Simon Park Orchestra - Eye Level (HQ) |TOTP 27-09-1973|

[keefeeuk]

I'm not old enough to know the tv show theme but this is a just a good old fashioned piece of music to warm your heart through :)

[richie4561]

this may sound corny but the majesty of the trumpet is sublime in this piece

[searleflesher]

feel so old I was 3 when this piece of music was in the charts ^^

[pforpappu]

Its so great to see this on here. Am watching this after all these years. I remember watching Top of The Pops. I would never move away from the TV when it came on. This was one of my favourite numbers. Love it! Thank you so much for this upload. Noel Edmonds - presenter of "Deal or No Deal" looks so young.

[bullyhouse1]

this is was also was no.1 hen i was born!



[tyler88moo]

i can play this on recorder

[webdesignjunkie]

This song was number 1 when I was born!

[ripx10]

@webdesignjunkie and me :)

[TheTbtbg]

Number one the day I was born!

[chrisbutler2000]

@TheTbtbg Me too :)

[2002grip]

Woww... great... recalled my childhood, I always ran to TV immediately heard this song. Van der Valk... Thanks

[mazzab1970]

Noel's hair looks like he's wearing BIG headphones: in the style of Princess Leia. :D

[maninthestreet01]

This episode was shown on my 10th birthday - I can even remember watching it.

[MrDjc1970]

you dont need to fake music like this and pre-record it for the time slot given.

[silverstartrucker]

Real music in those days. Now it's rappers shouting or chanting to a heavy beat?

[vicsmith5000]

Wonder how they divided up all the royalties from this ? Or did Simon Park keep the lot ?

[numb3r2wo]

Hey, does anyone know what that first song was?

the clip at the beginning with the guitar

[shulupayaface]

great song, i used to play the cello at my school orchestra and we always had to play this so now im 30 it brings back loads of memories. But when the presenter Noel Edmonds talks on here he looks like he is with a load of dead people around him lol.

[linoma57]

Wasn't this the theme for Van Der Valk

[searleflesher]

@linoma57 yes this was the themem from Van Der Valk a dutch police detective but i am sure you knew that LOL ^^

[kodkodkod]

cRACKING TUNE THOUGH!

[dosnstuff007]

OMG 40 years ago....I am old

[dw69ful]

In my opinion it was this sort of thing that made the Charts years ago so interesting and unpredictable unlike today.

Although this was somewhat suprising and unexpected I think the two most unexpected hits were AMAZING GRACE by The ROYAL SCOTS DRAGOON GAURDS in 1972 which I seem to remember entered the charts at Number One (correct me if I am wrong) and The Trail of The Lonesome Pine by Laurel and Hardy in 1975

[Blabloo72]

Ha, ha, ha! At 0:29 they are attempting dance to this - soooooooooooooo funny!

[edwardszzz]

bearded twat

[SuperBoogley]

vandervalk ?

[dutchgoing]

Look! Noel Tidy-Beard. This was a piss poor track, a return to the 1950s. Punk HAD to happen. I've been watching some re-runs of TOTP from 1976 on BBC4, which go out 35 years later to the day, thinking only a few more months and punk will happen. They are mostly DIRE!

[wahroonga11]

It's the dancing in the background at 0.29 that really sets the mood I reckon....

[deancogan28]

This is number one the day I was born...... Christ.... on the plus side the stones were number 1 in the states with Angie.... I can cling to that I suppose....

[soullimbo]

@deancogan28 excellent ;) , for me it was " maggie may " by rod stewart , which is kinda cool....but i always laughed at the fact that " my ding-a-ling " was number one when my ex wife was born lol

[sct353]

Whatever your opinions are of 'Eye Level' (and I really like it and it brings back only good memories), it was the second biggest selling single of 1973. Ahead of Slade, Wizzard, Osmonds, Bowie, Cassidy etc. Only one record outsold it and ironically that is on the playout on this wonderful clip.

[vicsmith5000]

Last weeks #14 then went to #1 this week keeping Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet off Number 1 who had gone straight in at #2 the previous week and were kept off the top slot by Eye Level.

[arushandapushand]

Is the SIMon Parks orchestra blokes only?

hehe, no girls aloud!

[06best]

LOL. My mum was 9 when she played this in the school choir

[06best]

@06best orchestra not choir

[18trence]

cant understand why you keep watching noel edmonds then.

[Rtt779]

Brilliant stuff !! Beautiful !!  A Gem !! Thank you

[gregoed100]

Brilliant stuff! Love it!

[stevejailbirdmatt]

Great to see the artists actually PLAYING the instruments. The arrangement is slightly different to the recording! Today's 'artists' don't even bother with instruments - they just shout - I mean sing. Now I sound like my grandparents... Luv the chicks that attempted to dance to this, but soon gave it up as a bad idea! And as for the final number to play us out - "Ooh, get down!" Guffaw.

[woodster1965]

Top tune!!

[pearsedoran]

Wonderful !!! brings me back 40yrs !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[VOSSOX]

@pearsedoran .........please not 40 years my friend...!!! that's on my birthday...!! I'm only 37 :)

[TattyB]

At 1.58, I'm sure that's James May from Top Gear pretending to be Mr Tambourine Man lol

We all know that very few musicians on TOTP ever played or sang live, but is there any visual evidence from this recording that the musicians are playing live or just pretending to? The violins are clearly being played but it's hard to tell with the other instruments.

[TattyB]

At 1.58, I'm sure that's James May from Top Gear pretending to be Mr Tambourine Man lol

We all know that very few musicians on TOTP ever played or sang live, but is there any visual evidence from this recording that the musicians are playing live or just pretending to. The violins are clearly being played but it's hard to tell with the other instruments.

[trashcanalive]

I wonder if they smashed their hotel rooms up when they got famous.

[stabdarasher]

Brings back happy memories

[lostsoleful]

At 1.02 it goes hardcore.

[wnesbitt1]

Couldn't have hurt that it was the theme tune of Van der Valk, the well-known detective series.

[Feisty1967]

I still fancy Noel Edmonds after all these years, on Deal or No Deal. I love the way his blond hair curls at the back when he turns round...

[mayonaise33]

boring ? haha, listening to music from that time doesn't bore me at all. can't imagine people at that time feel that way too.

[Springamatul]

yesterday it was recorded as 1973 was the day before yesterday ha haah

[mrrk]

My Aunt used to love this tune

[dharmashooter]

fuckin awful then and awful now. like cold skin on school custard.

[caz34red]

@dharmashooter atleast they can play there only instruments what can you play....idiot!!

[dharmashooter]

@caz34red I can play the guitar and professionally. I can also spell 'there' as 'their' too. Only an idiot can truly know an idiot apriori.

[MegaDanyd]

A strange mix of emotions flooded my entire being as I played this! Both hideous and uplifting....and of course I'm old enough to remember this first time round,so there's an element of sadness for years I'll never get back again as well!

[caz34red]

@MegaDanyd idiot

[SuperTruth77]

Beige power!!

[TheTWIX0]

None of ya rubbish today, at least these were playin there own instruments..lol

[MrLawman10]

i could play that tamborine

[arff2003]

I didn't know Barry Cryer played trumpet too..

[603mac]

I just about gave this a thumbs down......but that would'nt have been fair because it was only Edmunds's shirt that pissed me off. I'm sure he had it on the other day on 'Deal or no deal', the prick.

[TheEctomorph]

@603mac Surely not?! That archive footage of Edmonds presenting Top Of The Pops was recorded in September of 1973 - almost 38 yrs ago.

With regard to the Simon Park Orchestra's instrumental track, "Eye Level", which topped the charts in the autumn of '73, it was (and remains) quite a pleasant - uplifting, some might say - piece of music. I doubt whether it was very popular with the "with it" teenagers of the era, though! "Eye Level" may have been quite good ..... but it wasn't 'cool'.

[lyndono72]

simonpark deal or no deal

[Urko2005]

Noels still looking as cool

[ngaitom09]

So.... did you ever made any mess inside your trousers?

[summerdaez]

i used to fart to this tune in my farting trousers

[14rnr]

@summerdaez lol

[summerdaez]

i uswd to fart to this tune in my farting trousers

[tuansetan]

When the trees are singing.

[sburgess01]

I like it at 2;01 when the bloke puts his tamborine on the radiator out of the way!!

[theogmike]

@sburgess01 Look again... That's no radiator!

[sbbinahee]

great number!!

[cmulwee001]

Say, I know this is the theme from Van Der Valk,but is it true that this song was adapted from a children's poem/nurseryrhyme?

I can't fathom that, but it may be true. Great GREAT song anyhow,no matter what the origin might be

[wozvideo]

@cmulwee001

The work was based on a Dutch nursery rhyme[citation needed] 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

[tilleylad]

This was the first tune I ever learned to play on my stylophone when I was 6. I've been a musician ever since. Thank you Simon Park!

[Forestamtul]

I used to hear this tune on radio 4 I didnt listen to the station but my parents did. Before comercial radio broke out.

[maninthestreet01]

27-09-1973 - my tenth birthday!

[whyperion]

Why at number One ? Children buying it for their parents ( whom liked Van Der Valk ), Also a number of kids played in School Orchestras and prob wanted to emulate the sucess of the tune as well.

[yt090584]

After 37 years has anyone come up with an answer yet?

[richie4561]

i love this tune. there is something about the majesty of the trumpet. sublime.

[NoLongerFooled]

Is the conductor a fairy or what?

[Thoughtland]

@NoLongerFooled What about Mr Tambourine man there at 1:52? He looks like he would lay a trail of Smarties on the floor and wait round the corner.

I think its the polo necks and face fuzz that make them all look a wee bit fruity. It was the era of Jason King after all.

[Cool2BCeltic]

Not long before this was in the charts, I can remember this was used to introduce a story called "The Runaways" which was being read in the mornings on Radio 4. Was this what introduced the song to the public? This was a few years before the Van Der Valk TV series.

[MiLLwallpaul231258]

here we are at 01.54 in the morning flicking trough youtube pissed up .....and you come across a gem like this,thanks for posting

[umbarellafella]

@MiLLwallpaul231258 hahaha good isnt it i do the same thing enjoy

[PONTY30]

good pullovers

[damkk]

Fabulous, one of the tunes of my childhood

[BaddaBigBoom]

Isn't Noel Edmonds an utter c*** (rhetorical question).

[BaddaBigBoom]

Yay! Orangeeboom Orangeeboom ...it's a lager not a tune LOL

[paisleycool]

im not getitng any sound from any

Eye Level by Simon Park Orchestra.

other videos are working but not these ones with this song :(

[mikemullagh]

Was this the only time a non vocal piece of music got to number one in the uk?

[Omega6334]

@mikemullagh No Albatross by Fleetwood Mac was non vocal and got to no 1 in 1969.

[wozvideo]

@Omega6334

There have been more instrumental music that has reached the charts. Like Robert Miles with Children and also Rondo Veneziano an Italian orchestra who had some song but i cant remember the name of it though. But Eye Level (Van De Valk) is the one i will always remember. It is a song that you never forget.

[TheEctomorph]

That's right. And "On The Rebound" by Floyd Cramer was non-vocal, too. That track got to number one in the UK in 1961 - some eight years before Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross", and twelve years before The Simon Park Orchestra's "Eye Level".

[Woollylinnet]

@mikemullagh Adding to what Omega6334 said, pianist Russ Conway achieved it twice in 1959 ("Side Saddle" and "Roulette"). I'm pretty sure the Shadows did it twice as well - 1962, I think. So there were a few at least.

[simonbnyc]

Vile and utter crap. It was then and is now.

[BaddaBigBoom]

@simonbnyc you sure about that? you sound a little doubtful ;-)

[crazydavedisco]

Would this have got to number one if it wasn't the theme to the popular TV series Van De Valk - I wonder !

[wozvideo]

@crazydavedisco

Yes it would have got to number one. I have never seen Van De Valk. And i liked the song when i heard it. The reason for the success of the song is because the tune is so catching.

[robinsonjules]

Who remembers the B side of this?? Crown Court !

[dusty11111988]

Then: terrible old fashioned, now 2010: great

[spyrapo]

another one born on that day here!!!!blame it all on facebook.cheers buddies!!!

[adrianjamestansmu]

Thanks for posting. Remember watching this as a kid! Brings back such happy memories.

[upaasaka01]

I couldn´t agree more with ManukaDesign. After seeing a good friends being born with David Bowie at #1 I tried out my luck. It is even embarrassing that it will be posted on my facebook.

[Ampex196]

Nice studio performance from the Simon Park Orchestra. Many of the pop groups of the time could only pretend to play live.

[MsPatsy100]

we should start a facebook page for people ashamed they had to listen to this as a baby...

[ManukaDesign]

I got the feeling the only people who are going to view this are people who were born on the same day that this was #1. Damn facebook apps, thatś one piece of information that I really didn´t need

[Lispamo]

@ManukaDesign  Yes, sad isn't it! Great name! Lisadnz

[shwizzle73]

haha me too!

[Aine1073]

Just looked up what was no. 1 the day I was born and this is it...spooky the way you have all commented in the last couple of days to say the same...do we have a telepathic connection!! ;-)

[jencosta]

No.1 song on the day I was born.....

[sharmutax]

Something rather different...Was the number one song when I was born as well! :D

[ba44a]

No 1 on the day i was born too

[bigbluebam]

Number 1 on the day i was born.

[adrianjamestansmu]

Goodness! I was 8 on this date and still remember this clearly. It was truly an unexpected hit in 1973. Thanks for the memories.

[babysquad100]

Christ when i was at school in the70s my teacher was obsessed with this song she used to get us all country dancing to this and always replayed it so she could hear it again and again , my god it was a nightmare but now it i was ok

[TheMushroomRepublic]

Can't get this on itunes.....why'sat?

[quagswag]

Pure gold in the conductor's smile at 1:04. 'I really shouldn't be on TOTP, this is mad, but hold on to this lift-off folks!'... Tambourine player at 0:52 similar grin. Thanks for the upload

[nevredone]

I was 5 when this great tune was out, i can remember it being played in the interval at the odeon newcastle, nice to hear it again!

[oatesy2]

this was also number 1 on the day i was born

[undersolo]

I just found out the same thing...

Eerie!

[leanne1973]

I just found out the same thing!!! :D

[ellesangel]

This is spooky, we are nearly exactly the same age and same name!

[leanne1973]

Ooohhh! Doppelganger?!! :S

[ailbhe1000]

This was number one when I was born... lol

[JAVED5678]

thanks for the posting. you have made us happy here in windsor.

[laffs]

grt tune remeber this round a coal fir when i was six years old

where does time go

[abottwhite]

Tombey got to No !, wicked!

[Littleswamp1]

So now we know. Cheggers pinched the yellowing effect near the end and just stuck his logo on top!

[hotspur1964]

Eye Level always reminds me of Van Der Valk which (1st series) was on TV in '73 and is probably why it made No1. Thanks Barry Foster and RIP.

[Glenn1967ful]

Wish someone could get hold of Lynsey de Paul singing Won't Somebody Dance With Me where she dances with Noel Edmonds. That was a hit round about the same time.

[jbeaver12]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. it is one of my favourite themes.

[Bertwatlings]

Takes me back to better days,,thanks,

[sameoldfitup2008]

Young people so much better in those days!

Just my opinion

[hotox1968]

Great tune back then, still great now

[j1o2h3n4n5y]

Feeling quite nostalgic.

[ontopoverpathways]

What a great Vid. You can see the tensions in the air when Noel Edmonds is speaking, Weren't these the Days of power cuts and strikes and so on? , These days are similar !! :(

[RobinCarmody]

*Why* did they play Dawn again? *Why*?

[newmark401]

Because "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" was the top-selling hit of 1973 in the UK?

[filmo70]

So for 4 weeks in 1973 the parents stole the number 1 spot from the kids :o)

[peaceman1234567]

@filmo70 back then i never remember anyone mentioning Christmas until 2 weeks before it happened.

[Gangly1]

@peaceman1234567

Haahaaa!!!

[tskilove]

Wardrobe by FUGLY&DRECK

[lake40]

a song hard to dance to in those days lol

[MrPoupard]

Gosh -all of 36 years ago and the performance and sound quality sounds like it was recorded last week!!

[twr12]

Picture's fucking excellent too!

[sbhathena]

@MrPoupard The power of Quad videotape......

[steboy32]

Great love this