John Arden "Jay" Ferguson (born May 10, 1947) is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and pop musician known for his work with the bands

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

and

Jo Jo Gunne Jo Jo Gunne was an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1971 by Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes after they had left Spirit. The band was named after a Chuck Berry song, "Jo Jo Gunne". They released their eponymous ...

, and his 1978 solo hit " Thunder Island". His later career has been as a composer of music for television programs and films. Many people know Ferguson for composing the theme song for the American version of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Childhood and early musical career

Ferguson was born on May 10, 1947, in Burbank in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, to John Becker and Kathleen Jane Ferguson. He grew up in the

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

and

Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and t ...

sections of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. At 12 years old, Ferguson's parents encouraged his musical abilities with classical piano lessons. When he was 16, Ferguson's interest transferred to the

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

. Along with his brother Tom, an accomplished

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

player, he formed a bluegrass group called The Oat Hill Stump Straddlers including Michael Fondiler and Steve Fondiler. Ferguson was also a member of local garage bands Western Union and The Red Roosters, as was Michael Fondiler. He also held part-time jobs at different points as a theater usher and an architect's assistant for his father John Ferguson, and taught piano in a music store and studied at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

after high school.

The band Spirit

Spirit was founded in the mid-1960s. Many musicians of the time cited

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and their music as an influence, and Ferguson was no exception. Reuniting with longtime musician friends

Randy California Randy Craig Wolfe (February 20, 1951 – January 2, 1997), known as Randy California, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the original members of the rock group Spirit, formed in 1967. Life and career California was bo ...

and California's stepfather

Ed Cassidy Edward Claude Cassidy (May 4, 1923 – December 6, 2012) was an American jazz and rock drummer who was one of the founders of the rock group Spirit in 1967. Biography Ed Cassidy was born in Harvey, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago on May 4 ...

, who, with Mark Andes and John Locke were in a band called the Red Roosters - Ferguson joined with them to form a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

influenced rock group that was originally called Spirits Rebellious, after a

Khalil Gibran Gibran Khalil Gibran ( ar, جُبْرَان خَلِيل جُبْرَان, , , or , ; January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931), usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran (pronounced ), was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist ...

passage. With the general consensus that the moniker was too long, they later shortened the name to

. Ferguson was the last member to join the band and found himself in the position of lead

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

. Ferguson shared singing and songwriting duties with California, writing most of the songs on their first album. Spirit began playing at various nightclubs and concerts in the

area, especially the clubs along the

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...

, including

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...

. At one of these shows, French film producer

Jacques Demy Jacques Demy (; 5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was a French director, lyricist, and screenwriter. He appeared at the height of the French New Wave alongside contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. Demy's films are celebrat ...

saw Spirit perform and decided he wanted them in his next

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

. It led to a cameo role for the band and a short speaking part in which Ferguson played a character based loosely on himself in the film '' Model Shop''. Spirit also provided much of the

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

. The band went on to tour and record several albums.

Jo Jo Gunne

Ferguson and Mark Andes decided to leave Spirit in 1971 and form their own band. Ferguson was

's main songwriter (writing virtually all the material) and only lead vocalist. Jo Jo Gunne became the second act signed to the new

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/As ...

label. The band scored a moderate hit with the single "Run, Run, Run" from their debut album (1972). With the first record and some touring already completed, Mark Andes decided to leave and join a band that would later become

Firefall Firefall is an American country rock band that formed in Boulder, Colorado, in 1974. It was founded by Rick Roberts, former member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Jock Bartley, who had been Tommy Bolin's replacement in Zephyr. The band' ...

, with his brother Matt staying behind with Jo Jo Gunne. Jimmie Randall, an

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, bassist was recruited in Mark's place. Jo Jo Gunne toured all over the US and Europe for the next three years, and recorded three more albums, ''Bite Down Hard'' (1973), ''Jumpin' The Gunne'' (1974) and ''Where's The Show'' (1975). Matt Andes left the band after the third album and was temporarily replaced with Star Donaldson on lead guitar, and then, later, John Staehely. After a four-year existence, the group split up in the mid-1970s. Jo Jo Gunne reformed in 2005, and recorded a new album, ''Big Chain'', which included both new material and new versions of several old Gunne songs.

Solo career

Ferguson took a year and a half off to rest, until record producer

Bill Szymczyk William Frank Szymczyk (; born February 13, 1943) is an American music producer and technical engineer best known for working with rock and blues musicians, most notably the Eagles in the 1970s. He produced many top albums and singles of th ...

asked Ferguson to come down to his

Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. He contributed in 1975 on piano and vocals to

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr B ...

's live recording of ''

You Can't Argue with a Sick Mind ''You Can't Argue with a Sick Mind'' is a live solo album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. The album was released in early 1976 as Walsh's last album for ABC Records. It was recorded live just before Walsh jo ...

'', before Walsh subsequently went on to join

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

. Ferguson recorded three studio albums and a limited-run

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

for Asylum. While managed by Martin Pichinson, he scored a Top 10 hit with the title track on his second solo album, '' Thunder Island'' (1978), which peaked at No.9 in the US. Another minor hit was "

Shakedown Cruise Shakedown cruise is a nautical term in which the performance of a ship is tested. Generally, shakedown cruises are performed before a ship enters service or after major changes such as a crew change, repair or overhaul. The shakedown cruise s ...

" (No. 31) from his last Asylum album, ''Real Life Ain't This Way''. After his

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

for Asylum was completed, Ferguson changed record labels, and recorded two more solo albums for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. In 1983 his keyboards and bass were a prominent contribution to "

Language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

", a 5-track EP by acclaimed Texas guitarist

Gary Myrick Gary Myrick is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Career Born in Dallas, Texas, Gary Myrick played guitar and sang in Dallas and neighboring Fort Worth starting as a teenager. Eventually, he built a significant enough reputation to be ...

, who was exploring a new-wave direction at the time.

Soundtrack composer

In 1982, after his sixth and last solo album, ''White Noise'', Ferguson decided to become a

composer for

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. To date, he has written music for over 15 feature films and for many TV shows. His most recognizable composition as a TV and film scorer is the theme to the NBC-TV version of ''

'', which won him the 2007 Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Comedy Television Program. (In ''The Office'', he is also the guitarist in Kevin's band "Scrantonicity".) He is the composer of "Pictures of You" from the soundtrack to ''The Terminator'', and the entire score to '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child'' and ''Bad Dreams'', the ''Tales From The Crypt'' episode "Forever Ambergris", as well as ''Tremors 2: Aftershocks'', and ''Tremors 4: The Legend Begins''. Ferguson is also the current soundtrack composer for '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', having replaced original composer James S. Levine halfway through season one with Ferguson's music debuting in the season 1 episode, "Chinatown".

Discography

Albums

*1976: ''All Alone in the End Zone'' (

) *1977: ''Jay Ferguson Live'' (Asylum) (promotional issue only) *1977: '' Thunder Island'' (Asylum) U.S. No.72 *1979: ''Real Life Ain't This Way'' (Asylum) U.S. No.86 *1980: ''Terms and Conditions'' (

) *1982: ''White Noise'' (Capitol) U.S. No.178 *1989: ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child'' (soundtrack) (

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...

)

Singles

*1976: "Medicated Goo" *1977: " Thunder Island" - U.S. No.9, Canada No.8 *1978: "Losing Control" *1979: "

" - U.S. No.31, Canada No.48 *1979: "Paying Time" *1980: "Terms and Conditions" *1982: "Tonite (Fallin' for Ya)"

References

External links

Bio on Jo Jo Gunne website

Biography by Steve Huey on Allmusic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Jay 1947 births Living people American rock musicians American rock singers American male singers People from Burbank, California Singers from California Spirit (band) members Varèse Sarabande Records artists Capitol Records artists Asylum Records artists