Johnny Pearson - 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.