5 minute read
Top of the Pops
In the last 20 years, OUs have been responsible for 11 Number 1 hits in the pop charts thanks to the enormous success of Charlie Simpson (M 99) with Busted and Harry Judd (F 99) with McFly. However, this September marked the 50th anniversary of the first ever OU Number 1, courtesy of Simon Park (SH 59) and his orchestra with their undeniably catchy hit ‘Eye Level’. Following Simon’s attendance at a School House reunion in May, we asked him some questions about his period of fame back in the early 1970s.
How did you come to record Eye Level?
I was a jobbing young composer/ arranger and had begun working for London-based film music publishers De Wolfe, who had strong Dutch connections. I was invited to Hilversum to contribute to some recording sessions for their film/TV music library. Another of their regular composers, a Dutchman Jan Stoeckhart (pseudonym Jack Trombey), had discovered this old Dutch folk song and felt it had commercial potential in a big orchestral setting – but felt disinclined to do it himself! So I got the job; it became a part of the De Wolfe library, and when Thames TV came calling looking for title music for their new Dutch detective series ‘Van der Valk’, we suggested this. The rest is history, as they say.
The record sold over a million copies in the UK, which is incredible. How did it become such a hit?
When it first appeared on Van der Valk, it elicited a huge public reaction – like: “Where can we buy this music?”
Thames TV suggested we contact a record company, and EMI agreed to release it. It immediately entered the charts in the mid-40s, climbed into the teens the next week, then reaching number one, where it stayed for four weeks. As for DJs playing it on Radio 1, one (I can’t remember which) refused to play it as ‘No 1’ on the weekly chart show, preferring instead to play the ‘number one POP record’ – which was the No 2 by The Sweet!
What was it like on Top of the Pops? Did you meet other pop stars?
It was a bit of a blur – quite surreal in fact. The producer, Robin Nash, took me down into the studio to show me how and where everything worked, and by chance we bumped into the late, lovely Lynsey de Paul. A busy man, Robin quickly off-loaded me onto Lynsey, which was no hardship. Like everyone else, I fell instantly in love! I’d also timed my rise to stardom to coincide with a dispute between the BBC and the Musicians’ Union about the re-use of videos of their members’ performances, rather than regularly re-hiring the musos, week by week, which led to a nearly physical ‘stand-off’ with The Who’s Pete Townsend. Campaigning for the ‘hard-done-by’ musicians, he barged onto the set whilst we were rehearsing, yelling at the band – there to earn their living – whilst brandishing a bottle of some variety. A very large, uniformed BBC commissionaire quickly emerged from backstage, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and removed him. As I said, it was surreal.
When you got to Number 1, how did you celebrate?
As I remember, my publishers brought a bottle or several into my dressing room and invited ‘the great and the good’ to join us for a slurp (not including Townsend). Every other ligger in the building soon got the sniff, however, and a good time was had by far too many
Was having such a distinctive hit hard to live up to? Did you stay in the music industry?
Yes – it was virtually impossible. ‘Eye Level’ was a freak, one-off hit, and frankly impossible to follow up. We tried but two follow-up singles died a predictable death. As to subsequent opportunities, I think it had a mixed effect. I’ve continued to have a pretty successful career in the music business, but I think the ‘Eye Level’ effect had little influence on it. I simply moved on to other things.
Do people still mention the song to you?
Yes, all the time. It has become something of an albatross around my neck! We can’t undo the past, so we have to accept it, but there are worst pasts to have to live with!
Many congratulations to Simon, a million-selling hit and four weeks at Number 1 is a remarkable achievement! Scan the QR code below to watch the live performance on Top of the Pops when it made Number 1 in 1973, introduced by a very young-looking Noel Edmonds.
