Listen to Acker Bilk’s ‘Stranger on the Shore‘ from A Very English Scandal
One of my mother’s favorite pieces of music when I was a child was Acker Bilk’s ‘Stranger On The Shore‘. That gorgeous clarinet piece that Bilk originally titled ‘Jenny‘.
Until the name of the track was changed later, of course, after it was used as the theme song for a BBC TV show called Stranger On The Shore.
This week, I was delighted to hear that lovely clarinet music again when Acker Bilk’s ‘Stranger On The Shore‘ was featured on the new BBC drama ‘A Very English Scandal‘.
It was played at the end of the episode, as Jeremy and Caroline dance in their living room, and as Norman pulls a man towards him and kisses him.
The track was originally released in 1961, where it hit the number 1 spot on the U.K. charts. It was also the first ever British recording to hit the top spot on the US charts. It became popular again after the crew of Apollo 10 took ‘Stranger On The Shore’ on their moon mission in 1969.
Listen to ‘Stranger On The Shore‘ as featured on A Very English Scandal in the video below. Almost 60 years after its release, and it is still as beautiful as ever.
A Very English Scandal stars Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw, and is currently airing on BBC One on Sunday nights at 9pm, with the first episode airing last night. There are two more episodes in the three-part series to air.