Eye Level

Eye Level is a 1972 single by the Simon Park Orchestra. It was produced originally for the De Wolfe Music Library and selected by Thames Television to be the theme tune for their Netherlands-based detective series, Van der Valk.

"Eye Level"
Single by Simon Park Orchestra
from the album Eye Level[1]
B-side"Distant Hills"
Released3 November 1972
GenreOrchestral
Length2:20
LabelColumbia Gramophone Company
Songwriter(s)Jack Trombey
Producer(s)Simon Park

Overview

The work was originally intended as library music,[2] and was loosely based on a German/Dutch nursery rhyme called Jan Hinnerk (in German)[3] or Catootje (in Dutch), which in its turn took the opening bars of Non più andrai from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Dutch composer Jan Stoeckart adapted the original tune and wrote a new top line under the name of Jack Trombey, while Simon Park arranged it for his own orchestra and conducted the recording. The track was fully entitled "Eye Level (Theme from the TV series 'Van Der Valk').[4] A song based on the music with lyrics added was called "And You Smiled", performed by Matt Monro.

The tune became popular with audiences and Columbia Gramophone Company issued it as a single (catalogue number DB 8946) with the theme to Granada Television's drama series Crown Court, entitled "Distant Hills", on the b-side. The record entered the UK chart for just two weeks in late 1972. Almost a year later, the record was re-issued and in September 1973 it became a enormous hit, reaching No.1 for four weeks, spending a further 20 weeks in the top 50.[5] Total sales were 1,005,500, gaining the award of a platinum disc, thus becoming one of the 12 best-selling singles of the 1970s.[6] In Ireland, the song was also a hit, reaching No. 3 in the charts there.[7] In 1974, Stoeckart released his own version under the name Jack Trombey's Brass.[8]

In the US, it was used as theme music in 1970s TV and radio commercials for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. It was also used for TV adverts for Alton Towers, in its pre-Luna Park mode of gardens, fronted by Frank Muir and in the 1980s for Oranjeboom lager using "tulips" for "your lips" as "wrap tulips around a pint today". "Eye Level" was issued as a single stateside on Vanguard Records (catalog #35175). Though it failed to chart in the Hot 100, it did make No. 29 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart in January 1974.[9] In South Africa, the tune was used as the theme music for the 1974 feature film Boland! with added Afrikaans lyrics and is generally known there as "Die Lied Van Die Boland" (The Highland Song).

Track listing
  1. "Eye Level (Theme from the TV series Van Der Valk)" (Trombey) 2:20
  2. "Distant Hills (Theme from the TV series Crown Court)" (Reno / Haseley) 3:02

Chart performance
Chart (1973) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[10] 13
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 3
UK Singles Chart 1
US Billboard Adult Contemporary 29

Sales and Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[12] Platinum 1,010,000[13]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

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References
  1. Discogs - Eye Level album
  2. "One-Hit Wonders at the BBC". 17 April 2015. BBC Four. Missing or empty |series= (help)
  3. YouTube clip of 'Jan Hinnerk' (in English)
  4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 417. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. Official Singles Chart - Simon Park Orchestra
  6. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 333. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  7. Irish Charts database Archived 2009-06-03 at WebCite
  8. Jack Trombey's Brass - "Eye Level"
  9. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-1993. Record Research. p. 184
  10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Eye Level". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  12. "British single certifications – Simon Park Orchestra – Eye Level". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Eye Level in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  13. Lane, Daniel (27 June 2013). "Daft Punk's Get Lucky becomes one of the UK's biggest selling singles of all-time!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
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