Austen Herbert Croom-Johnson (20 October 1909 Hereford, England – 18 May 1964 Manhattan, New York City) was an English-born pianist, composer, and radio producer: first, until about 1935, for the BBC, then, from about 1936, for NBC.
His Chicago-born lyricist partner, Alan Bradley Kent (né Karl Dewitt Byington, Jr.; 1912–1991), wrote the words.
Its first and most enduring recording was performed – jazz-swing style, uptempo – by the Tune Twisters, a male vocal jazz trio that, for the prior 5 years, had been enjoying popularity on non-jazz oriented broadcasts from New York City.
In an era when advertisements ran often 5 minutes and employed annoyance factors, "Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot" was the first to run slightly under 15 seconds, which permitted many more repetitions.
[7] Early works Up until 1935 in England with Billy Mayerl From 1938 to 1947 with Alan (aka Allan) Kent After 1946 with Redd Evans Johnson was married at least five times.