<P> Jesse Frederick James Conaway (born 1948), known professionally as Jesse Frederick, is an American film and television composer and singer best known for writing and performing the themes to TGIF television shows such as Perfect Strangers, Full House, Family Matters, and Step By Step for ABC . </P> <P> Frederick was born Jesse Frederick James Conaway in Salisbury, Maryland, and was raised in Seaford, Delaware . He was the youngest of two children . His brother, Everett Thomas (Tommy) Conaway, Jr. (1944 - 1956), died of Cystic Fibrosis at 12 years of age . In his early childhood, Jesse was familiarly known as "Freddy" before legally dropping the James Conaway from his name in his later teens . This was done in an attempt to distinguish himself from the legacy of his father, Everett T. "Conny" Conaway, Sr. (1915 - 2010). Conny was a prominent figure in the poultry processing industry . During his unprecedented 70 - year career, the senior Conaway designed and built some of the earliest processing plants for Allen Family Foods, Frank Perdue and Preston Townsend, all of which are still operating today . In early adolescence, Frederick attended Massanutten Military Academy for two years . Once he entered high school, his father put him to work, hoping to groom a protege in the industry . Frederick learned about the processing of poultry first hand as a plant laborer at many of his father's factories on the East Coast . </P>

Who sings the theme song for family matters