Andrew William John McCrorie-Shand (born 14 May 1955) is a British composer. He is mostly known for having composed musical scores for children's television programmes, including the original theme tune for ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

'', and also the chart topping hit that followed it, '' Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!"''. McCrorie-Shand has also composed the music for ''

Rosie and Jim ''Rosie and Jim'' (sometimes written as ''Rosie & Jim'') is a British children's television programme which was produced by Ragdoll Productions and aired on ITV from 3 September 1990 to 16 May 2000. The programme was then repeated periodica ...

'', '' Brum'' and ''

Tots TV ''Tots TV'' is a British children's television programme, produced by Ragdoll Productions and Central. The series was first telecast in the UK on the ITV network (part of CITV) from 1993 to 1998. Development ''Tots TV'' was written by two of ...

''.

Biography

He was born in Cheltenham,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

into a musical family and taught to play piano from age 5. McCrorie-Shand joined the mid-1970s progressive rock band Druid as the keyboardist for the band's two studio albums on EMI Records. He later worked with other performers of the era such as Curved Air,

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

Sally Oldfield Sally Patricia Oldfield (born 3 August 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter. She is the sister of composers Mike and Terry Oldfield. Early life Born in Dublin, Ireland, Oldfield was raised in the Roman Catholic faith of her mother, Maureen. Sp ...

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles, (born 21 January 1950), better known by his stage name Billy Ocean, is a British recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British R&B singer-son ...

and Sarah Brightman. McCrorie-Shand was later looked upon by the children's production company Ragdoll Productions and chosen to work on TV shows such as ''

'', '' Brum'', ''

'', '' Boohbah'', ''

'', ''

The Adventures of Abney & Teal ''The Adventures of Abney & Teal'' is a British animated surreal children's television programme which uses a mixture of 2D and CGI animation based on the works of writer and illustrator Joel Stewart. The show, which follows the adventures of ...

'', ''Twirlywoos'', B.O.T. and the Beasties. McCrorie Shand composed music for

Carrie and David's Popshop ''Carrie and David's Popshop'' is a children's musical television series aired on CBeebies, originally broadcast in 2008. It is presented by celebrity vocal coaches Carrie Grant and David Grant, with their pet dog Riff, puppeteered by Dave Ch ...

. McCrorie-Shand appeared in the Rosie and Jim episode "Recording Studio" with Druid bass guitarist

Neil Brewer Neil Brewer (born July 15, 1954) is a British musician, who is best known for being a member of the 1970s rock band Druid and for presenting the last four series of '' Rosie and Jim''. Brewer played the role of a musical narrowboat owner, who ...

. He has not returned for the remake of ''

'', although the new show features orchestral versions of his original theme.

References

External links

* 1955 births Living people English composers People from Cheltenham Musicians from Gloucestershire 20th-century composers 20th-century British composers 21st-century composers 21st-century British composers {{UK-composer-stub