The Tornados

Independent producer Joe Meek had his own recording studio in a flat above a shop in Holloway Road in North London. There he experimented with echo, overdubs and various other effects to achieve a sound unique on the British music scene in the 1960s.

The Tornados were a group of studio musicians frequently utilized by Meek (as backing for Johnny Leyton amongst others) who had also worked as Billy Fury's band. 

Meek wrote an instrumental piece inspired by the recent launching of the TV satellite, Telstar, and in 1962 he recorded it with The Tornados. The song rocketed to Number 1 in Britain and America, and both band and producer were showered with praise. The band followed up their success in Britain at the beginning of 1963 with another instrumental, Globe-Trotter, which reached Number 5 in the UK. In total, they enjoyed three moderately placed hits; Robot, The Ice Cream Man and Dragonfly.

At the start of 1963 blonde-haired bass player Heinz left the group and found solo stardom (of sorts) with Just Like Eddie (an ode to the late Eddie Cochran), while Clem Cattini became Britain's hottest session drummer. Heinz Burt ended up working on the production line at the Ford plant in Dagenham, Essex, but ultimately made a decent living on the 'golden oldies' revival circuit with fellow old rockers like Marty Wilde and Billy Fury.