Sad that my first blog should be about a death, but Ronnie Hazlehurst, who has died aged 79, was such a tremendous presence on British television it's hard to imagine a world without him. Ask any UK-based telly watchers of the last 40 years what their favourite TV theme is, chances are it'll be by Hazlehurst : Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em, Yes Minister, Blankety Blank, Last of the Summer Wine, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Are You Being Served - it's an impressive list and one that I couldn't help talking about when I interviewed Hazlehurst some years ago. I had actually got him in the studio to talk about the Eurovision Song Contest, as I was making a (fairly) serious series about it for BBC Radio 3. But how could I resist getting this legend to talk about all those wonderful themes, that had become so much a part of all our lives? And so we settled down to a lovely chat - on tape - about how he created and recorded the themes.
Much of his output was of its time. Are You Being Served could ONLY have been written in the 1970s, with its kitsch arrangement, even though it's actually a very sophisticated piece. I always rather liked the way Ronnie would get the title of the show into the music, like Blankety Blank ("Blankety Blank..boom boom...") and the morse code idea behind Some Mothers. I asked him about the use of piccolos for that theme and he said it was simply a question of budget - there wasn't one. He used what was available. And sing "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" to the word and you'll see how he came up with that 'fall and rise' tune. Kinda cute, but very effective and, most importantly of all, memorable. One of my earliest TV memories is being allowed to stay up and watch Butterflies, the bittersweet comedy from Carla Lane. The theme tune was by Dolly Parton but the gentle, fluttering arrangement was by Ronnie. Talking about all this music, Ronnie seemed almost embarrassed, as if he was being 'accused' of writing all this popular music somehow. Except when it came to Last of the Summer Wine. He loved working on that show, and was writing underscore for it when we met. He talked with great affection for the writer and actors of that enduringly popular show, and about his own, perfect little theme. It occurred to me then that Ronnie, having just retired to Guernsey, could have been one of those old northern lads in the series. His professional reputation could be fierce, he was, after all, a perfectionist. But by now he was happy, gently passing away the time writing melodies and scores that harked back to a golden age of British comedy.
Ronnie Hazlehurst WAS British comedy for a while. Thanks to re-runs, we will never forget his genius.
Hear a BBC radio interview with Ronnie Hazlehurst HERE
