Stranger on the Shore

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This article is about the musical piece. For the BBC television series, see Stranger on the Shore (TV serial).

"Stranger on the Shore"
Single by Mr. Acker Bilk and the Leon Young String Chorale
B-side"Take My Lips" (UK)
"Cielito Lindo" (US)
ReleasedOctober 1961
GenreJazz[1]
Length2:52
LabelColumbia DB4750 (UK)
Atco 45-6217 (US)
Songwriter(s)Acker Bilk, Robert Mellin
Producer(s)Denis Preston
Mr. Acker Bilk and the Leon Young String Chorale singles chronology
"Stars and Stripes Forever/Creole Jazz"
(1961) 		"Stranger on the Shore"
(1961) 		"Frankie and Johnny"
(1962)

"Stranger on the Shore" is a piece for clarinet written by Acker Bilk for his young daughter and originally named "Jenny" after her.[2] The tune was written on a single scrap of paper by Bilk and handed over to Leon Young (1916-1991) who crafted the string arrangement, including the characteristic harmonic shifts at the very end.[3]

The recording was subsequently used as the theme tune of a BBC TV drama serial for young people, Stranger on the Shore.[4] It was first released in 1961 in the UK, and then in the US, and reached number 1 in the US and number 1 in the UK.[5]

In May 1969, the crew of Apollo 10 took "Stranger on the Shore" on their mission to the moon. Gene Cernan, a member of the crew, included the tune on a cassette tape used in the command module of the Apollo spacecraft.

Chart and sales performance[edit]

The track, performed by Bilk (as "Mr. Acker Bilk") with backing by the Leon Young String Chorale, was recorded at the Lansdowne Studios and produced by Denis Preston. It was released as a single on EMI's Columbia label, catalogue number DB 4750, in October 1961; the label text states "Theme from the BBC T.V. Series". The UK B-side was "Take My Lips" whereas the US flipside was "Cielito Lindo". The single became a phenomenal success, topping the NME singles chart and spending nearly a year on the Record Retailer Top 50. It was the UK's biggest-selling single of 1962,[6] the biggest-selling instrumental single of all time, and appears fifty-eighth in the official UK list of best-selling singles issued in 2002. It had sold 1.16 million copies as of November 2012.[7]

One of songwriter and music publisher Robert Mellin's major songwriting successes came in 1962, when he wrote lyrics for this song, allowing it to be covered by vocal acts including Andy Williams and the Drifters.

On 26 May 1962, "Stranger on the Shore" became the first British recording to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 where it was issued by Atlantic Records on the Atco label, but it was quickly followed, on 22 December, by British band The Tornados' "Telstar", another instrumental. In the pre-rock era, Vera Lynn's "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" had reached #1 in 1952, on the shorter "Best Sellers In Stores" survey. After "Telstar", the next British performers to top the U.S. charts were the Beatles, with their first Capitol Records single "I Want to Hold Your Hand". "Stranger on the Shore" was Billboard's #1 single of 1962, and it spent seven weeks atop the "Easy Listening" chart, which later became known as the Adult Contemporary chart.[8] The tune became the second of three "one-hit wonders" named "pop single of the year" by Billboard (the others being 1958's "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)" by Domenico Modugno and 2006's "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter).

The song is certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.[9]

All-time charts[edit]

Chart Position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 95
US Billboard Hot 100 (1958-2018)[11] 360

Cover versions[edit]

The composition has been covered by many other artists, most prominently a vocal 1962 version by Andy Williams, which reached #9 on the adult contemporary chart, #30 in the UK, and #38 on the Billboard Hot 100,[12] and a group vocal version by the Drifters, which reached #19 on the adult contemporary chart and #73 on the Billboard Hot 100.[13] Herb Alpert did his instrumental cover on his 1987 album Keep Your Eye on Me. Kenny G covered it in 1999 on his album, Classics in the Key of G. A version in French, Savoir Aimer, was sung by Nana Mouskouri.

In popular culture[edit]

The song is used as the theme music for the BBC Radio 4 sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Sound.[14]

Charts[edit]

Chart (1962) Peak
position
Canada (CHUM Chart) 3[15]
United Kingdom (Record Retailer) 2[16][17][18]
United Kingdom (NME) 1[19]
United Kingdom (Record Mirror) 1[20]

Album[edit]

Released in 1961, the original Stranger on the Shore album also featured the string arrangements of Leon Young and the performances of his Chorale string players. It primarily consists of melodies from classical, traditional and show music sources, but there is one more original: Is This the Blues, also assembled by Young from a Bilk melody.[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Breihan, Tom (24 April 2018). "The Number Ones: Mr. Acker Bilk's "Stranger On The Shore"". Stereogum. Retrieved 10 June 2023. As far as jazz goes, ["Stranger on the Shore" is] so fluffy and inoffensive that it really only barely qualifies.
  2. ^ Wade, Anne. "Stranger On The Shore by Mr. Acker Bilk". Songfacts. Retrieved 29 May 2009. Originally named "Jenny" (after his daughter) on his LP Sentimental Journey, the song's name was changed when Bilk played it as the theme song for a new children's TV show, Stranger On The Shore.
  3. ^ "Robert Farnon Society - Leon Young". www.robertfarnonsociety.org.uk.
  4. ^ "Stranger on the Shore | A Television Heaven Review". Archived from the original on 16 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-16.
  5. ^ "Stranger on the Shore (song by Mr. Acker Bilk) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. 17 March 1962. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Stranger On The Shore notes". United Kingdom: everyHit.com. Retrieved 29 May 2009. The biggest-selling single of 1962.
  7. ^ Ami Sedghi (4 November 2012). "UK's million-selling singles: the full list". Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  8. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 33.
  9. ^ "American certifications – Mr. Acker Bilk – Stranger on the Shore". Recording Industry Association of America.
  10. ^ "The UK's biggest selling singles of all time". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Stranger on the Shore (song by Andy Williams) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. 16 June 1962. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Stranger on the Shore (song by The Drifters) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  14. ^ "That Mitchell and Webb Sound". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  15. ^ "CHUM Hit Parade - May 14, 1962".
  16. ^ "Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive: 13th January 1962". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  17. ^ "Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive: 20th January 1962". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  18. ^ "Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive: 27th January 1962". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  19. ^ Rees, Dafydd; Lazell, Barry; Osborne, Roger (1995). Forty Years of "NME" Charts (2nd ed.). Pan Macmillan. p. 109. ISBN 0-7522-0829-2.
  20. ^ Smith, Alan. "Every No.1 in the 1960s is listed from all the nine different magazine charts!". Dave McAleer's website. Archived from the original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  21. ^ "Stranger on the Shore - Acker Bilk | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
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