Johnny Pearson 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 . Early years . Born in Chesterfield , 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 after Malcolm Mitchell broke up the group to start a solo career . During his time with the trio , Johnny Pearson toured England and Europe , playing the West End and theatres . The early Malcolm Mitchell Trio consisted of Malcolm Mitchell , Teddy Broughton and Johnny Pearson . After leaving the Malcolm Mitchell 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 . Working with Cilla Black . In early 1964 , Johnny Pearson took part in helping launch the career of Cilla Black , 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 been 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 " . Sounds Orchestral . Sounds Orchestral 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 . 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 Pops " , 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 . Pearson ' s arrangement for the Top of the Pops Orchestra of Led Zeppelin ' s " Whole Lotta Love " was the theme tune to " Top of the Pops " for most of the 1970s . The last drummer to work with Pearson in " The Top Of The Pops Orchestra " was Peter Boita . Peter started with " The Top Of The Pops Orchestra " in 1977 and stayed until the orchestra ' s last performance after which the show ' s format was changed . The Dusty Springfield TV Series . During 1966 , as well as Top Of The Pops , Johnny Pearson worked and directed the orchestra for the Dusty Springfield shows which were recorded by the BBC , for television . Featuring Johnny Pearson directing a full 32 piece orchestra , there were a total of twelve episodes made . Six in 1966 and six in 1967 . In recent years , the surviving nine episodes that remain , have been remastered and released as " Dusty Springfield Live at the BBC " , on DVD . KPM . In 1966 , Johnny Pearson also started his long association with the KPM library record label . KPM was originally known as Keith Prowse Music . KPM would later became part of the EMI Group of companies but was able to retain it ' s independence due to its specialist nature . Johnny Pearsons involvement with KPM was to last many years until 1978 , which is when Johnny Pearson switched over his music library efforts to Bruton Music . Johnny Pearson would however again later return to KPM during 1988 . Johnny Pearson ' s earliest contributions at KPM came in the form of contributing to KPM ' s in house orchestra , the Group - Forty Orchestra . KPM ' s Group - Forty Orchestra was an orchestra which existed between 1959 and 1966 . It ' s role was to record background music for radio and television . From 1967 , Johnny Pearson started appearing on many of KPM ' s music library recordings , in his own right . The Carpenters . In October 1971 , Johnny Pearson helped produce the BBC Television special , " " , 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 ) . Johnny Pearson and his Orchestra . As leader of the Johnny Pearson Orchestra , he reached number 8 in the United Kingdom 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 " . Library and theme music . In the United Kingdom . Pearson was a successful composer of theme music 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 . In the United States . In the United States , 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 . 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 , 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 " . In the Netherlands . In the 1970s , Johnny Pearson composed the music score for the Dutch 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 . 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 Records . 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 . During 1993 , Johnny Pearson worked with Shirley Bassey on a new album recording . Titled " Shirley Bassey sings the songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber " , this was recorded at the CTS Studios . With Johnny Pearson mainly conducting , the album was subsquently released through EMI . More recently , it has now been reissued on compact disc . In 1996 , Johnny Pearson 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 " . Death . Johnny Pearson died at the age of 85 , on 20 March 2011 . 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 : 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 " .