Editing Stranger on the Shore (section)

==Chart and sales performance==
The track, performed by Acker Bilk (as "Mr. Acker Bilk") with backing by the Leon Young String Chorale, was recorded at the [[Lansdowne Studios]] and produced by [[Denis Preston]] with sound engineer [[Adrian Kerridge]].<ref>Adrian Kerridge. ''Tape's Rolling, Take One'' (2016), pp. 200-201</ref> It was released as a single on [[EMI]]'s [[Columbia Graphophone Company|Columbia]] label, catalogue number DB 4750, in October 1961; the label text states "Theme from the [[BBC]] T.V. Series" as it was used as the theme song to the series ''[[Stranger on the Shore (TV serial)|Stranger on the Shore]]''. The UK [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] was "Take My Lips" whereas the US flipside was "[[Cielito Lindo]]". The single became a phenomenal success, topping the ''[[NME]]'' [[UK singles chart|singles chart]] and spending nearly a year on the ''[[Record Retailer]]'' Top 50. It was the [[United Kingdom|UK]]'s biggest-selling single of 1962,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.everyhit.com/popup.php?songid=1842 | title = Stranger On The Shore notes | access-date = 2009-05-29 | publisher = everyHit.com | location = United Kingdom | quote = The biggest-selling single of 1962.}}</ref> the biggest-selling instrumental single of all time, and appears fifty-eighth in the official UK [[List of best-selling singles by year (UK)|list of best-selling singles]] issued in 2002. It had sold 1.16 million copies as of November 2012.<ref name="guardian nov2012">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/nov/04/uk-million-selling-singles-full-list |title=UK's million-selling singles: the full list |author= Ami Sedghi |publisher=Guardian |date=4 November 2012 |access-date=4 November 2012 }}</ref>

One of songwriter and music publisher [[Robert Mellin]]'s major songwriting successes came in 1962, when he wrote lyrics for this song, allowing it to be covered by vocal acts including [[Andy Williams]] and [[the Drifters]].

On 26 May 1962, "Stranger on the Shore" became the first British recording to reach number one on the U.S. [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] where it was issued by [[Atlantic Records]] on the [[Atco Records|Atco]] label, but it was quickly followed, on 22 December, by British band [[The Tornados]]' "[[Telstar (song)|Telstar]]", another [[instrumental]]. In the pre-[[Rock music|rock]] era, [[Vera Lynn]]'s "[[Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart|Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart]]" had reached #1 in 1952, on the shorter "Best Sellers In Stores" survey. After "Telstar", the next British performers to top the U.S. charts were [[the Beatles]], with their first [[Capitol Records]] single "[[I Want to Hold Your Hand]]".  "Stranger on the Shore" was [[Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1962|''Billboard'''s #1 single of 1962]], and it spent seven weeks atop the "[[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Easy Listening]]" chart, which later became known as the Adult Contemporary chart.<ref>{{cite book |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2002 |publisher=Record Research |page=33}}</ref>  The tune became the second of three "one-hit wonders" named "pop single of the year" by ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' (the others being 1958's "[[Nel blu, dipinto di blu (song)|Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)]]" by [[Domenico Modugno]] and 2006's "[[Bad Day (Daniel Powter song)|Bad Day]]" by [[Daniel Powter]]).

The song is certified gold by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]].<ref>{{Cite certification|region=United States|artist=Mr. Acker Bilk|title=Stranger on the Shore}}</ref>