"Eye Level" is a 1972 single by the

Simon Park Orchestra The Simon Park Orchestra is a group which is most notable for producing the instrumental "Eye Level", the theme tune for the television series ''Van der Valk'' composed by Jan Stoeckart which spent four weeks at the number one position in the UK ...

. It was produced originally for the De Wolfe Music Library and selected by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

to be the theme tune for their Netherlands-based detective series '' Van der Valk''.

Overview

The work was originally intended as library music, and was loosely based on a German/Dutch nursery rhyme called ''Jan Hinnerk'' (in German) or ''Catootje'' (in Dutch), which in its turn took the opening bars of '' Non più andrai'' from

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

'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'). 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 ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

's drama series ''

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some either way offences and appeals lied to it by the magistrates' courts. It is one of three Senior Courts of England and Wale ...

'', entitled "Distant Hills", on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. 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 hit, with four weeks at No.1 and a further 20 weeks in the top 50. Total sales were 1,005,500, gaining the award of a platinum disc and becoming one of the 12 best-selling singles of the 1970s. In Ireland, the song was also a hit, reaching No. 3 in the charts there. In 1974, Stoeckart released his own version under the name Jack Trombey's Brass. 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 advertisements for Alton Towers, in its pre- Luna Park mode of gardens, fronted by

Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wr ...

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 in the United States on

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a nu ...

(catalogue #35175). Though it failed to chart on the Hot 100, it did make No. 29 on the ''Billboard'' Easy Listening chart in January 1974.Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-1993. Record Research. p. 184 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

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

Chart performance

Sales and certifications

References

{{Use British English, date=October 2020 1972 singles 1972 songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Columbia Records singles Vanguard Records singles Television drama theme songs Easy listening music