Syd Dale (20 May 1924 – 15 August 1994) was an English self-taught composer and arranger of big band, easy listening and library music.
His themes and underscore music played an important role on television, radio and advertising media of the 1960s and 1970s and many cues are still in use today.
In 1952 he was recruited as a pianist with The Squadronaires, the dance orchestra of the Royal Air Force, where he worked with the conductor Ronnie Aldrich.
Initially it operated from 8- Mortimer Street, close to the BBC, but later moved into a Surrey mansion, Kerchesters, Waterhouse Lane in Kingswood.
[6][7] In 1967, he created a piece entitled "Walk and Talk," which was used for many years on BBC2 as the countdown music before television transmitter information bulletins were read over the air.
Another production piece, "Here in a Smoky Room," composed by Brian Fahey and performed by Dale as the Otto Keller Band on AMPS 101, was broadcast multiple times on BBC test card transmission music soundtracks in the early 1970s.
[11] In the early 1990s, Meryn Cadell sampled "Walk and Talk" for the spoken word monologue "The Sweater," which was used by skater Josée Chouinard in one of her award-winning routines.
The composition known either as "Man Friday" or "The Penthouse Suite" (from KPM 1049 Chorus and Orchestra, 1969), was used as the theme tune to LWT's Tarrant on TV and was also used extensively in the episode "Speed 3" of Father Ted to introduce libidinous milkman Pat Mustard.