The song Onnu thodanullil...  is an yesteryear hit from the Malayalam film Yathrakkarude Sradhakku released in 2002.  After gifting Malyalees this romantic piece, music director Johnson simply bowed out of the scene. Never to return, it was feared.
Where has this man, this handpicked assistant and disciple of the late composer G Devarajan, vanished? Into which shadow has this musician known for his soulful strains, withdrawn? His fans inquired and mulled over the reason for his hiatus.
He returned, four years later in 2006, just the way he exited. Abruptly and without notice. Ènthe Kannanu Karuppu Niram…’, for the film Photographer, was Johnson’s ‘homecoming’. A reunion of sorts took place. The melody wafted back into the senses of the music lovers.
According to Johnson, the hit song has overshot his expectation. “I had insisted that Dasettan (singer Jesudas) should sing this song, and his voice has invariably cast the spell,” says the unassuming musician. His well wishers savoured the songs with a tinge of nostalgia, while for the generation  X music-buffs, it was an exposure to some classic strain.
Johnson, who has been living with his family in Chennai for the last 32 years, spoke more about his career and incidents that have made him what he is today.
By 2008, he will be completing 30 years in his musical vocation. And, this native of Thrissur in Kerala, now wishes to settle back in his homeland before long.   
Johnson began his music career by singing in ganamelas with female voice modulation. In 1968,  his few friends  and he set up an amateur music troupe, under the banner, ‘Voice of Trichur’.
Eventually, he mastered harmonium, and learnt the basics of playing instruments like violin and guitar. “All I had learnt then equipped me more for my job, in later years”, he says. 
It was singer P Jayachandran who introduced Johnson to Devarajan master. For about five years from 1975, his career was in the formative phase under the master’s baton. “But for his compulsion, I would have turned my back at this incidental opportunity to assist him.
However, master who was like a godfather used to tell me something that still rings in my ear: ‘You have your stuff and you need not go licking anybody’s boots for chance. What you deserve will come your way’ ”, recalls Johnson with a smile. 
Johnson entered tinsel world by scoring background music for the 1978 Bharthan film Aravam. Following year, he composed songs for the film Inayethedi, which was his first experiment with film song. But it were the songs in the films Parvathi' (Nandasuthavara...) and Premageethangal (Swapnam verumoru swapnam) during the early 80s that had become trend-setters.
Again, the 90s saw him teaming up with lyricist Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri to churn out an assortment of hits like Kanneer Poovinte Kavulil (Kireedam), Poo Venam Poopada Venam (Oru Minna Minunginte Nurungu Vettam), Devanganangal kayyozhinja tarakam… (Njan Gandharvan), Ponnilkulichu ninnu (Sallapam), to name a few.
What makes Johnson’s music captivating is that he keeps orchestration at a minimal level so that it never swallows up the voice track. Song, be it folk, melody, pathos, carnatic, ethnic, or Hindustani, follows a definite pattern, making it ear-soothing. This maker of melody has tried fusion as well in Fazil’s 1991 film Manathe Vellitheru.
Thanks to his grounding in pure music, even today when he composes a song, it never sounds raucous. “It could be because I follow a definite format while composing a song. I see to it that the chords and notes emanating from the accompanying instruments blend well”, he explains.
Moreover the director prefers the live playing of instruments, mostly natural ones, for recordings. The tune for lyrics comes spontaneously to him and orchestration usually gets done in an hour, according to him.
Johnson has already worked for 299 films, which include both composing songs and re-recordings. What has kept him away for four years was his ill health. “I was  very sick and wanted to be within a shell. This is a  fact,” he said.
Johnson has always steered clear of the rat race. In his life too, he loves the unhurried, peaceful rhythm that characterises his compositions. “I can still compose film songs, but only that I wish to work for those who are on the same wavelength with me”, he quips.