The Simon Park Orchestra is a group which is most notable for producing the instrumental, "Eye Level", which spent four weeks at the number one position in the UK Singles Chart in September 1973.[1] Simon Park was born in March 1946 in Market Harborough, England. His higher education took place at Worcester College, Oxford University where he gained a Bachelor of Arts in music.[2]
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"Eye Level" 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. The work was based on a Dutch nursery rhyme which Jack Trombey wrote a top line for, and Simon Park arranged for his own orchestra and conducted. The track was fully entitled "Eye Level (Theme from the TV series 'Van Der Valk').[1]
The song based on the music, with suitable lyrics added was called "And You Smiled", and was performed by Matt Monro.
The tune became popular with audiences and, in a move which was unusual at the time for both library works and television themes, Columbia Records issued it on 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 and spent 22 weeks in the Top 40, four of them at number one.[1] Total sales were 1,005,500, gaining the award of a gold disc.[2]
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-Lunar 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".
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).
Following the success of "Eye Level", Columbia released two albums of the orchestra's work, Something in the Air and Venus Fly Trap. However, neither achieved the success of "Eye Level".
Preceded by "Angel Fingers" by Wizzard |
UK number one single 29 September 1973 for four weeks |
Succeeded by "Daydreamer"/"Puppy Song" by David Cassidy |