Former Durham maths teacher Keith Strachan hit the jackpot when he wrote the theme for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? He talks to Steve Pratt abut his other muscial achievements.

Keith Strachan didn't have to phone a friend or even ask the audience to win Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? The only question he had to answer was "Can you write the theme music for a new game show?"

The Durham-born composer, musical director and arranger came up with the music that's such a vital part of the show that's became an international hit, kickstarting a trend for a different kind of TV game show.

"It's like winning the Lottery," says Strachan about the success of his million pound notes. When the programme rights are sold abroad, his music is part and parcel of the package, recognition of the key role it plays in the show.

With sales to more than 100 countries, it's helped make Strachan a millionaire without having to sit in the hot seat opposite Chris Tarrant.

Yet he and son Matthew, who worked with him on the music, had no idea that writing the TV theme tune would have such massive impact.

"Originally, someone else had done the music. A pilot programme had been made but it hadn't turned out the way they intended," explains Strachan.

"The makers said they were going to do it again and said would I re-arrange the music? When I saw the pilot it was like a daytime game show. I said I'd have to start from scratch.

"We had a week to do it. The brief was that it had to be tense and have drama. I said that the music for every new question should be in a different key. It was five times the work but a lot was done on a computer, so it was a question of programming.

'The big problem was how to make it work in the studio because no one had ever done a game show like that. The lighting man knew what to do when he heard the music, it became quite obvious with the music in place."

The music works, he thinks, because you can close your eyes and visualise exactly what's going on. "You hear what it does, like in adverts if you hear a corny country tune you know it's for chicken nuggets or something like that," he says.

"Before Millionaire, game show music was always the same. We had no idea what a success it would be, even in the studio on the day of recording the programme. Chris Tarrant didn't know the music and it was confusing him because he heard it for the first time in rehearsal. But it worked on the night."

Millionaire was an instant hit, but Strachan waited considerably longer to have chart success with Cliff Richard's recording of Mistletoe And Wine.

He originally wrote the song for the musical The Little Match Girl in 1975. "I knew when I wrote it that it was a hit Christmas song but couldn't get anyone interested in recording it," he says.

"Fifteen years later we did a TV version of the show with Roger Daltrey and Twiggy, who sang that song. One of the producers said 'that's a great song, you should release it - I know someone who has contact with Cliff Richard'."

The record sold more than a million copies, earning Strachan an Ivor Novello Award.

His success is all the more extraordinary considering he had no formal musical training and originally worked as a maths teacher. His early music experiences were growing up in the North-East. "I used to play in bands and things at the youth club, just what young kids did in those days," he says.

"I left to go to university and started playing in bands there. To begin with, there was never going to be a career in music and I started off as a maths teacher.

"Music was always there, I was playing semi-pro at the weekend while I was teaching. The band got a record deal and we started touring around. Because I had kids on the way, I stopped doing that and went back to teaching. But I'd caught the music bug by then."

During the school holidays, he accepted an offer from a friend to be musical director of a musical being staged at a pub fringe theatre outside London. When one theatre job led to another, and another, and another, he decided to quit teaching in his late 20s. "I really enjoyed teaching but realised that in order to progress or to get any money in teaching, you have to be a headmaster and that would mean doing less teaching," he says.

An invitation from producer Ray Cooney - who'd seen a flop musical Strachan had co-written - to work on his London West End show, Elvis The Musical, was the call he needed to make him swap maths for music. It meant he got to work with legendary pop producer Jack Good, whose TV show Oh Boy! he'd watched as a teenager.

Since swapping maths for music, variety has been the keynote of his career. He's written musicals and directed straight plays. He's worked as an MD and arranger on TV shows including The Morecambe And Wise Show and Spitting Image, as well as writing TV themes for the likes of The Detectives and Auntie's Bloomers. He formed singing group Wall Street Crash in 1980, serving as their artistic and musical director for four years.

Shows on which he's worked, as director or musical director and arranger, include Elvis The Musical, Four Steps To Heaven, Saucy Jack And The Space Vixens, Let The Good Stones Roll and Ferry Cross the Mersey.

But his speciality is compilation stage shows. They include the Motown-inspired Dancing In The Streets, currently in London's West End, and his latest touring production, Sweet Soul Music, coming to York and Gateshead next month.

"I grew up with rock and roll, Elvis and the soul music I'm doing in the new show," says Strachan. "Most of the work I've done in the theatre has been to do with that period of music, and I've become known for it. I do like other kinds of music, but I'm so familiar with and love that era.

"I have a reputation for doing compilation shows, having done a number of them. I suppose if someone sees these shows and plans to do one, they think, 'I know who I'll get to do this'."

Sweet Soul Music celebrates the greatest hits from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam Cooke, James Brown and Ben E King. Hits featured include Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay, Mustang Sally, Stand By Me, Midnight Hour and When A Man Loves A Woman.

The staging of the show marks 40 years since the first Stax/Atlantic UK tour where British music fans were introduced to the live power of Sam & Dave, Booker T & The MGs, Carla Thomas and Otis Redding.

His love of soul music made putting together the show difficult rather than easy. "I started out with a list of favourites and put together a show that lasted four hours," he says.

The show will serve as a tribute to the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, who died last year. Ironically, Strachan was doing some arrangements of his songs when news of his death broke.

As for what's next, 63-year-old Strachan can only say: "I never know. I keep thinking I might put my feet up soon but something will come along. I'm as old as the music, but I love the music of that era because everyone loves the music they grew up with. There's a longevity about this music that doesn't exist elsewhere. With Sweet Soul Music and Dancing In The Streets, I know the audience will be aged from 20 upwards."

* Sweet Soul Music is at York Grand Opera House on March 8 (tickets 0870-606-3595) and The Sage, Gateshead, on March 9 (tickets 0191-443-4661).