Jay Ferguson

John Arden Jay Ferguson born May 10 1947 is an American rock and pop musician known for his work with the bands Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne 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 on NBC Ferguson was born on May 10 1947 in Burbank in the San Fernando Valley California to John Becker and Kathleen Jane Ferguson He grew up in the Van Nuys and Canoga Park sections of Los Angeles Along with his brother Tom an accomplished fiddle player he formed a bluegrass group called The Oat Hill Stump Straddlers including Michael Fondiler and Steve Fondiler He also held parttime jobs at different points as a theater usher and an architects assistant for his father John Ferguson taught piano in a music store and studied at UCLA after high school Spirit was founded in the mid1960s Many musicians of the time cited The Beatles and their music as an influence and Ferguson was no exception Reuniting with longtime musician friends Randy California and Californias stepfather Ed Cassidy who with Mark Andes and John Locke were in a band called the Red Roosters Ferguson joined with them to form a jazzinfluenced rock group that was originally called Spirits Rebellious after a Khalil Gibran passage They later shortened the name to Spirit Ferguson was the last member to join the band 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 Los Angeles area especially the clubs along the Sunset Strip including Whisky a Go Go At one of these shows French film producer Jacques Demy saw Spirit perform and decided he wanted them in his next film 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 soundtrack In 1982 after his sixth and last solo album White Noise Ferguson decided to become a soundtrack composer for movies and television He has written music for over 15 feature films and many TV shows His most recognizable composition as a TV and film scorer is the theme to the NBCTV version of The Office 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 Kevins 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 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 Fergusons music debuting in the season 1 episode Chinatown