Musical puns

and7barton

and7barton

Dedicated Member
Just noticed something - When Auntie Wainwright's lads are carrying the roll of lino out of her shop. There's a snatch of music from the Ken Dodd hit song - "Love is like a violin".
I suddenly realised the last four letters of "Violin" rearranged, spell "Lino". Is this sheer coincidence, or did Ronnie Hazlehurst do that deliberately ? - I can't think of any other reason why he'd insert that particular snatch of music at that particular moment.
 
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I'd buy that I loved the interludes Ronnie Hazelhurst provided some are so well thought out to match the action on the screen he is one of my inspirations for amending lyrics to fit some of the thread posts .
 
I've detected the more obvious musical puns in other episodes....... quotes from "Steptoe & Son", Robin Hood, "Right said Fred" (Bernard Cribbins) etc., but I wonder now if there have been other, more subtle jokes. Maybe it's time now to listen more closely to the music.
 
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Shame he never wrote something like a symphony. That might have been interesting. One particular and lengthy tune that developed during an episode were the French horn variations during the sequences with Wesley's amphibious car. You can hear the theme gradually taking form early on, until, during the bit where the car/boat is whizzing across the field to the point where Foggy gets thrown into the water it becomes a great, and quite quirky melody that I always enjoy.
 
...and just noticed another little gem tonight - on the episode "Available for Weddings", just as Clegg is getting out of Entwhistle's truck with a broken foot, there's a snatch of the theme from "Doctor Kildare", lasting less than two seconds. Later in the show, another, less subtle musical quote of the Boy Scout song "Riding Along on the Crest of a Wave", just as Barry comes out of his house with camping equipment.
 
Ronnie must have struck a big enough 'chord' to have been a subject of TV's Spitting Image, going under the name of Ronnie Heslehurst.

Not the best parody I've seen, but interesting viewing all the same, available on YouTube.
 
Also, in the one about when Seymour invents the bicycle that drills and they hit the oil line causing a gusher, Ronnie wrote a few bars a la the musical theme of Dallas. They got a letter from the powers to be of Dallas threatening legal action and accusing Ronnie of using the Dallas theme song.
 
Adanor said:
Also, in the one about when Seymour invents the bicycle that drills and they hit the oil line causing a gusher, Ronnie wrote a few bars a la the musical theme of Dallas. They got a letter from the powers to be of Dallas threatening legal action and accusing Ronnie of using the Dallas theme song.
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Looks like the BBC chose to ignore their protests !
 
and7barton said:
Looks like the BBC chose to ignore their protests !
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I believe that it was Alan Bell who wrote that it was actually the LOTSW theme song in the style of the Dallas one. Ronnie replied to Dallas' lawyers with the suggestion that they listen much more closely. I never saw Dallas, so I have no idea what the theme sounded like, but I listened closely to the background music in that episode and I'm not sure whether or not I'm hearing the LOTSW theme.
 
Marianna said:
I believe that it was Alan Bell who wrote that it was actually the LOTSW theme song in the style of the Dallas one. Ronnie replied to Dallas' lawyers with the suggestion that they listen much more closely. I never saw Dallas, so I have no idea what the theme sounded like, but I listened closely to the background music in that episode and I'm not sure whether or not I'm hearing the LOTSW theme.
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I think it hinted at the Dallas theme in it's beat and sound
 
Some of the sleeve notes on his CD of SW music (which I am sure many of you have) hints at slight suggestions of play on words or some links which are quite subtle.

It seems he took a great deal fo care in gettign the music to fit, as In Foggy's more militqry themes and so on ...
 
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