Tuesday the 20th of February 1973 to Tuesday the 19th of February 1974
The Simon Park Orchestra
Eye Level (Theme from the Thames T.V. series “Van der Valk”).
Charting in the year of 1973, on the 9th of September, is The Simon Park Orchestra with the single “Eye Level (Theme from the Thames T.V. series “Van der Valk”).”.
Originally released in ‘72…
…but hitting the U.K. Singles Chart hard in ‘73, now this was definitely music I remember.
Nobody I know had bought the single so the memory of it must have come from this being played constantly on the airwaves, whether that was the TV or the radio.
It came from the ITV show ‘Van Der Valk’ which was a detective show set in Holland. The “B” side was also a theme from another popular ITV programme. Granada TV’s ‘Crown Court’.
Back to the subject of the “Aa” side, I also remember the actor Barry Foster from Van Der Valk too. Whether that means I was up late taking it in I’m not sure but I distinctly remember it.
The piece itself was written by a Dutch composer Jan Stoeckart,..
…who worked under other pseudonyms, the most notable being Jack Trombey.
In the sixties, he came over to the U.K. and signed up to the music production company De Wolfe Music, and ended up writing hundreds of compositions in the form of library music (recorded music that can be licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media).
In this capacity, Trombey’s work was used for TV shows like “Callan” and also for films such as (and this is my personal favourite) “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
Whenever I hear Trombey’s “Homeward Bound” I will forever picture King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table skipping along the English countryside clip-clopping a couple of coconuts (try saying that after a drink or three).
’Stoeckart s most popular composition though was undoubtedly the piece which would eventually become the theme to “Van der Valk”.
The tune, based loosely on a German/Dutch 18th century nursery rhyme, was originally called “Amsterdam”. It also took its opening few bars from non other than a segment of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”.
Once ITV acquired the music to use, they enlisted The Simon Park Orchestra to arrange it with a little assistance from Stoeckart himself, who adapted the original tune and added a new top line under the Trombey name.
Apparently, the title change to “Eye Level” is still in keeping with the Dutch feel as it refers to the ever-present horizon in the Low Countries, which is always “at eye level to the beholder”.
When it was first released the year before, it hardly dented the chart at all. Entering on the 19th of November 1972 at No.45, and spending only 2 weeks in the top 50.
Once re-issued in September 1973, it re-entered on the 9th at No.48, but catapulted up the charts to No.14 the following week.
Before September was through, it went all the way up to No.1 and stayed there for 4 weeks. It took one notch down to No.2 from the 21st of October for another couple of weeks after that, and dropped out of the Top 10 after the 10th of November.
Even though there was nowhere else to go but down, the single took a long time doing so. In fact it would be well into the new year, and almost my 2nd Birthday, before it finally left after the 9th of February 1974, by then having sold just over a million units.
Going back to the end of Autumn 1973, Matt Monro, one of the very best singers to ever grace anyone’s ears, released a vocal version entitled “And You Smiled”, with lyrics written by Melvyn Taggart.
It would become his final hit single.
A year later, in1974, Stoeckart would release his own version under the name Jack Trombey’s Brass.
I’m always fascinated by the fact that, in a De Wolfe archive somewhere, there lies between 1200 – 1300 pieces of music which Stoeckart has composed, under various guises.
Some of these can be found on YouTube if you care to look for them.
That’s one hell of a body of work, and always captivating to listen to.
There may be a good chance that one day, one of those tunes may surface into the public consciousness.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Top Of The Pops appearance:
Matt Monro – And You Smiled (Eye Level Theme from TV Series “Van der Valk”)
Jack Trombey’s Brass – Eye Level
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear these songs once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channels:
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
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