Chance Meeting
Friday March 29th, 2024 with Heavy Ben
From The Library: John Cameron

Chance meeting on the Serengeti of a daydream and an earthquake Today we wish a happy 80th birthday to John Cameron (b. 1944-03-20) - British composer, arranger, conductor, musician, and record producer. Cameron came out of the British jazz scene, playing live as a teenager in the 1960s. Moving to London, his first arrangement job was Donovan’s "Sunshine Superman" – Cameron came up with a unique jazz-folk single with proto-psychedelic leanings that went to #1 in America and made him an in-demand arranger overnight. The Donovan connection (Cameron arranged virtually all of his 60s recordings) led to work with Françoise Hardy, Julie Felix, and Ella Fitzgerald, but he was happier working with a full, funky brass section. In the early 1970s, Cameron formed CCS, a jazz-rock big band that scored four UK hits, including a mainly instrumental version of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", a version of which was used as the theme music for Top of the Pops from 1970 to 1981. John wrote the orchestral score for every version of Les Miserables. He was involved with Honk! (The Ugly Duckling), Peter Pan, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Film credits include his music score for A Touch of Class for which he received an Oscar Nomination, Kes, Night Watch, To End All Wars, and Psychomania. For television his work ranges from his scores for Jack the Ripper, Jekyll and Hyde, the theme for the BBC’s Crimewatch UK. On the pop side, Cameron arranged and produced records by UK soul-funk band Hot Chocolate (I Believe In Miracles... "You Sexy Thing" and "Every 1's a Winner"), UK disco band Heatwave ("Boogie Nights"), However, my interest lies in Camerson's work on some of the most influential and heavily sampled KPM and Bruton library recordings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cameron_(musician) https://www.johncameronmusic.com/ (to embiggen the show icon, right-click and choose "Open image in new tab")