The Tornados

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The Tornados

The Tornados (in the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
they were credited as The Tornadoes) were an English

England

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or any other sort of vocal music; all of the music is produced by musical instruments....
group of the 1960s who acted as in-house backing group for many of record producer

Record producer

In the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, Audio mixing and audio mastering processes....
Joe Meek

Joe Meek

Joe Meek was a pioneering England record producer and songwriter acknowledged as one of the world's first and most imaginative independent producers....
's productions.

Tornados also enjoyed several chart

Record chart

Record chart are a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
hits in their own right, including the US Number One "Telstar

Telstar (song)

"Telstar" ? ? is a 1962 instrumental gramophone record performed by The Tornados. It was the first single by a United Kingdom band to reach number one on the U.S....
" (named after the satellite

Telstar

Telstar was the first active communications satellite, and the first satellite designed to transmit telephone and high-speed data communications....
and composed by Meek). It was the first US #1 by a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
group. Since World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
only three British records had topped the US charts: "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart

Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart

"Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" is a popular music song and a cover version of "Auf wiedersehen, auf wiedersehen" written by German composer Eberhard Storch....
" by Vera Lynn

Vera Lynn

Dame Vera Lynn Order of the British Empire is a popular United Kingdom vocalist whose career flourished during World War II, when she was nicknamed "Forces Sweetheart"....
in 1952, "Stranger on the Shore

Stranger on the Shore

"Stranger on the Shore" is a piece for clarinet written by Acker Bilk for his young daughter and originally named "Jenny" after her. It was subsequently used as the theme tune of a BBC TV drama serial for young people that was also called Stranger on the Shore ....
" by Acker Bilk

Acker Bilk

Acker Bilk Order of the British Empire , born Bernard Stanley Bilk , is a clarinetist. He is known for his trademark goatee, bowler hat, striped waistcoat and his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register clarinet style....
in May of 1962, and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a spiritual that made the popular music charts in a 1958 in music version by Laurie London, which went all the way to #1 of the Hot 100 number-one hits of 1958 song list in the United States....
" by Laurie London

Laurie London

Laurie London achieved fame as a boy singer of the 1950s, sound recording and reproduction in both English language and German language.At the age of thirteen he made an up-tempo cover version of the spiritual song "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" with the Geoff Love Orchestra for Parlophone Records which was picked up by its co-ow...
in 1958.

For a time the Tornados were considered serious rivals to The Shadows.

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Encyclopedia

The Tornados (in the U.S.

United States

England

Instrumental

Record producer

Joe Meek

Joe Meek was a pioneering England record producer and songwriter acknowledged as one of the world's first and most imaginative independent producers....
's productions.

Career

The Tornados also enjoyed several chart

Record chart

Telstar (song)

"Telstar" ? ? is a 1962 instrumental gramophone record performed by The Tornados. It was the first single by a United Kingdom band to reach number one on the U.S....
" (named after the satellite

Telstar

United Kingdom

World War II

Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart

"Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" is a popular music song and a cover version of "Auf wiedersehen, auf wiedersehen" written by German composer Eberhard Storch....
" by Vera Lynn

Vera Lynn

Stranger on the Shore

Acker Bilk

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

Laurie London

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being printed in Music Week magazine , ChartsPlus , and published online on various sites ....
but when bassist

Bassist

A bass player is a musician who plays a double bass, bass guitar, or another low-pitched instrument, such as keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as tuba or sousaphone....
Heinz Burt

Heinz (singer)

Heinz Burt , and mainly publicised by his first name, was a bass guitarist and singer....
left in 1963 for a solo career the group began to fall apart. By 1965 none of the original lineup remained. Later lineups were therefore credited as Tornados '65 and The New Tornados.

A scopitone

Scopitone

Scopitone is a type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. It was a forerunner of music video. The Italian Cinebox/Coilorama and Color-Sonics were competing, lesser-known technologies of the time....
film

Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
(an early form of music video

Music video

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a pop music or rock music song with lyrics. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings....
) was made for their chart hit "Robot" featuring members of the group walking around woodland dressed in appropriate headgear with their guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
s, flirting with various young women and being finally arrested by policemen after lighting a campfire.

After drummer and bandleader Clem Cattini

Clem Cattini

Clem Cattini was the drummer for the 1960s England musical band, The Tornados as well as being used as a session musician. Cattini is one of the most prolific drummers in United Kingdom recording history, appearing on hundreds of sound recording and reproductions by artists as diverse as Engelbert Humperdinck and Lou Reed....
left the Tornados in 1965 he became a successful session musician, playing on recording

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical or mechanics inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects....
sessions for other artists, and was featured in Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard

Sir Cliff Richard Order of the British Empire is an England singer-songwriter, actor and entrepreneur.With his backing group The Shadows, Richard dominated the British popular music scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s, before and during The Beatles' first year in the charts....
's backing bands. He holds the record for appearing the most times on UK

United Kingdom

George Bellamy

George Bellamy was the rhythm guitarist from The Tornados; and father of Matthew Bellamy, Lead vocalist of Great Britain rock band, Muse ....
is the father of Matthew Bellamy

Matthew Bellamy

Matthew James Bellamy, is the main songwriter and lead vocalist, guitarist and pianist in the Rock music group Muse . He also scores strings for Muse songs....
, frontman for British rock

Rock music

Rock music is a loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950's. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rhythm and blues, country music and other influences....
band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music. In each musical style different norms have developed for the sizes and composition of different ensembles, and for the repertoire of songs or musical works that these ensembles perform....
Muse

Muse (band)

Muse are an English rock music band that was formed in Teignmouth, Devon, England in 1994. Since their inception, the band has comprised Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard ....
. The introduction in "Knights Of Cydonia

Knights of Cydonia

"Knights of Cydonia" is a song by England rock music band Muse and is the closing track on the British release of their 2006 album Black Holes & Revelations....
" by Muse is very similar to that of "Telstar".

In 1975 four of the five original members tried an unsuccessful comeback as the Original Tornados.

Do You Come Here Often?

The B-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of 7 inch vinyl records on which single s were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or flipside, is a secondary song that ofte...
on the final single

Single (music)

In the record industry, a single is a song usually used from a current or upcoming album to promote the album. Singles are distributed through a number of ways; originally, they were packaged as "single" records with one or two other songs and sold before the release of the album....
that the group released in 1966 ("Do You Come Here Often?") is now generally acknowledged to be the first openly "gay

Gay

The term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree," "happy," or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
" pop

Pop music

Pop music is a music genre that features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hook , a mainstream style and a conventional structure.The term "pop music" was first used in 1926 in the sense of "having popular appeal" , but since the 1950s it has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternat...
record

Gramophone record

A gramophone record is an analog signal sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc....
released in the mainstream. It started off as a standard organ-inspired instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or any other sort of vocal music; all of the music is produced by musical instruments....
, but about two-thirds into the song, we hear a conversation between what is obviously intended to be two gay men at a bar. (Joe Meek, who wrote the song, committed suicide early the following year.) The song was featured, along with other gay-flavoured releases, on a CD

Compact Disc

A Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store Data , originally developed for storing digital audio. The CD, available on the market since October 1982, remains the standard physical medium for sale of commercial Sound recording and reproduction to the present day....
compilation

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from multiple recording artists, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, source or subject matter....
, Queer Noises..

Panda Bear

Panda Bear (musician)

Noah Lennox , known as Panda Bear, is an Experimental music musician and a founding member of Animal Collective. He chose the name "Panda Bear" because he drew pictures of Giant Panda as artwork on the recordings he made as a younger musician....
, real name Noah Lennox, used samples from two Tornados tracks on his critically acclaimed third album, Person Pitch
Person Pitch

Person Pitch is the third solo album released by Animal Collective member Panda Bear , released on March 20, 2007. The album was released to high critical acclaim....
. Lennox uses sections from the tracks "Red Roses and Sky of Blue" and "Popeye Twist" on his own tracks "Bros" and "Take Pills", respectively. He also lists The Tornados

The Tornados

The Tornados were an England instrumental group of the 1960s who acted as in-house backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions....
as an influence in the sleeve notes of Person Pitch
Person Pitch

Person Pitch is the third solo album released by Animal Collective member Panda Bear , released on March 20, 2007. The album was released to high critical acclaim....
.

Members

George Bellamy
George Bellamy

George Bellamy was the rhythm guitarist from The Tornados; and father of Matthew Bellamy, Lead vocalist of Great Britain rock band, Muse ....
: Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar

Rhythm guitar is the use of a guitar to provide rhythmic chord al accompaniment for a singer or other instruments in a musical ensemble. In ensembles or "bands" playing within the country music, blues music, rock music or Heavy metal music genres , a guitarist playing the rhythm part of a composition supports the melodic lines and solos play...
- (born 8 October 1941, Sunderland
Sunderland

Sunderland is a city in Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly a county borough but now forms part of the City of Sunderland. It is situated at the mouth of the River Wear....
).
Heinz Burt
Heinz (singer)

Heinz Burt , and mainly publicised by his first name, was a bass guitarist and singer....
: Bass
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
- (born Heinz Henry Georg Schwartze, 24 July 1942, Detmold
Detmold

Detmold is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of about 74,000. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
— died 7 April 2000, Weston, Hampshire, Hampshire
Hampshire

Hampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a Counties of England on the south coast of England....
).
Alan Caddy
Alan Caddy

Alan Caddy was a guitarist, arrangement, record producer and session musician.He was born in Chelsea, London and educated at Emanuel School, and the Royal Academy of Music....
: Lead Guitar
Lead guitar

Lead guitar refers to the use of a guitar to perform melody lines, fill , and guitar solos within a song structure.In rock music, heavy metal music, blues, jazz and fusion bands and some pop music contexts as well as others, the lead guitar lines are usually supported by a second guitarist who plays rhythm guitar, which consists of accompan...
- (born 2 February 1940, Chelsea, London
Chelsea, London

Chelsea is an area of south-west London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road power station and Chelsea Harbour....
— died 16 August 2000).
Clem Cattini
Clem Cattini

Clem Cattini was the drummer for the 1960s England musical band, The Tornados as well as being used as a session musician. Cattini is one of the most prolific drummers in United Kingdom recording history, appearing on hundreds of sound recording and reproductions by artists as diverse as Engelbert Humperdinck and Lou Reed....
: drums
Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbell s, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer....
- (born Clemente Anselmo Cattini, 28 August 1938, Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington

Stoke Newington is a district in the London Borough of Hackney. It is north-east of Charing Cross....
, North London
North London

North London is the northern part of London, England. The area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes....
).
Roger LaVern: Keyboards
Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organ s as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic musical instrument....
- (born Roger LaVern Jackson, 11 November 1938, Kidderminster
Kidderminster

Kidderminster is a town in the Wyre Forest District Council district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre....
, Worcestershire
Worcestershire

Worcestershire is a county located in the West Midlands of central England. From 1974 to 1998 it was administered as part of Hereford and Worcester....
).
Ray Randall: (www.rayrandall.co.uk) Bass guitar
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
took over from Heinz, 1963-1966.
Stuart Taylor: Lead guitar
Lead guitar

Lead guitar refers to the use of a guitar to perform melody lines, fill , and guitar solos within a song structure.In rock music, heavy metal music, blues, jazz and fusion bands and some pop music contexts as well as others, the lead guitar lines are usually supported by a second guitarist who plays rhythm guitar, which consists of accompan...
(born 23 October 1944, in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
— died 18 April 2005).
Tab Martin: Bass - (born Alan Raymond Brearley, 24 December 1944, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumbria
Northumbria

Northumbria is primarily the name of both a medieval petty kingdom of the Angles people, in what is now north east England and southern Scotland, and of the earldom which succeeded it when a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom became England....
).
Brian Gregg: Bass - (born 31 January 1939, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
).
Dave Harvey: Bass
Phil Webb:
Jimmy O'Brien:
Bryan Irwin:
Norman Hale: Keyboards on "Love and Fury".
Roger Warwick: Tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone

The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the Alto saxophone, is the most common size of saxophone....
on "Early Bird" and "Stomping Thru the Rye"

The New Tornados (1966)

John Davies, Robb Huxley
Robb Huxley

Robert William Huxley was born December 4 1945 in Gloucester England.After leaving Sir Thomas Rich?s Grammar School in 1962 he joined a local band The Vendettas in 1963 as vocalist....
, Pete Holder, Dave Watts, Roger Holder.

The New Tornados (1971)

formed by Heinz Burt of the original Tornados and Ritchie Hale.

Discography

Singles

"Love and Fury" (Meek) / "Popeye Twist" (Cattini) (Decca F11449, 1962)
"Telstar
Telstar (song)

"Telstar" ? ? is a 1962 instrumental gramophone record performed by The Tornados. It was the first single by a United Kingdom band to reach number one on the U.S....
" (Meek) / "Jungle Fever" (Goddard) (Decca F11494, 1962) - UK & U.S. Number 1
"Globetrotter" (Meek) / "Locomotion With Me" (Decca F11562, 1963) - UK Number 5
"Robot" (Meek) / "Life On Venus" (Meek) (Decca F11606, 1963) - UK Number 19
"The Ice Cream Man" (Meek) / "Scales Of Justice (Theme)" (Decca F11662, 1963) - UK Number 21
"Dragonfly" / "Hymn For Teenagers" (Meek) (Decca F11745, 1963) - UK Number 41
"Joystick" (Meek) / "Hot Pot" (Meek) (Decca F11838, 1964)
"Monte Carlo" / "Blue Blue Beat" (Irwin) (Decca F11889, 1964)
"Exodus" / "Blackpool Rock" (Cattini) (Decca F11946, 1964) - Number 41
"Granada" / "Ragunboneman" (Meek) (Columbia DB7455, 1965)
"Early Bird
Intelsat I

Intelsat I was the first communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit, on April 6, 1965. It was built by the Space and Communications Group of Hughes Aircraft Company for COMSAT, which activated it on June 28....
" (Meek) / "Stomping Thru The Rye" (Tornados) (Columbia DB7589, 1965)
"Stingray
Stingray (TV series)

Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for Associated TeleVision and ITC Entertainment from 1964-65....
" (Gray
Barry Gray

Barry Gray was a United Kingdom musician and composer who is best known for his work for Gerry Anderson....
) / "Aqua Marina" (Gray
Barry Gray

Barry Gray was a United Kingdom musician and composer who is best known for his work for Gerry Anderson....
) (Columbia DB 7687, 1965)
"Pop-Art Goes Mozart" (Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty; at seventeen he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position, always...
arr. Meek) / "Too Much In Love Too Hear" (Gale; Holder) (Columbia DB7856, 1966)
"Is That A Ship I Hear" (Meek) / "Do You Come Here Often?" (Tornados) (Columbia DB7894, 1966)

EPs

The Sounds Of The Tornados (Decca DFE 8510, 1962)

"Ridin The Wind"; "Earthy"; "Dreamin On A Cloud"; "Red Roses And A Sky Of Blue"

Telstar (Decca DFE 8511, 1962)

"Love and Fury"; "Popeye Twist"; "Telstar"; "Jungle Fever"

More Sounds From The Tornados (Decca DFE 8521, 1962)

"Chasing Moonbeams"; "Theme From A Summer Place

Theme from A Summer Place

The "Theme from A Summer Place" is a song with lyrics by Mack Discant and music by Max Steiner, written for the 1959 in film, A Summer Place , which starred Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue....
"; "Swinging Beefeater"; "The Breeze And I

The Breeze and I

"The Breeze and I" is a popular music song.The song is based on a Spanish language song, "Andalucia." The music to the original song was written by Ernesto Lecuona, with Spanish lyrics by Emilio de Torre; the English language lyric was written by Al Stillman....
"

Tornado Rock (Decca DFE 8533, 1963)

"Ready Teddy"; "My Babe

My Babe

"My Babe" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon for Little Walter. Released in 1955 on Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records, the song was the only Dixon composition ever to become a no....
"; "Blue Moon of Kentucky

Blue Moon of Kentucky

"Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1946 by Bluegrass music musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, The Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Ronnie Hawkins, Rory Gallagher, LeAnn Rimes, Paul McCartney, Boxcar Willie, Ray Charles and others....
"; "Long Tall Sally

Long Tall Sally

"Long Tall Sally" is a rock and roll 12-bar blues song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson and Richard Penniman , recorded by Little Richard and released March 1956 on the Specialty Records label....
"

Albums

The Original Telstar: The Sounds of the Tornadoes (1962)

Side 1: "Telstar" / "Red Roses and a Sky of Blue" / "Chasing Moonbeams" / "Earthy" / "Swinging Beefeater" / "Theme from a Summer Place" Side 2: "Love and Fury" / "Dreamin' on a Cloud" / "Ridin' the Wind" / "The Breeze and I" / "Jungle Fever" / "Popeye Twist"

Away From It All (Decca LK4552, 1964)

"Indian Brave" / "Flycatcher" / "Lullaby For Guilla" / "Dreams Do Come True" / "Costa Monger" / "Lonely Paradise" / "Chattanooga Choo Choo" / "Rip It Up" (Vocal) / "Cootenanny" / "Night Rider" / "Hymn For Teenagers".

External links

[Tornados and Clem Cattini information centre run by Tom Hammond]