of bassoon
s. In February 1964, it entered the UK Singles Chart
, reaching number 1 in the UK, Ireland
and other parts of Europe. The Dionne Warwick version was also in the charts at the time, but Cilla Black's treatment used slightly different lyrics and a different arrangement.
Following the success of "Anyone Who Had a Heart", Pearson was invited to work on the next Cilla Black single, "You're My World
", which was released in May 1964. This was also recorded at Abbey Road Studios, and again went to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. Pearson also worked on other Cilla Black tracks, some of which featured on her album
, Cilla Sings a Rainbow
.
was an idea by John Schroeder, who had moved from Oriole Records to become the label manager at Pye Records
and was interested in producing and instrumental version of the US hit song "Cast Your Fate to the Wind
". This had been suggested to him at the time by Pye staff member, Tony Reeves. As his project moved to fruition, Schroeder looked for a piano player. His efforts came about when he was reminded of Johnny Pearson from a few years earlier, after he heard him on Radio Luxembourg
. Initially paid a session fee to record "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", Pearson was subsequently made a full partner in the Sounds Orchestral project. "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" was a number 5 hit
in the UK Singles Chart in early 1965. Pearson is also known to have composed under the pseudonym
'Oscar Brandenburg', a name he shared with Neil Richardson and Alan Moorhouse. Sounds Orchestral would end up recording some seventeen albums between 1965 and 1977. Some have subsequently been reissued on CD.
, in early 1965. Sounds Orchestral had just charted with "Cast Your Fate To The Wind", which featured on the first Top Of The Pops show. The following year, in 1966, Pearson took charge of the Top Of The Pops Orchestra. This would be a position he would fill for the next fifteen years, finally leaving the series in late 1981.
special, Carpenters: Live at the BBC
, featuring the American musical duo of Karen
and Richard Carpenter
. It was broadcast the following month on British TV and elsewhere. In early 1973, Pearson was again contacted by Richard Carpenter to ask permission to use one of his songs, on the then forthcoming Carpenters
LP, Now & Then. This track, originally titled "Autumn Reverie", first appeared on the 1968 KPM album, Gentle Sounds, and was retitled "Heather" by producer John Bettis
in the Carpenters' version. Richard Carpenter apparently first heard the track as background music for a commercial for the US health food supplement maker, Geritol
, and loved it straight away. "Autumn Reverie" would also feature again on the 1974 Johnny Pearson LP, Touch Me in the Morning and as background music on the British television series, All Creatures Great and Small (1978–90).
chart
in early 1972 with "Sleepy Shores", the theme from the television series Owen, M.D. (1971–73). The Johnny Pearson Orchestra, which as a musical project was begun in 1972, ran side by side with his other projects. At the time, these projects included working on albums with John Schroeder for Sounds Orchestral and also providing library music to Britain's KPM Records.
Instead of the slightly jazzy sounding, Sounds Orchestral albums, Pearson was offered a project for easy listening
and romance music, based on the success of his "Sleepy Shores" hit. This time he teamed up with music executive Larry Page
, who wanted to move his label
Penny Farthing
into the easy listening genre. The albums were released outside the UK in Europe, Australia, Canada and the US. In 1978, Larry Page decided to rename his Penny Farthing label to Rampage Records, to reflect a more modern outlook. One of the first singles and albums from the Rampage label, would be another of Pearson's international hits, the theme from All Creatures Great and Small.
for television series
. Examples of his work included 3-2-1
, The Rat Catchers
, All Creatures Great and Small, Captain Pugwash
, Monday Night Football
, Mary Mungo & Midge
and ITN's News at Ten (the last of which was titled "The Awakening", a piece otherwise known to American audiences as the main title theme to the 1964/1972 animated film Journey Back to Oz
). 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.
, Pearson's best known composition is "Heavy Action
", originally used as the theme to the 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. His piece "Graveyard" was used in Ren and Stimpy. NFL Films
has used many of his other compositions for its Super Bowl and other highlight films.
, 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, as well as for their Saturday night movie show The Fabulous 52 from the late 1960s until the end of its run in 1974. The track "Sleepy Shores" was also used as incidental music in some of the courting scenes from the 1970s ABC TV drama series, Certain Women. Some of Johnny Pearson's library music was also used as background scene music for the Ten Network series, Prisoner
. Also during late 2011, another Johnny Pearson track, And a Very Good Morning to You, from 1970, was used as a piece of background music, on the Nine Network
series, Underbelly
.
TV series Sil de Strandjutter, performed by 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
.
.
In 1984, Pearson assembled another orchestra, the Johnny Pearson Studio Orchestra, and contributed to John Paul Jones
' motion picture soundtrack, Scream For Help
. Following this, during 1985, he worked on producing music for the BBC TV production drama Maelstrom. Notable on the recordings for Maelstrom is the track "Camellia Waltz", which was treated to sound like an old 78rpm record. Other tracks by Pearson for the series came from his work with KPM. In 1987, together with business partner Adrian Kerridge, Pearson negotiated the purchase of CTS Studios, in Wembley
. In 1988, he returned to the KPM record label and the recording of two new library CDs for the radio and television industry. Both were recorded at CTS Studios in Wembley, with Adrian Kerridge.
After the 1980s, Pearson made occasional live appearances as part of a quartet. In 1996, he recorded a CD of library music, for the radio and television industry, titled Simply Piano. This was followed in 2005 by another CD, Simply Piano 2.
Compilations:
All the above were released on 12" vinyl, and from 1972 to the late 1970s, on the Penny Farthing Label, with Larry Page producing. In Australia, Sleepy Shores and Touch Me in the Morning are on Festival Records. In Australia from 1976 to 1980, Johnny Pearson and his Orchestra were on M7 Records. M7 Records was the offshoot of the ATN7 Television network of Australia. In Japan, Pearson was on JVC Victor. Around 1989, multiple releases occurred to coincide with the abandonment of vinyl records and cassettes by the global record industry. Titles to be found included Themes and Dreams.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, orchestra leader and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. He led the Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
orchestra for sixteen years, wrote a catalogue of library music, and had many of his pieces used as the theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
to television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
.
Early years
Born in ChesterfieldChesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
Johnny Pearson showed talent with the piano at an early age. By nine, he had won a scholarship with the London Academy of Music
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...
. Here he spent four years under English pianist, Solomon. In his teens, he would give classical recitals, but his true love at the time was jazz. His first band was the Rhythm Makers. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he signed up and became one of the founding members of the Malcolm Mitchell Trio, before leaving in 1954. During his time with the trio, he toured England and Europe, playing the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and theatres.
After leaving the trio, Pearson turned his talents to British radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, as well as performing in the Peter York Concert Orchestra. By 1960, he was conducting the Romance in Rhythm Orchestra. He recorded two singles for Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
, "Waterfall" in mid 1959, and "Theme from an L shaped room" in 1962. He was then offered a solo album deal with Oriole Records
Oriole Records (UK)
Oriole Records was the first British record label founded in 1925 by the London-based Levy Company, which owned a gramophone record subsidiary called Levaphone Records.-History:...
, which first teamed him up with John Schroeder
John Schroeder (musician)
John Francis Schroeder is a British easy listening composer, arranger, and producer.Schroeder worked as an A&R assistant to Norrie Paramor at Columbia Records. He was also a songwriter and, with Mike Hawker, wrote the song "Walkin' Back to Happiness", which in a version by Helen Shapiro reached...
. The Oriole album, Piano Sweet - Piano Wild, had a single taken from it, "Ooh La La", released in 1962. After the Oriole releases, Johnny Pearson continued to perform with various concert orchestras until 1964.
Working with Cilla Black
In early 1964, Johnny Pearson took part in helping launch the career of Cilla BlackCilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
, a rising singer who had been spotted by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
. She had released her first 45 single, "Love of the Loved
Love of the Loved
"Love of the Loved" is a song written mainly by Paul McCartney, credited to Lennon–McCartney. It is one of his earliest compositions and featured in the Beatles live act in their early days. The group recorded the song at their 1962 audition for Decca Records, but never issued it on any of their...
", in 1963, but it had charted only modestly despite having being written by John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
. A scout for George Martin had spotted the track "Anyone Who Had a Heart" after hearing the US singer Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
's version. Originally the song was to have been recorded in the UK by Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
, but George Martin saw the piece as being more suitable for Black's voice. Early in 1964, "Anyone Who Had a Heart" was recorded by Cilla Black at London's Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, in an arrangement by Pearson which featured the use of bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s. In February 1964, it entered the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, reaching number 1 in the UK, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and other parts of Europe. The Dionne Warwick version was also in the charts at the time, but Cilla Black's treatment used slightly different lyrics and a different arrangement.
Following the success of "Anyone Who Had a Heart", Pearson was invited to work on the next Cilla Black single, "You're My World
You're My World
"You're My World" is a ballad originally recorded in 1963 as "Il Mio Mondo" by Umberto Bindi, who co-wrote the Italian-language version with Gino Paoli. Rendered with English lyrics by Carl Sigman as "You're My World",the song has reached No...
", which was released in May 1964. This was also recorded at Abbey Road Studios, and again went to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. Pearson also worked on other Cilla Black tracks, some of which featured on her album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Cilla Sings a Rainbow
Cilla Sings a Rainbow
Cilla Sings a Rainbow is the title of Cilla Black's second solo studio album released on 18 April 1966 by Parlophone Records. The album reached #4 on the UK Album Chart, surpassing the peak of her previous album, which reached #5.- Re-Release :...
.
Sounds Orchestral
Sounds OrchestralSounds Orchestral
Sounds Orchestral was a British studio-based easy listening group, assembled by John Schroeder with Johnny Pearson in 1964.-Career:John Schroeder had worked with Johnny Pearson previously over at Oriole Records, producing Johnny Pearson's first solo album. Moving to Pye, Schroeder was quick to...
was an idea by John Schroeder, who had moved from Oriole Records to become the label manager at Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
and was interested in producing and instrumental version of the US hit song "Cast Your Fate to the Wind
Cast Your Fate to the Wind
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" is an American jazz piece written and originally recorded by Vince Guaraldi, with lyrics later added by Carel Werber. It won a Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition in 1963...
". This had been suggested to him at the time by Pye staff member, Tony Reeves. As his project moved to fruition, Schroeder looked for a piano player. His efforts came about when he was reminded of Johnny Pearson from a few years earlier, after he heard him on Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
. Initially paid a session fee to record "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", Pearson was subsequently made a full partner in the Sounds Orchestral project. "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" was a number 5 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
in the UK Singles Chart in early 1965. Pearson is also known to have composed under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
'Oscar Brandenburg', a name he shared with Neil Richardson and Alan Moorhouse. Sounds Orchestral would end up recording some seventeen albums between 1965 and 1977. Some have subsequently been reissued on CD.
Top of the Pops
Pearson first came into contact with the BBC's Top of the PopsTop of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, in early 1965. Sounds Orchestral had just charted with "Cast Your Fate To The Wind", which featured on the first Top Of The Pops show. The following year, in 1966, Pearson took charge of the Top Of The Pops Orchestra. This would be a position he would fill for the next fifteen years, finally leaving the series in late 1981.
The Carpenters
In October 1971, Johnny Pearson helped produce the BBC TelevisionBBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
special, Carpenters: Live at the BBC
Carpenters: Live at the BBC
The Carpenters is a videotaped studio concert performed by The Carpenters in 1971.The artists lip-synched some tunes, like "Help" and the Burt Bacharach Medley, but most of the songs on the BBC Concert were performed 'as live'. It was recorded on September 25 and aired on BBC1 on November 6, 1971...
, featuring the American musical duo of Karen
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...
and Richard Carpenter
Richard Carpenter (musician)
Richard Lynn Carpenter is an American pop musician, best known as one half of the brother/sister duo The Carpenters, along with his sister Karen Carpenter. He was a producer, arranger, pianist and keyboardist, and occasional lyricist, as well as joining with Karen on harmony...
. It was broadcast the following month on British TV and elsewhere. In early 1973, Pearson was again contacted by Richard Carpenter to ask permission to use one of his songs, on the then forthcoming Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
LP, Now & Then. This track, originally titled "Autumn Reverie", first appeared on the 1968 KPM album, Gentle Sounds, and was retitled "Heather" by producer John Bettis
John Bettis
John Bettis is an American lyricist who has co-written many famous popular songs over the years. In 2011, John was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame....
in the Carpenters' version. Richard Carpenter apparently first heard the track as background music for a commercial for the US health food supplement maker, Geritol
Geritol
Geritol is a US trademarked name for various dietary supplements, past and present. Geritol is currently a brand name for several vitamin complexes plus iron or multimineral products in both liquid form and tablets, containing from 9.5 to 18 mg of iron per daily dose...
, and loved it straight away. "Autumn Reverie" would also feature again on the 1974 Johnny Pearson LP, Touch Me in the Morning and as background music on the British television series, All Creatures Great and Small (1978–90).
Johnny Pearson and his Orchestra
As leader of the Johnny Pearson Orchestra, he reached number 8 in the UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in early 1972 with "Sleepy Shores", the theme from the television series Owen, M.D. (1971–73). The Johnny Pearson Orchestra, which as a musical project was begun in 1972, ran side by side with his other projects. At the time, these projects included working on albums with John Schroeder for Sounds Orchestral and also providing library music to Britain's KPM Records.
Instead of the slightly jazzy sounding, Sounds Orchestral albums, Pearson was offered a project for easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
and romance music, based on the success of his "Sleepy Shores" hit. This time he teamed up with music executive Larry Page
Larry Page (British singer and manager)
Larry Page is an English former pop singer and record producer of the late 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...
, who wanted to move his label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Penny Farthing
Penny Farthing Records
Penny Farthing Records was established by UK record producer Larry Page, as a progression from his mildly successful 1960s record label, Page One Records. It did not repeat the top 20 hits of his earlier venture, but signed some artists of note....
into the easy listening genre. The albums were released outside the UK in Europe, Australia, Canada and the US. In 1978, Larry Page decided to rename his Penny Farthing label to Rampage Records, to reflect a more modern outlook. One of the first singles and albums from the Rampage label, would be another of Pearson's international hits, the theme from All Creatures Great and Small.
In the United Kingdom
Pearson was a successful composer of theme musicTheme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
for television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
. Examples of his work included 3-2-1
3-2-1
3–2–1 was a popular British game show that was made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, between 29 July 1978 and 24 December 1988. Throughout its run, the show was hosted by former Butlins Redcoat Ted Rogers. It was based on a Spanish gameshow called Un, dos, tres.....
, The Rat Catchers
The Rat Catchers
The Rat Catchers is a 1960s British television series about a top secret British Intelligence Unit who receive orders from the Prime Minister and without questions battles enemy spies, saboteurs, and other criminals in order to protect the security of Great Britain and the Western Alliance...
, All Creatures Great and Small, Captain Pugwash
Captain Pugwash
Captain Pugwash is a fictional pirate in a series of British children's comic strips and books created by John Ryan. The character's adventures were adapted into a TV series, using cardboard cut-outs filmed in live-action , also called Captain Pugwash, first shown on the BBC in 1957, a later colour...
, Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
, Mary Mungo & Midge
Mary Mungo & Midge
Mary, Mungo and Midge is a British animated children's television series, created by John Ryan and produced by the BBC in 1969.The show featured the adventures of a girl called Mary, her dog Mungo, and her pet mouse Midge, who lived in a tower block in a busy town. BBC newsreader Richard Baker...
and ITN's News at Ten (the last of which was titled "The Awakening", a piece otherwise known to American audiences as the main title theme to the 1964/1972 animated film Journey Back to Oz
Journey Back to Oz
Journey Back To Oz is a 1974 animated film and the official sequel to the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. It is loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, although Baum received no screen credit. However, the Wizard was nowhere to be found, at least in the...
). He also wrote the Grampian Television
Grampian Television
Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
start-up music "Sounds On" and the ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
startup theme "Midlands Montage", as well as music used during intervals between schools programmes on ITV.
In the United States
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Pearson's best known composition is "Heavy Action
Heavy Action
"Heavy Action" is a piece of music composed by Johnny Pearson. It is best known in the UK as the theme for Superstars, and in North America as the theme music for ABC and ESPN's Monday Night Football.-Superstars:...
", originally used as the theme to the BBC sports show Superstars
Superstars
Superstars is an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a decathlon....
, and subsequently adopted by ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
(the NFL's weekly nationally televised showcase) and the SFM Holiday Network
SFM Holiday Network
The SFM Holiday Network was a syndicated movie broadcast package from SFM Entertainment which aired on holiday weekends from 1978 until 1991.-Origins:...
. In 1989
1989 NFL season
The 1989 NFL season was the 70th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announced his retirement...
, Edd Kalehoff
Edd Kalehoff
Edward Woodley "Edd" Kalehoff is a music composer who specializes in compositions for television.-Notable pieces:Composer of about 1,000 pieces, mainly for television, his credits include the majority of cues used on The Price is Right as well as the Nickelodeon game show Double Dare, a music...
composed and recorded a new arrangement of this music for later seasons of Monday Night Football. His piece "Graveyard" was used in Ren and Stimpy. NFL Films
NFL Films
NFL Films is a Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based company devoted to producing commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries on the National Football League, as well as other unrelated major events and awards shows...
has used many of his other compositions for its Super Bowl and other highlight films.
In Australia
In AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, his best known library music piece was "Power Drive," which was used as the theme for the 1969-75 police drama Division 4
Division 4
Division 4 was an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 300 episodes....
. This tune was also famous in the U.S. for use in some episodes of the 1967-70 cartoon series Spider-Man
Spider-Man (1967 TV series)
Spider-Man is an animated television series that ran from September 9, 1967 to June 14, 1970. It was jointly produced in Canada and the United States and was the first animated adaptation of the Spider-Man comic book series, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko...
, as well as being the theme for Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
station KNXT/KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV, channel 2, is an owned-and-operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Los Angeles, California. KCBS-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KCAL-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter...
's afternoon movie series The Early Show for much of the 1970s and into the 1980s, as well as for their Saturday night movie show The Fabulous 52 from the late 1960s until the end of its run in 1974. The track "Sleepy Shores" was also used as incidental music in some of the courting scenes from the 1970s ABC TV drama series, Certain Women. Some of Johnny Pearson's library music was also used as background scene music for the Ten Network series, Prisoner
Prisoner (TV series)
Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 27 February 1979 to 11 December 1986.The series was inspired by the 1970s...
. Also during late 2011, another Johnny Pearson track, And a Very Good Morning to You, from 1970, was used as a piece of background music, on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
series, Underbelly
Underbelly (TV series)
Underbelly is a 13-part Australian television mini-series that retells the real events of the 1995–2004 gangland war in Melbourne, and is the first series in the larger Underbelly Franchise. It depicts the key players in Melbourne's criminal underworld, including the Carlton Crew and their rival,...
.
In the Netherlands
In the 1970s, Johnny Pearson composed the music score for the DutchNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
TV series Sil de Strandjutter, performed by 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
Radio Veronica
Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast from offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales of radio receivers by providing an alternative to...
, in which a song's lyrics are translated into Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
and read by the DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
.
The 1980s and later
In late 1981, Johnny Pearson's tenure at BBC's Top Of The Pops came to an end, as the show had itself undergone a major reorganisation. By that time he had been associated with the programme for sixteen years. He was credited on the milestone 900th Top Of The Pops episode, in July 1981; his last credit with the show, was in late August 1981. After this, Pearson continued to work on independent projects and in 1982, released the instrumental album On Golden Pond through Larry Page's Page One RecordsPage One Records
Page One Records, established in 1966, was the UK record label owned by the producer/manager Larry Page, during his successful period as a hitmaker in the 1960s....
.
In 1984, Pearson assembled another orchestra, the Johnny Pearson Studio Orchestra, and contributed to John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (musician)
John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...
' motion picture soundtrack, Scream For Help
Scream for Help (album)
2000 Compact disc editionSame track listing and order as the vinyl release.- Personnel :* John Paul Jones - Keyboards, synthesizer, bass guitar, guitars, backing vocals, producer* Jimmy Page - Electric guitars...
. Following this, during 1985, he worked on producing music for the BBC TV production drama Maelstrom. Notable on the recordings for Maelstrom is the track "Camellia Waltz", which was treated to sound like an old 78rpm record. Other tracks by Pearson for the series came from his work with KPM. In 1987, together with business partner Adrian Kerridge, Pearson negotiated the purchase of CTS Studios, in Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
. In 1988, he returned to the KPM record label and the recording of two new library CDs for the radio and television industry. Both were recorded at CTS Studios in Wembley, with Adrian Kerridge.
After the 1980s, Pearson made occasional live appearances as part of a quartet. In 1996, he recorded a CD of library music, for the radio and television industry, titled Simply Piano. This was followed in 2005 by another CD, Simply Piano 2.
Discography
Johnny Pearson at one time had at least four different projects going at the same time: Sounds Orchestral, as pianist; Johnny Pearson and his Orchestra; work with KPM Records, with background music for radio and television; and as arranger with Top Of The Pops. Apart from his work with John Schroeder and Sounds Orchestral, at Pye during 1964-1975, his solo work included:- 1962 Piano Sweet - Piano Wild (Oriole PS40023)
- 1967 Portrait Of The 20th Century (KPM Records UK)
- 1970 Sounds Extravanganza (Aristocrat UK)
- 1970 The Johnny Pearson Sound, Studio 70 Orchestra (A&M Records)
- 1971 Heavy Action (Superstars)
- 1972 Sleepy Shores
- 1974 Touch Me in the Morning
- 1975 In Love
- 1976 Sil de strandjutter (original score from Dutch TV series)
- 1976 Rodrigos Guitar Concerto (Australian reissue of Sleepy Shores)
- 1977 If You Leave Me Now
- 1978 All Creatures Great and Small (UK release)
- 1980 Bright Eyes
- 1981 I Remember that Summer
- 1982 On Golden Pond (PAGE1 Records)
Compilations:
- 1980 Thinking of You (Endeavour Records - Castle Australia)
All the above were released on 12" vinyl, and from 1972 to the late 1970s, on the Penny Farthing Label, with Larry Page producing. In Australia, Sleepy Shores and Touch Me in the Morning are on Festival Records. In Australia from 1976 to 1980, Johnny Pearson and his Orchestra were on M7 Records. M7 Records was the offshoot of the ATN7 Television network of Australia. In Japan, Pearson was on JVC Victor. Around 1989, multiple releases occurred to coincide with the abandonment of vinyl records and cassettes by the global record industry. Titles to be found included Themes and Dreams.
Compact disc releases
- 1989 Themes and Dreams (President Records PRCD171) UK
- 1989 Golden Instrumental Hits (Laserlight 15 171) German
- 1991 Sleepy Shores (BR Music BR132-2) Europe
- 1997 Best Of Johnny Pearson and Orchestra (Music Club MCCD304) UK
- 1998 Breaking Up and Making Up (Music Collection Int ETDCD057) UK
- 1999 Music and Romance (Disky Communications INS857162) Dutch
- 2010 King of Elegant Piano (JVC Victor Japan VICP47025) Double CD