Steven James Brown (25 October 1954 – 2 February 2024) was a British composer, lyricist, record producer, and arranger.
He was a full cast member of the Sony Award winning BBC Radio 4 comedy sketch series In One Ear from 1984 to 1986.
Part of his character arc revolved around his complaining (jokingly) that not enough time or attention was given to his musical interludes, and that the rest of the cast got all the funny material.
In 1995, he composed the music for The Ant & Dec Show on Children's BBC, and later worked on their SMTV Live programme, for which he wrote the 'Wonky Donkey' jingle, among other themes.
Brown played the fictional bandleader Glen Ponder in the Steve Coogan TV show Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge,[1] and worked with Coogan thereafter, writing material and appearing as MD on two major UK tours including a West End run at The Lyceum in The Man Who Thinks He Is It, a further UK tour in 2008, The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon special and album and the song "Raped In The Face" for the film Hamlet 2.
In 2018, transmission began of the adventure game show Spyschool for which he provided theme music and the entire underscore.
His musical adaptation of It's A Wonderful Life, co-written with Francis Matthews, was staged at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich in 2009.
In 2022, the show made its world premiere at London's Park Theatre before a run in 2023 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as well as a UK tour.