Laurie Johnson
b. 7 February 1927, England. A musical director, and composer for the stage, television and films, Johnson studied at the Royal College Of Music in London, before establishing himself on the UK entertainment scene in the late '50s and '60s. One of his first major projects, early in 1959, was to write the music, and act as musical director, for LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS, a musical adaptation of Henry Fielding's RAPE UPON RAPE, which opened Bernard Miles’ Mermaid Theatre in the City of London. Johnson's score, in collaboration with lyricist, Lionel Bart, won an Ivor Novello Award. The show returned to the Mermaid in 1969 for a 10th anniversary season, and also played around the world including a spell at the Godspeed Opera House in Connecticut, USA. The film version omitted the songs and featured a score by Ron Grainer. His other work for the West End stage included music for the Peter Cook revue PIECES OF EIGHT (1959), and the score, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer ( Les Miserables), to THE FOUR MUSKETEERS (1967), starring singer-comedian, Harry Secombe. Despite attracting venomous reviews, THE FOUR MUSKETEERS ran for over a year. In 1961, the Laurie Johnson Orchestra had a UK Top 10 chart entry with the Latin-styled, Sucu Sucu, written by Tarateno Rosa, the theme from the UK television series, TOP SECRET. On the b-side, was a Johnson composition, the title theme for another television production, ECHO FOUR-TWO. This was one of over 50 themes or scores that he wrote for television, a list that included NO HIDING PLACE, WHEN THE KISSING HAD TO STOP, JASON KING, SHIRLEY'S WORLD, THE AVENTURERS, THRILLER, THE AVENGERS, THE NEW AVENGERS and THE PROFESSIONALS. The latter two were produced by Johnson's company, Avengers (Film And TV) Enterprises, formed with Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens. Johnson also composed extensively for the cinema, from the late '50s. His film scores included THE MOONRAKER (1958), NO TREES IN THE STREET (1958), TIGER BAY (1959), I AIM AT THE STARS (1960), SPARE THE ROD (1961), DR STRANGELOVE—OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964), THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1964), THE BEAUTY JUNGLE (1966), EAST OF SUDAN (1966), HOT MILLIONS (1968), AND SOON THE DARKNESS (1970), THE BELSTONE FOX (1976), DIAGNOSIS: MURDER (1976), IT'S ALIVE II (IT LIVES AGAIN) (1978), IT SHOULDN'T HAPPEN TO A VET (1979), BITTER HARVEST (1981). Johnson also composed the music for the television movie, JERICHO, which involved many of the original AVENGERS team, including Patrick MacNee. Johnson's later album releases mostly contained television and film themes.