The best of the 60s

[davieG]

8 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

Yep definitely remember watching Keith Fordyce and Cathy McGowan and this show. I've got an early memory of watching this then going with my older brother to watch Zulu

Not a lotta people know that.

[davieG]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On this day in 1962, The Tornados were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the instrumental, “Telstar” written and produced by Joe Meek. The track reached No.1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in December 1962 and was the second British recording to reach No.1 on that chart in the year, after "Stranger on the Shore" in May. It was the second instrumental single to hit No.1 in 1962 on both the US and UK weekly charts.

The record was named after the Telstar communications satellite, which was launched into orbit on 10th July 1962. It featured either a clavioline or the similar Jennings Clavioline, both keyboard instruments with distinctive electronic sounds. It was recorded in Meek's studio in a small flat above a shop in Holloway Road, North London. "Telstar" won an Ivor Novello Award and is estimated to have sold at least five million copies worldwide.

"This was one of the first sci-fi-influenced pop songs," observed Tim Wheeler of Ash. "For its time it was so futuristic and it still sounds pretty weird today. It features Matt Bellamy's dad George on guitar”.

The record was an immediate hit after its release, remaining in the UK Singles Chart for 25 weeks, five of them at No.1, and in the American charts for 16 weeks. "Telstar" was the first U.S. No.1 by a British group. Up to that point, and since World War II, there had only been three British names that topped the U.S. chart. In May 1962 "Stranger on the Shore" by clarinettist Mr Acker Bilk; the second was "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" by Laurie London (1958), whilst the first was "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" by Vera Lynn (1952).