The Music of
The Benny Hill Show

Page 7
Essay on Stock Music by William Brown

Of all the elements that made The Benny Hill Show a worldwide success over the years - the man himself, his parodies and impersonations, his poems and songs, the chemistry with his cast, and (in the opinion of a few), the girls - one important factor in the show's appeal has been the music. Not just the arrangements brought forth by Ronnie Aldrich's orchestra (and his various musical associates, notably Syd Lucas and Ted Taylor), or Hill's various ditties, but also certain pieces of stock music provided by production music libraries for use in TV, radio and movies. Three of the most famous of these companies, whose music was frequently heard on the show over the years in silent sketches, were De Wolfe, Chappell and KPM, though there were others such as Studio G, Boosey & Hawkes, Southern, Chandos, et al. (Chappell benefitted doubly from the show, not just from the use of their stock music but also due to their holding copyrights on many pop standards from within the proverbial "Great American Songbook," portions of which were sung by Benny and/or certain cast members, or played by the Aldrich orchestra, in numerous sketches over the years.)

There were many composers whose pieces made it onto many music library discs, but one name stands out in particular among Hill fans: Paul Lewis. An assistant musical adviser for ABC Television for three years in the early to mid 1960's before striking out on his own, Lewis wrote music of all types - romantic, horror, costume, comedy, period pieces, etc. - for a host of library music companies, and in recent years has conducted for the classical music genre. (He also has an official website, paullewiscomposer.co.uk, which mentions more of his credits, library music, and commercially released albums.)

At least two of Lewis' library music albums - History Book of Music and Music of the Victorian and Edwardian Era, both issued by De Wolfe (and probably some others of his) - got considerable play on TBHS over the course of its first decade on Thames. The former in particular is something of a Holy Grail for Hill fans, as of the sixteen tracks on this 10" album originally released in 1967, eight of them - or half the entire contents - have seen play on the show, and two in particular have become as famous as "Yakety Sax," the four-song medley which included Beethoven's "Für Elise," "Mah-Na, Mah-Na" and "Gimme Dat Ding," and the constant slapping of Jackie Wright's head (which, though not musical, could be considered rhythmic in and of itself). Here is a list of the songs from History Book of Music that had been played in certain sketches over the years, in order of appearance on the LP (a 33-1/3 RPM record mostly played at high-speed 78 RPM, of course):

Jester's Dance (Side 1, Band 3)
Court Entrance (Side 1, Band 4)
These two tunes were played (in that order) during "The Messenger" sketch which aired on Benny's March 24, 1971 special. This was the only time the former track was played, but the latter would be heard again in the April 16, 1980 "Les 3 Mousquateres" sketch.

Doublet and Hose (Side 1, Band 6)
The second most famous library music song associated with TBHS, this harpsichord solo was first heard in the Dec. 25, 1969 "The Short Happy Life of Maurice Dribble" sketch, and also in "The Messenger," "Gavin Blod: The Man & His Music" (Jan. 8, 1975), "Casanova" (March 23, 1977) and one final spin in "The Scarlet Pimple" (Feb. 6, 1980) - in the last-named sketch, played slower than in the past, but still faster than the originally intended speed.

Sad Event (Side 2, Band 1)
The opening part was played in the part of the "Gavin Blod: The Man & His Music" sketch with a stock photo of an old shack on the screen and Henry McGee narrating about the title character, "At the age of 62, overcome with remorse and chronic flatulence, he took to his bed where he remained for three years."

Music Tutor (Side 2, Band 4)
Another harpsichord solo, this was played in "The Messenger" sketch (in order of appearance, after "Court Entrance"); also heard in "The Scarlet Pimple" and "Les 3 Mousquateres."

Stately Home (Side 2, Band 6)
This number was played during the scene in "The Short Happy Life of Maurice Dribble" sketch where an elderly Maurice (Benny) was playing strip poker in a nursing home with a pretty nurse (Yvonne Paul).

German Dance (Side 2, Band 7)
Only the last four notes of this piece were heard in "The Short Happy Life of Maurice Dribble" sketch, in-between the first and second playing of the next track, in the scene where the father of Maurice (also played by Benny) and his newlywed bride (Eira Heath) arrived at the hotel where they would spend their honeymoon.

Ballroom (a.k.a. The Benny Hill Waltz) (Side 2, Band 8)
Of all the library music pieces heard in the 20 years TBHS ran on Thames, this is perhaps the most famous. First played in "The Short Happy Life of Maurice Dribble," it was also heard during the course of "The Messenger," "The Short and Unhappy Romance of Ted Tingle" (March 13, 1974), "Casanova," "A Marriage of Convenience" (a.k.a. "Marrying for Money," a.k.a. "All for the Money," March 14, 1979; played in a considerably slower speed but still faster than the intended speed at which it was recorded) and "The Scarlet Pimple." Its string-quartet, 3/4 time waltz arrangement lent itself to the unofficial nomenclature "The Benny Hill Waltz" due to its repeated exposure on the show - and in the end, that was what this song actually became known as, when in the early 2000's Lewis recorded a new, extended version for the commercially-released CD Three Decades of TV Themes which was released on Campion Cameo 2018 in 2002. The original library music version was a mere 59 seconds (whittled down to 22 seconds when played at 78 RPM on the program); the newer version on this commercial release was 2:47.

In sum, Paul Lewis, in the eyes of some Hill fans, was to TBHS what Raymond Scott was to the music of Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes cartoons of the 1940's and into the '50's. Scott was a composer, bandleader, and early electronic-music advocate who in the late 1930's fronted a jazz group that recorded a variety of songs - "Powerhouse," "The Toy Trumpet," "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals," "Twilight in Turkey," "Reckless Night on Board an Ocean Liner," "In an Eighteenth-Century Drawing Room" and others - which would be heard in many classic cartoons from the denizens of what has been called "Termite Terrace." But there was one fundamental difference: Scott's compositions were scored anew by the studio's musical directors - first Carl Stalling, then Milt Franklyn - for each of the cartoons in question. By contrast, Lewis' original recordings were used on the Hill show.

But Lewis wasn't the only library music composer whose work was heard on the show. A few other pieces have been brought to the attention of the contributing editor of this website, thus:

• A few other De Wolfe pieces, starting off with two compositions by Reg Tilsley: Downtown Motown, an uptempo number which opened the "Cinema: Clive Janes" quickie from his Feb. 22, 1973 bloopers sketch, and Return to Summer, a 3/4 ballad type written in the "A Summer Place" vein, which was heard during the opening title sequence of the "Yield to the Dawn" sketch of April 25, 1979, over Mr. Hill's "Preceded by scenes from last week's episode" announcement (another of Mr. Tilsley's stock-music tracks for De Wolfe, "Hold the Road," is known to a generation of New Yorkers who grew up in the 1970's as the theme for The Eight O'Clock Movie on television station WPIX - though most couldn't tell you who wrote it or what its title was); plus a song by Keith Papworth, Island Greeting 2 (one of a few arrangements he did of the Hawaiian classic "Aloha Oe"), which was played in the scene of the Feb. 10, 1982 "The Video Machine" sketch where Benny's character was on a remote island, on the verge of being cooked for dinner by native girls, before he presses his remote to reverse so that he was back where he started.

• Some 1940's/1950's vintage De Wolfe stock musics also turned up from time to time in some sketches. Probably the most famous of these was a song called Castles in the Air, whose sweeping arrangement lent itself to use in many TV documentaries relating to the Golden Age of Hollywood. On TBHS, an early section of this tune was heard within the opening title sequence of his March 5, 1980 sketch "The Fudpuckers," while the last few seconds were played at the open and close, and at different portions, of the mammoth "Hollywood Grates: Chubby Dodds" sketch of Feb. 6, 1980. The writer of this piece was credited on one compact disc (The Golden Age of Light Music: Buried Treasures, Guild [UK] GLCD 5118) as Kenneth Essex, while De Wolfe's own website lists Derek Dwyer as the writer. Both names were noms des plumes of a composer named Rufus Isaacs, who also used such pseudonyms as Howitt Hale and Claud Vane when writing light-music pieces (usually of a showbiz or "holiday" feel) for the company.

• A Chappell Music library music piece, Fanfare in Beat by Johnny Hawksworth (perhaps most famous for the "Salute to Thames" music heard at the opening of every edition of TBHS produced and aired between 1969 and 1986, as the logo came up). This tune was played at the start of the Feb. 4, 1970 "Tommy Tupper in Tupper-Time" sketch. Mr. Hawksworth also did a violin-solo arrangement, for De Wolfe, of the old tear-jerker standard Hearts and Flowers which was played (sped-up, of course) in the portion of the "Hill's Angels: Cruise Liner" sketch of Jan. 5, 1983 after the platform that ship musician Benny was on caved in and he was supposedly "playing" the song on the violin, just before Louise English and Hill's Angels' rendition of the song "Paradise" which marked a change in the direction of Ms. English's role on the show - and indeed, paved the way for the future direction of her career.

• Another Chappell piece, not heard on the show itself, but rather used in a sketch in the 1974 film compilation The Best of Benny Hill, Beatcoma (written by Gordon Rees and Alan Moorhouse, performed by The Yes Men). This track was played in the "Lower Tidmarsh Hospital Service" sketch (originally aired on Hill's first Thames special of Nov. 19, 1969) during most of the hospital scenes - and a continuous loop of the "Yakety Sax" version as heard during the ending runoff of the Dec. 27, 1973 show, in the outdoor scenes - in place of the custom-made five-song medley scored by Ronnie Aldrich which began with "Yakety Sax," continued with Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" (which, at the time this movie was being prepared, had been heard in the soundtrack of the Paul Newman/Robert Redford vehicle The Sting which was already in release) and followed by three other songs not known at this time. No other Hill sketch used "Beatcoma." In recent years, this tune has become something of a dance music / electronica cult favorite, and even released on a Chappell CD called Kitsch Pop 3.

• Among the instrumental pieces from the KPM music library that were used on TBHS were two tracks from the 1976 album Hot Wax (KPM 1177) that were featured in the "Bionic Baby" sketch. The first was "Dossier," written by Brian Bennett and Alan Hawkshaw, which was used in the opening title segment, and the second was "Full Throttle," written by Mr. Bennett, which was used in the filmed outdoor "action" sequences.

• One particular KPM album, which got as much play in the later years of TBHS as Mr. Lewis' History Book of Music had gotten in the early years, was Music of the 20's, 30's and 40's (KPM 91). The titles on this LP that received the most exposure were compositions by Keith Nichols: "South Side Shuffle" (used to open the Jan. 7, 1981 "The Loser" and Feb. 11, 1981 "The Poster Girl" sketches, among others, as well as being heard within the April 25, 1984 "The Vagabond," Jan. 13, 1988 "Outdoor Games" and May 1, 1989 "Gone Fishing" sketches); "Chicago Stomp" (heard within the above sketches, as well as a few others such as the March 12, 1986 "The Bucket"); and "That Crazy Rag" (used in "The Bucket," "Outdoor Games" and "Gone Fishing" sketches, as well as the March 31, 1986 "Living the Dream" and April 27, 1988 "Joggers" bits). One other tune by Mr. Nichols from this same compilation, "Creole Clarinet," was also heard in "The Bucket" sketch, after Bob Todd shot up old vinyl discs that were flung up in the air, and as boy scout Benny was washing up and Mr. Todd was shooting holes in the bucket that was the focal point of the sketch. "South Side Shuffle" and "Chicago Stomp" were also used in some TV documentaries dealing with Prohibition and/or the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre. All four titles were used in some individual episodes of Ren & Stimpy, though not necessarily within the same episode. As with Mr. Lewis, Mr. Nichols has an official website; however, his years of stock-music composing are not mentioned.

• Another KPM release that had a few spins in the last half of Mr .Hill's Thames run was Piano Ragtime (KPM 106). One particularly famous number within the album, a section of which bore some similarities to parts of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer," was titled "Sweet Talking Rag," written by Sam Fonteyn; it was used prominently in the April 16, 1980 "TV Romania Te Rose" sketch, and was later heard during the part of the "Photocall" sketch of April 5, 1989 where Sue Upton played Stan Laurel to Mr. Hill's Oliver Hardy. Other tracks from the LP that were heard on TBHS were another Fonteyn composition, "Itchy Feet" (heard within the Jan. 7, 1981 "Circus Clown" sketch, used to open and close the March 12, 1986 "Chez When" segment, and heard over the curtain jokes in the April 16, 1986 "Bijou Burlesque" opening); and a Keith Nichols piano piece, "Klassicle Rag" (used as background music throughout the Jan. 16, 1984 "The Drunk" sketch). "Sweet Talking Rag" and "Itchy Feet" were also included in Ragtime Piano/Cinema Organ (KPM 1149). Another of Mr. Fonteyn's compositions, a library music piece with full orchestra called "Light and Happy" (written in 1974), is familiar to a generation of New Yorkers as the theme music for WPIX's Sunday Morning Movie from the mid-1970's through the mid-'80's.

• Another music library whose pieces were occasionally used on the show was Bruton. One track in particular - "Funky Feeling" by Miki Antony, from the LP Disco Happening (BRH-4, originally released earlier in 1978) - turned up in the Dec. 26, 1978 "Friday Night Fever" sketch, and was heard from the point where a bewigged, leisure suit-wearing Benny entered the disco to the point where his eyes set on Sue Upton. This writer also remembers hearing this number in a few ads circa 1980 that aired in the New York market.

• Another track known to this writer, but not the composer or music library that put it out, was called "Classical and Pop," which employed what sounded like Moog synthesizers playing classical-style arrangements. This was first heard in the scene of the "Gavin Blod" sketch where Diana Darvey, playing a nurse, was about to administer a sponge bath to Benny's titular character before he dies; it was last played in the middle of the March 31, 1986 "Hott Sexe, Free Loofa und Lust Orgie" sketch. In between, it opened many an interview sketch over the years. The contributing editor of this website clearly remembers a local New York City TV station playing another portion of this same track over the end credits of a public-affairs program in the late 1970's and early '80's, indeed hearing it on that show about a year or so before TBHS was first syndicated to the U.S. (which is an indication that U.S. TV stations had access to the same British music library companies' offerings, as well as such homegrown entities as Valentino/Major). Another song, probably from the same album from which this originated, with arrangements along these lines, was played at the open and close of Benny's Feb. 18, 1976 reading of "Fatricia and Feter: The Pinal Foem op Faul Pinch."

• Another song, from another library music album, that has been mentioned was "Whiplash" by Joe Griffiths, from the KPM LP Country & Western & Bluegrass. According to one description, it is "a sort of honky-tonk piece with synthesised 'gunshot' effects in it." It was not made clear whether this track, in particular, was heard near the end of the March 16, 1983 "Hill's Angels: Wild, Wild West" (a.k.a. "Lady Godiva") number, and also in the final shot of the May 1, 1989 "The Good Guys" sketch. However, based on the description, it's possible it could be.

But there are still some questions at this time about other library music pieces heard on the show over the years (if anyone who works or worked in the business has info thereon, please advised us), including:
• Three pieces heard in the "Maurice Dribble" sketch - a light pop number; a military march-style tune (played in the scenes where Maurice was in the service), and a violin piece (played when Maurice briefly came to life in the hospital, dancing away before finally giving out);
• A Germanic style number, heard during the Dec. 22, 1971 "Es Ist Eine Mann's Leif in der Deutch Armee" segment of the "Benny's International Bloopers" sketch; this was heard (albeit in a somewhat different version) in some TV documentaries dealing with the German side of the conflicts of World Wars I and II;
• A series of country/bluegrass pieces heard in sketches, mostly with a "rural"/"country" theme, from the mid-to-late 1970's through to the mid-1980's. While all the tunes were played on the show sped-up (albeit at 45 instead of 78 RPM), one track in particular was played at normal speed - in the opening moments of the Feb. 18, 1976 "Strangers in the Night" sketch;
• Another Dixieland jazz-type number, dating back to at least the 1960's (this writer remembers hearing it during one of Benny's 1965 BBC-era art-film parodies), which was played after Mr. Nichols' "South Side Shuffle" and "Chicago Stomp" during "The Poster" sketch; it was also heard throughout the March 14, 1979 "National Health" sketch and the April 25, 1984 "Vagabond" sketch;
• A handful of songs arranged in the Herb Alpert/Tijuana Brass mold, heard on Benny's 1977 Australian Benny Hill Down Under special (in the "Archie's Angels," "The Vagabond" and the ending beach runoff sketches) and in the May 27, 1985 "Dibble's Health Farm" runoff sketch; and
• The horn fanfare passed off as the start of the ersatz "Big Eddie" movie playing in the Dec. 5, 1973 "Fun at the Flicks" sketch, and also used to start off the theme music of the March 25, 1976 "Murder on the Oregon Express" sketch.

At least two pieces of such stock music were heard on both TBHS and Monty Python's Flying Circus. The first piece was a James Bond-type composition, played in the portion of "Murder on the Oregon Express" after the opening sequence, where the train is pulling out of the station; it had been the opening music for the ersatz "The Pantomime Horse Is A Secret Agent Film" as seen in Python Episode #30, "Blood, Devastation, Death, War & Horror." The other was a Big Country-style piece, which was heard in three Hill sketches ("Deep in My Heart in Television on Wide Screen," a.k.a. "Pan and Scan"; "Big Poppa"; and "The Herd") - and before that, in the opening of the Python sketch "Party Hints with Veronica Smalls," which was part of Episode #31, "The All-England Summarize Proust Competition." In addition, at least one sound effect was heard on both shows - that of a piece of heavy metal landing on a surface. Python used it in one of Terry Gilliam's interstitial animations within Episode #32, "The War Against Pornography"; on TBHS, it was heard in "Husky & Starch" (March 23, 1977) whereby a cannon fell on Hutch, and in the part of "Hot Gossamer" (March 14, 1979) where the dancers were making love to Benny on a lamppost and two of the lamps fell on the floor.

But it was this particular element, as noted above, that was as much a factor in the success of TBHS as every other component. And for this, we as fans are forever grateful.