Telstar (song)
| "Telstar" | |||||||||
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German picture sleeve
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| Single by The Tornados | |||||||||
| from the album Telstar - The Sounds of The Tornadoes | |||||||||
| B-side | "Jungle Fever" | ||||||||
| Released | 17 August 1962 | ||||||||
| Format | 7" vinyl | ||||||||
| Recorded | RGM Sound, London, 22 July 1962 | ||||||||
| Length | 3:15 | ||||||||
| Label |
Decca (UK) London (USA) |
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| Writer(s) | Joe Meek | ||||||||
| Producer(s) | Joe Meek | ||||||||
| The Tornados singles chronology | |||||||||
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"Telstar" is a 1962 instrumental written and produced by Joe Meek for the English band the Tornados. The track reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in December 1962 (the second British recording to reach No. 1 on that chart in the year, after "Stranger on the Shore" in May), and was also a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart. 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 10 July 1962. Written and produced by Joe Meek, it featured either a clavioline or the similar Jennings Univox, 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… You can hear traces of it in Muse. 'Knights of Cydonia' was definitely him tipping his hat to his dad."
A French composer, Jean Ledrut, accused Joe Meek of plagiarism, claiming that the tune of "Telstar" had been copied from "La Marche d'Austerlitz", a piece from a score that Ledrut had written for the 1960 film Austerlitz. This led to a lawsuit that prevented Meek from receiving royalties from the record during his lifetime, and the issue was not resolved in Meek's favour until three weeks after his suicide in 1967. Austerlitz was not released in the UK until 1965, and Meek was unaware of the film when the lawsuit was filed in March 1963.
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