Stranger on the Shore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Stranger on the Shore" is a piece for clarinet written by Acker Bilk for his young daughter and originally named "Jenny" after her. It was subsequently used as the theme tune of a BBC TV drama serial for young people entitled Stranger on the Shore.[1]

The track, performed by Bilk (as "Mr. Acker Bilk") with backing by the Leon Young String Chorale, was released as a single on Columbia Records DB 4750 in October 1961, with the label of the single openly proclaiming "Theme from the BBC TV. Series". The B-side was "Take My Lips". The single became a phenomenal success, topping the NME singles chart and spending nearly a year on the Record Retailer Top 50. It is the UK's biggest-selling instrumental single of all time, and appears fifty-eighth in the official UK list of best-selling singles issued in 2002.

On May 26, 1962, "Stranger on the Shore" became the first British recording to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, but it was quickly followed, on December 22, by The Tornados' "Telstar", another instrumental. After "Telstar", the first British performers topping the U.S. charts were The Beatles, with their first Capitol Records single "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

The composition has been covered by many other artists, most prominently a vocal version by Andy Williams and a soprano sax smooth jazz adaptation by Kenny G. It was also sampled (with a writer's credit for Bilk) on "A Melody From a Past Life Keeps Pulling Me Back" by The KLF on their album Chill Out, and on the track "Music For Libraries" by Way Out West.

Preceded by "Soldier Boy" by The Shirelles

Billboard Hot 100 number one single May 26, 1962

Succeeded by "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Ray Charles