It was performed by The Tonight Show Band, which released an arrangement by Tommy Newsom in 1986 as part of its Grammy Award-winning debut album.
"Johnny's Theme" began life as "Toot Sweet", a pop instrumental composed in 1959 by Paul Anka and recorded by Tutti's Trumpets.
He recorded his own version of "It's Really Love" that same year for the French film Faibles Femmes;[2] it was released on seven-inch EPs in France, Italy and Spain.
[5] When Johnny Carson, a fan of jazz music, was preparing to take over as the permanent host of The Tonight Show starting in October 1962, he recognized that he would need a theme song.
[7] Anka created a new instrumental arrangement for "It's Really Love" and sent a demo to Carson and Ed McMahon, who were in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, making preparations for the show.
"[7] Shortly after sending the demo, Anka received a telephone call and was told that Tonight Show bandleader Skitch Henderson was angry because Carson wanted to use a theme song written by a "20-year-old kid.
"[7] Anka said he then offered to let Carson write and publish new lyrics in order to claim a songwriter's credit along with half of the royalties every time the song was played[2] which would earn each man an average of about US$200,000 per year.
"[32] Severinsen and The Roots played "Johnny's Theme" during a 2015 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.