Laurie Johnson facts for kids

Laurence Reginald Ward Johnson (born 7 February 1927 – died 16 January 2024) was an amazing English composer and bandleader. He wrote music for many films and TV shows. People called him one of the best arrangers of big-band swing and pop music in England. A lot of Johnson's music was created for the KPM music library between 1960 and 1965.

Early Career and Music Library Work

Laurie Johnson was born in Hampstead, England. He studied music at the Royal College of Music. His teachers included famous composers like Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Before becoming a full-time composer, he spent four years playing the French horn in the Coldstream Guards band.

In the 1950s, Laurie started working in the entertainment world. One of his first big jobs was writing music for a musical called Lock Up Your Daughters in 1959. The songs, with words by Lionel Bart, won an Ivor Novello Award. This is a very important award for music in the UK! He also wrote music for other stage shows, like Pieces of Eight and The Four Musketeers.

Starting in 1960, Laurie Johnson began writing and recording music for the KPM Music Library. He created two main types of music: light orchestral music and big band jazz. He was also the main conductor for KPM during the 1960s. Some of his recordings were even released as regular albums, like The New Big Sound of the Laurie Johnson Orchestra. You might have heard some of his library music without knowing it! Pieces from his library have been used in popular animated series such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Ren And Stimpy.

TV Show Music

In 1961, Laurie Johnson had a hit song called "Sucu Sucu". This was the theme music for a UK TV show called Top Secret. He became very well known for writing music for television. In 1965, he left KPM to work directly for TV companies.

From the 1960s to the 1980s, he wrote over fifty theme tunes and scores for TV shows. Some of his most famous themes include:

• This Is Your Life (called "Gala Performance")
• The Avengers (starting in 1965)
• Animal Magic (called "Las Vegas")
• Jason King
• The New Avengers
• The Professionals

Laurie Johnson was also one of the people who started Mark One Productions. This company made TV shows like The New Avengers and The Professionals. Later in his life, he even recorded comments for the DVDs of some of these shows. He also wrote the theme music for a BBC Radio 1 jazz show called Sounds of Jazz.

Film Scores

Laurie Johnson also composed music for many films. His film scores helped to set the mood and tell the story on the big screen. Some of the movies he worked on include:

• The Good Companions (1957)
• Tiger Bay (1959)
• Dr. Strangelove (1964)
• First Men in the Moon (1964)
• You Must Be Joking! (1965)
• Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter (1972)
• Diagnosis: Murder (1975)

He also wrote music for the TV film Mister Jerico. This film featured many of the same people who worked on The Avengers TV series.

Orchestral and Band Music

Laurie Johnson released several recordings of his own music. These included longer pieces for orchestras, like The Royal Tour and The Wind in the Willows. He also created a special piece called Symphony: Synthesis. This was unique because it combined a jazz orchestra with a traditional symphony orchestra. Famous jazz musicians and the London Philharmonic Orchestra played on this recording.

He also released albums featuring music from his TV shows, like The Avengers and The Professionals. He even made albums celebrating the film music of other famous composers, such as Dmitri Tiomkin and Bernard Herrmann.

In 1997, Laurie Johnson started touring with his own band, called The London Big Band. Their version of the "Theme From 'The Professionals'" even reached number 36 on the UK Singles Chart!

Personal Life

In 1962, Laurie Johnson bought a large house in Stanmore, North London, where he lived for many years. He wrote a book about his life called Noises in the Head, which was published in 2000.

In 2014, he was given a special honor. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his amazing contributions to music. This is a very important award in the UK.

Laurie Johnson passed away on 16 January 2024, at the age of 96. He left behind a huge collection of music that continues to be enjoyed by many people.