In the early 1960s, the prospect of a “British invasion” of the US seemed remote: most of the traffic was one-way, from the US to the UK. However, one UK-made record topped the charts across the Atlantic: ‟Stranger on the Shore”was a lilting instrumental written and performed by Acker Bilk, a Somerset clarinettist who earned his living on the banjos-and-beer circuit of the UK’s trad jazz scene. The song would earn him a decent living for decades, but he grew to loathe it.
Acker, real name Bernard Bilk, claimed he thought up the song’s melody in a taxi. He named this gentle tune ‟Jenny” in honour of his daughter. Having scored several hits since his first, 1960’s ‟Summer Set”, Bilk was famous enough to be asked to create the theme for a BBC TV children’s series about a French au pair in Brighton. Bilk offered them ‟Jenny”, but was asked to change its title to the name of the programme, Stranger on the Shore. Its wistful, airy tones, with Bilk’s ‟liquorice stick” accompanied by silken strings, was heard on TV on Sunday afternoons, accompanying the culture-shocked lead character longingly staring out across the English Channel towards her home in France.
