[4] Spence built a reputation as a pianist and arranger in the second part of the 1950s under the wings of Jack Parnell at ATV.
In 1960, George Martin decided to use Johnnie Spence, who had just been signed to Parlophone as a musical director, for the upcoming session with his new recording-act Terry Parsons, aka Matt Monro.
With the success of Parlophone as a pop label, he became orchestral arranger for recordings and television shows for such acts as Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and Cilla Black, Petula Clark and – during the 1970s – Gilbert O'Sullivan.
[5] From his early twenties, Spence rapidly built a reputation as one of the country's most brilliant and imaginative musical directors, and was very much in demand by then on both sides of the Atlantic.
Although becoming a frequent visitor to America, he had plenty of work in the UK as a music arranger/musical director for television and radio shows, as well as live-performances, such as John Barry's Elizabeth Taylor in London (1963), The Tommy Steele Show (1964/65), Matt Monro at The Talk Of The Town (1965), BBC Show of the Week and Ella Fitzgerald Sings (1965), and several TV shows: Cilla At The Savoy (1966), The Shirley Bassey Show (1968/69), The Royal Variety Performance (1969), a Tom Jones UK-Tour with a 35-piece orchestra led by Johnnie Spence (1970), and various TV specials with Tom Jones, including This Is Tom Jones, and The Sound Of Petula (1974) with Petula Clark, featuring Gilbert O'Sullivan and the Peter Knight Orchestra & Chorus, with arrangements by Peter Knight, Steve Gray and Johnnie Spence.
Johnnie Spence and his Orchestra released several of their own records, predominantly of television and film themes; "Wheels" and "First Romance", a Jerry Lordan composition from his album: All My Own Work (1961).
Among his other compositions are "This Time" (1961) (using the pseudonym "Jack Abrahams", co-written with "Graham Fisher" aka George Martin), and "Going Places", with Don Black (1964), both recorded by Matt Monro.
From 1969 onwards, the family lived in rented houses in California, close to Los Angeles recording studios.
Spence had just signed a contract with the Joey Bishop Show for ABC network when fate struck; he died suddenly at home in Los Angeles of a heart attack on 15 August 1977, at the age of 41.
The funeral took place at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills on 20 August 1977 with among the pallbearers Tom Jones and Gilbert O'Sullivan.
"Johnnie Spence was one of the best musicians I've ever known.He was a marvellous arranger, a great band man and his scores for brass, saxes, rhythm and strings were the best I've ever had, much better than I could do.