Laurie Johnson

Laurence Reginald Ward Johnson (7 February 1927 – 16 January 2024) was an English composer and bandleader who wrote scores for dozens of film and television series, described as “one of the most highly regarded arrangers of big-band swing and pop music” in England. Early career, theatre and KPM Johnson was born in Hampstead, London, England on 7 February 1927. He studied at the Royal College of Music, where his tutors included Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams. One of his first major projects was as composer and music director in a musical adaptation of Henry Fielding’s Rape Upon Rape, entitled Lock Up Your Daughters (1959). The score, with lyrics by Lionel Bart, won an Ivor Novello Award. It opened the new Mermaid Theatre in 1959 and was later revived at the Mermaid in 1962, transferring to the West End in 1963. Johnson’s other stage work included music for the Peter Cook revue, Pieces of Eight (1959), and The Four Musketeers (1967), starring Harry Secombe. At the sessions Johnson produced two styles of music: light orchestral and big band jazz. He was also house conductor for KPM in the 1960s. The Trend Setters, recorded for KPM in 1960, was used as the theme tune for th