#the tornadoes

[cazzyvintage]

A new Joe Meek biography has come out in stores. It was published posthumously after the author, Darryl W. Bullock, passed away in December. It's a big book with lots of information and new photos of Joe, and I'm looking forward to reading it!

Here is a fun story about the book: I went into the bookshop nervous to death as I needed to go to the front to ask about a job position. I wandered around for a bit and was about to call it quits because I was very nervous and didn't want to go up there just to ask as it was super busy. I decided at the last minute to look over the new biographies, and suddenly, I saw Joe Meek's name shining at me. I grabbed it and instantly knew I had to get it because I had wanted to get this book when I first found out about it before it was published, and this was my chance to go and ask now. So, gathering all the courage, I took the book up to the tills, and as I was paying for it, I was able to inquire through my nerves about the job; thank you, Joe, 🥰

[sunburnacoustic]

Dad introduced me to music when I was very young, and played me a lot of '50s and '60s records that I probably would never have heard of if it wasn't for him. I definitely got that more sci-fi… well, not sci-fi, but I guess what people like to call the more "spacey" sound from his band. The band he was in before the Tornadoes did this song called 'Telstar' - that song was the most well known. [The instrumental, named after a satellite, was the first British song to hit No.1 in the US.] For the '50s it did sound very futuristic, and very kind of spacey, so that element of the band definitely came from him.

—Matt Bellamy on the influence his dad George Bellamy, rhythm guitarist in '50s British band The Tornadoes, had on Matt as a musician | Triple J Magazine Australia, 2007, answering fan questions

[weaversweek]

"Telstar" - Tornados

1962 Written by Joe Meek

The sound of the space race, the hum of new technology and the world opening up for us. Number 19 in Let's Do It, my personal top fifty singles from 1954-76.

Joe Meek had always been interested in sound, sci-fi, space, and what we'd later term electronica. He had libraries of sound effect discs, and made "cut-in" records with a similar sound to "Flying saucer" - but much more sober and avant-garde. Meek's calling cards were a cavernous echo, masses of reverb and compression, and tapes played just a little bit faster than they were recorded.

The melody to "Telstar" came to him in a dream, literally the night after watching the inaugural broadcasts from the new communications satellite. The rest of the band chipped in: a Wild West beat the band had used on other tracks, speed it up, and have a keychange in the middle.

Mostly, "Telstar" is a non-stop guitar backing, layers of organ and piano, and the wailing melody on top. And takes, lots of takes, all layered one on top of the other. It's the wall of sound before Phil Spector invented it. Joe finished the production with a bundle of special effects, and by speeding up the tape to raise the pitch.

Less than a week after he'd dreamed the melody line, "Telstar" was with the record company; within a month, it was in the shops. The rest is history.

[rastronomicals]

1:47 PM EDT September 16, 2023:

The Tornadoes - "Telstar" Single, Decca ‎– 45-F 11494 (1962)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

★★★

[falsestuff]

The Tornadoes - Tornado Twist (1962)

[equalstrashflavoredtrash]

✨🕹🍕¡PUCKS PICK!🍕🕹✨

So last night I posted some chip tunes, or music made using a gameboy, but here’s something that predates that! I love the tornadoes! they really heavily use an electric organ (which i’ve been told makes it sound like roller rink music) but i adore this song! it’s my favorite song inspired by a satellite!! 

@vitaevandal@beautifulramblingbrains@sharknadoslut@ariwolff14@fadetoboom @peaky-yamyam@singingpeople@captstefanbrandt@mimigemrose@pathybo@houseofthebattlegenie

[dumbrecords]

4-12-17: THE TORNADOES - BEYOND THE SURF