The 20th of February 1972
Official U.K. Singles Chart results from Sunday the 20th to Saturday the 26th of February 1972
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 19th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 20th,
announced on Tuesday the 22nd,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 27th of February 1972.
The Johnny Pearson Orchestra
Sleepy Shores
At No.27, on the the U.K. Top 50 Singles Chart the day I am born, is The Johnny Pearson Orchestra with “Sleepy Shores”.
The Johnny Pearson Orchestra was enjoying quite a lengthy run in the UK Charts at this time.
“Sleepy Shores”, was the theme from the TV show “Owen M.D.”, a spin-off serial from British TV series “The Doctors” which had originally been set in North London. The new show centred instead around the main character Dr. Thomas Owen (hence the title) who’d left the city and had now set up a rural country practice.
At first, this programme was the BBC’s effort to rival ITV’s “Crossroads”, when the corporation scheduled 2-part serials in direct competition at 7pm on a Wednesday and Thursday, before they changed the format and moved the show to Sunday evenings for it’s second series.
Johnny was no stranger to the music entertainment world,..
…and had more presence on your TV than you probably ever realised.
For instance, after taking up the baton of the Top of the Pops orchestra in 1966, he went on to score the orchestral version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ (with electric guitar accompaniment from Alan Parker) as its theme tune, which beamed out every week on TV screens across the country.
Alan, the guitarist,..
…has appeared earlier in this chart, playing on the Congregation’s ‘Softly Whispering I Love You’.
Other ventures Johnny had contributed to…
…through his recent past, included arranging orchestration for a selection of Cilla Black’s early hits, such as ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’.
He’d backed…
…Dusty Springfield’s TV series with a 32 piece orchestra.
Only the previous year,..
…he’d also provided musical direction for the Carpenters’ TV Special ‘Live At The BBC’.
A huge contributor to the KPM library of music,..
…Johnny will be contacted once again by Richard Carpenter next year, when he would seek Johnny’s permission to use his track ‘Autumn Reverie’ (which the Carpenter’s producer John Bettis will rename ‘Heather’) for their upcoming album.
ITV’s ‘News at Ten’?..
…Yep, that’s Johnny too. It’s pulled from a track called ‘The Awakening’
But, the one creation of Johnny’s…
…which will become a personal favourite of mine, is a piece he composed a couple of years ago in 1970 entitled ‘Heavy Action’ which, in the not too distant future, will become known to millions in the UK as the theme to the iconic sports series ‘Superstars’, and also travel over to the U.S. to become familiar to Americans as the theme for Monday Night Football.
Back to his current hit,..
…and ‘Sleepy Shores’ had entered the U.K. Singles Chart on the 12th of December the year before at No.26, and had climbed steadily up throughout December, before reaching it’s peak at No.8, just after New Years Day 7 weeks ago.
It settled back one place to No.9 for a further 2 weeks, before slipping out of the Top 10 near the end of January.
Since then, up to, and including this week, and the following few weeks afterwards, it will hover around the Top 30 before it eventually leaves the chart after the 25th of March.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
The Johnny Pearson Orchestra – Sleepy Shores (TV Appearance)
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