DAVE ROYLANCE: Composer wrote the "Shake and Vac" advert
A FUNERAL service was held last week for the Wirral man who helped compose the Brookside theme tune and also wrote the famous "Shake and Vac" TV advert.
Dave Roylance passed away three weeks ago after collapsing in the street in Hoylake.
He had been in ill health for some time.
The writer, composer and producer enjoyed an impressive career, involved in writing television themes, over 400 advertisements, corporate and training films as well as musicals and theatrical productions.
Earlier this year he had been looking to score a hit with World Cup Willie, a song he had hoped would join the likes of Three Lions, World In Motion and Vindaloo in football's musical heritage.
World Cup Willie was the name of the England team's cartoon mascot when the team won the competition for the first and only time in 1966.
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But the song of the same name did not get released. His original lyrics were to be sung to the tune of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band, but record giants Sony, which co-owns the copyright for the track with superstar entertainer Michael Jackson, refused permission for the music to be used.
Mr Roylance was also involved in a long-term dispute over royalties he claimed he was owed for the Brookside theme tune, which he co-wrote.
The former China Crisis producer believed he was owed repeat fees in relation to the long-running series, and was also claiming royalties for Brookside video off-shoots and overseas sales of the Channel 4 series that ran for 23 years.
In 1988, in a statement that went before the High Court, he declared: "I have received virtually no benefit from composing the theme tune to a popular series which has been on air for over eleven years, and has attracted millions of viewers week after week in that time."
The television campaign for Shake and Vac carpet cleaner is one of the most enduring in advertising history.
The catchy lyrics, "Do the Shake and Vac to get the freshness back", are remembered by millions decades after first being aired and the advert itself is a hit on the internet video website phenomenon, YouTube.
His other works included co-writing adverts for Danone Yoghurt, Barratt Homes and Gaviscon.
He also wrote two library albums - Christmas Is Here, a collection of original seasonal music, and Game Shows, original music for TV entertainment programmes.
Mr Roylance's funeral service took place last Wednesday at Landican Cemetery and was followed by a wake at Slinky Byrnes cafe bar and restaurant in Banks Road, West Kirby, where he was a regular customer.
After his death, staff and customers at the bar held a collection to raise money to help pay for the burial service.
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