Doctor Strangelove composer dies
RIPThe Times has a fine obituary for Laurie Johnson, composer of The Avengers for the BBC and, more lastingly, of the Peter Sellers movie, Doctor Strangelove.
Laurie was 96 and never out of work.
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A name I seem to remember from childhood — I would first have seen it as a credit to The Avengers, a family favourite, and most recently when I binge-watched all of The Professionals, which I had always known about but never seen.
RIP.
a brilliant inventive composer.
His catchy earworm Animal Magic Theme for TV was also recycled a few years ago by BBC TV to accompany their popular W1A series which ironically gave an alarming insight into the inner workings of Auntie.
Maybe it was a deliberate choice watching human behaviour at Broadcasting House akin to the Animal behaviour of a previous generation?
Either way, an iconic signature tune among the many Laurie will be remembered for.
I knew Dr Strangelove was a movie by Kubrick….
He wrote the Vera Lynn WW2 song “We’ll Meet Again'”?
No, Kubrick used a lot of existing music not written by Johnson, including the popular songs Try A Little Tenderness over the opening credits and We’ll Meet Again at the end.
That Avengers theme is iconic and quite different to most television theme tunes as it starts with a dramatic series of chords then becomes a serenade for strings that seems to capture the enjoyment of life Steed and Mrs Peel indulge in when they are not thwarting cat lovers or other fringe societies.
By the way, the Avengers was made by the ABC or the British American Association and shown on ITV not the BBC.
He was abit of a genius.
This is your life theme….
https://youtu.be/a8SZdTCEjZw?si=–v4kcvz2H5jpqSZ
“The Avengers” theme was his lasting contribution to television music, it’s a classic. He did score a number of feature films, and his work e.g. in “The Belstone Fox” or “Captain Kronos” (for Hammer Films) is more substantial than what he contributed to the Kubrick film. He also wrote a number of popular “light music” pieces.