#1 for week of May 26th, 1962.
Well, 71 entries into the list and we finally have a US #1 hit by a UK artist. Granted, we are still a little while away from when the British Invasion would level the playing field quite a bit. Nonetheless, this certainly was a historic #1 record.
However, if you didn't know Acker Bilk was British, you would probably assume this was just another easy-listening song from an American artist. There is nothing exclusively British about "Stranger On The Shore", which is further helped by the fact that it is an instrumental.
This song certainly is the epitome of the easy listening genre, it's very mellow, contains a full orchestra complete with harp, and the primary instrument is Acker Bilk on clarinet. While this genre has never been my usual listening pleasure, at least I can say that Mr. Bilk is a pretty good clarinet player, and manages to capture the mood of lazing away on an island resort.
However, I certainly wouldn't call this the best song of the year. It ended up being ranked at #1 for Billboard's year-end top 100 singles of 1962. This is the year that also included "Surfin' Safari", "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)", "Can't Help Falling In Love", "Green Onions" and of course "Twist And Shout", on the same list. All of those songs are not only superior, but have certainly survived better over the years.
Final Verdict - A harmless clarinet showcase, and a song that certainly has historical significance. However, I would not have ranked it as one of the top songs of the year, let alone the top song. Give it a listen though just for historical purposes, or if you need some music to drift off to sleep to.
Coming Up Next - "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Ray Charles.
Until Next Time - I'm Dr. Rock, and I'm...feeling...sleeeepyyy..........
No comments:
Post a Comment