It’s instrumental week here at the old Classic Song of the Day blog, and today’s classic instrumental song of the day is “Telstar” by the Tornados. This instrumental, released in August of 1962, went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also a number-one hit in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK.
The Tornados were a British group consisting of Alan Caddy and George Bellamy on guitars, Roger LaVern on keyboards, Heinz Burt on bass, and Clem Cattini on drums. Clem would later go on to be a noted UK studio drummer, playing on hits like “Make It Easy On Yourself” and “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore)” by the Walker Brothers, “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” by Dusty Springfield, “Green Green Grass of Home” by Tom Jones, “Release Me” by Englebert Humperdinck, “Hurdy Gurdy Man” by Donovan, “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)” by Peter Sarstedt, “Something in the Air” by Thunderclap Newman, “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” by Edison Lighthouse, “Yellow River” by Christie, “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” by Middle of the Road, “Get It On” by T. Rex, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” by the New Seekers, “When Will I See You Again” by the Three Degrees, and “Lola” by the Kinks. He was also the first person offered the drum chair in Led Zeppelin (by fellow studio veteran Jimmy Page), but had to turn it down because he was too busy with session work—which ended up being a good thing for John Bonham.
“Telstar” was written by Joe Meek, who also produced the track. The tune was recorded in Meek’s apartment in North London, which is also where he recorded “Have I the Right” for another group he produced, the Honeycombs. That eerie sci-fi keyboard sound was created by an early electronic instrument called the Univox and played by studio musician Geoff Goddard. Developed by the UK-based Jennings Organ Company, the Univox was a three-octave monophonic electronic keyboard that used a vacuum-tube sawtooth generator, modulated by a diode waveform shaper circuit, to create its unique sounds. Think of it as a very, very primitive synthesizer.
(Note that some accounts have that “Telstar” part being played on a Clavioline, an electronic keyboard similar to the Univox. Since Univox claimed it in an ad, however, I’m going with that.)
The song “Telstar” was inspired by and named after the Telstar 1 telecommunications satellite that was launched into orbit by NASA in July of 1962. The Telstar satellite handled the first television signals and telephone calls relayed through space. It provided the feed for the first transatlantic television broadcast on July 23, 1962. Telstar 1 and its sister satellite, Telstar 2, are both still in orbit although no longer functional.
Which finally brings us to today’s daily bonus video of the day, a rare promotional video for “Telstar” by the Tornados. (That’s Roger LaVern pretending to play keyboard part on a regular portable organ; that is not a Univox he’s playing.)
