As a child growing up in the 1970s and 1980s - hard to believe, I know - I used to fastidiously read the closing credits on all my favourite sitcoms. And one name cropped up more than most - Ronnie Hazlehurst.
The doyen of TV theme tunes, who has died aged 79, Hazlehurst composed the music for some of the most popular shows of the era, including The Two Ronnies, Are You Being Served?, and Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em.
I think The Two Ronnies - click on the links to hear them for yourself - has to be one of the best. What excitement! What anticipation! And only half an hour before the latest instalment of the Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town!
His piccolo theme tune for Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em was another classic, as was The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. Perky and bleak at the same time, it perfectly matched the tone of the show.
Sorry!, an old Ronnie Corbett sitcom that I enjoyed but probably not many of you did, was also memorable, if only for its comedy wangy guitar (I'm not entirely sure that is the correct expression).
I'm not so keen on Hazlehurst's theme for Blankety Blank, though, which just hasn't aged as well as The Two Ronnies. I may have been giving this too much thought.
So what else did he do? Well, there was To The Manor Born - a colleague points out that it was not dissimilar to another Hazlehurst effort, Yes Minister (or Yes, Prime Minister, as it is here) - and Last of the Summer Wine, which takes me from nought to depressed in 6.4 seconds.
Then there was Wogan - that probably doesn't count as one of the most popular shows of the era - Three Up, Two Down, and a few I have no recollection of whatsoever - I Didn't Know You Cared and Wyatt's Watchdogs. Your help, please.
Oh, and here's one you might not know. Hazlehurst also co-wrote the S Club 7 hit, Reach.
· The following correction was added on Friday October 5 2007: Ronnie Hazlehurst had no part in the writing process of the S Club 7 song, Reach, as was claimed in the blogpost above.
