Telstar by The Tornados

[EmcProx]

I'm 15 and I know the story behind this song -_- thanks dad.

He made me watch the film.

[TheMimifur]

Prof Cox and Dara used a version of Telstar for their top rating BBC show these last few days.,

[TheElmergantry2]

SBS2 me too "King's College Hospital's Accident & Emergency Department"

[beccullity]

Thumbs up if u are here because of "24hrs in A&E"....

[shoprat17]

alright so now i know that the "golden '62" bootleg mix 8 track i recently obtained that has this as track 1 program 1 isn't super distorted and the track itself does that

[jimtheviking47]

not good frequency modulation.

yodels like a goat on speed.

[quashky]

@jimtheviking47 Wow, and you would have accomplished it a lot better in 1962... I think you're on speed... :D

[Quatorzel4]

50 YEARS OLD, AND STILL WONDERFUL!

[jkack53]

Might have been the original, but not nearly as well played as the Ventures.

[Gyodofer]

que garcha este tema, es una bosta, me entere que estaba de moda el dia que naci, y ahora me quiero matar.....pense que era joda. adios mundo cruel.....

[mottledbrain]

With over 1300 comments this has probably been mentioned before ...

According to Randy Bachman the 'rocket' sound was made by placing a microphone in a toilet bowl. It may have been recorded backwards. (?)

[MrsMattBellamy10]

George Bellamy...Matthew Bellamy -----> Talented

Muse....The Tornadoes -----> Absolutely incredible

Talent really does run through the Bellamy Family

[randwolfray]

The meaning of this music is: Hope. I was 5 years old when Telstar was launched, and I can remember the feeling of hope for the future most people had in 1962, especially represented by the space program. We stood on the threshold of a grand adventure. I've read some comments talking about how satellites are being abused for evil now. We always stand at the crossroads of good and evil: which way will we take? I still love this piece; for me it represents the good humanity can do if we will.

[dpoland]

@randwolfray I was 6 years old and I agree with you...it was a positive event-feeling the space program at that time. And this tune reminds me of those days so long ago now.

[HanumanDas420]

Namaste. Oh. Mighty Telstar! Namaste.

[mryjn420090]

My Grandpa said when he heard this song he knew we would make it to the moon

[Johnnywhamo]

@mryjn420090 When my Grampa heard this he was trying to get off the moon.

[1700darkrose]

like if you're here because of muse

[veevum]

I do wish people would not call instrumentals songs ...

[frankiesmooches]

@veevum so Beethoven didn't make songs?

[Danzairox]

i can see where matt got some inspiration for knights of cydonia

[doubleye]

@Danzairox abso-freakin-lutely!

[ariexmae]

@Danzairox It's generally accepted as a tribute to this song.

[buckshot640]

So cool.Far ahead of it,s time.

[Nixcilak]

240p, we meet again!

[trabantfreak2]

hhm every time i hear this song i imagine my self driving a trabant or a another 60s car

[MechTechMaster15]

George Bellamy! Father of Matthew Bellamy

Muse- Knights of cydonia was a tribute to this song

[bboy6154]

شكرااااااااااااااااااااااااااا­اااااااااااااااااااااااااااااا­اااااااااااااااااااااااااااااا­اااااااااااااااااا

[nephicide]

univox!

[ronetteloverz]

The audio reminds me of my old transistor radio, made in Japan.

[centralparocker]

A sign of the times....

[ronclassof62]

Fall 1962 - Cuban Crises.....

[TheZeke1974]

@ronclassof62 One of the scariest moments in history..............

[Samo1228]

I was about 8 some years old in 1963 It was the beginning of Vietnam war...Everything is just like yesterday. Thanks for the post.

[fleetopssupt]

Yup...the good ol days..me too...

[mixinstyle]

Blue boy

[bstribling11]

Nice instrumental....sound quality rough.

[67rml]

@bstribling11 This is what it sounded like to us then. Fine. I am ready to go back there. Where is the door?

[VoiceOfTehVoiceless]

2:07 "The Original" Looks like the Muse logo :L

[Nixcilak]

@VoiceOfTehVoiceless

Invalid argument. The Muse logo looks like this. What you said is grammatically incorrect because this came before 'Muse.'

[MassiveSuperiority]

There is a tribute to this song, made by the guitarist son.

Here is the link: /watch?v=G_sBOsh-vyI&ob=av3n

[ekahiway]

roller rink music 1962

[mattxx007]

sound like muse knight of cydonia

[Aceman7723]

@mattxx007 Knights of Cydonia is an ode to this song. Matt Bellamy's father was in the Tornados.

[Traveler20091]

The sound appears to have suffered during the upload.

[OpheliaImmortal]

Haha this song is painful to listen to. Pretty interesting for its time though.

[drevilownsu]

I'm not gonna like this video just because it's an old song, I really didn't like it...

[FunkyHonkyCDXX]

TMQ brought me here. Loving this song kept me here through multiple repeats.

[SNSKA123]

can the credits just write "everything by alan smithee"? -__-

[kingcade]

@SNSKA123, as wiki explains: "Alan Smithee (also Allen Smithee) was an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project."

[jeffrefrig]

I heard in an interview that the beginning sound was the recording of a toilet flushing and played backwards on reel to reel. No, they didn't do mind expanders back then!!! RIGHT!!!!!!!

[franzchick66]

I yelped when they used this song in mad men! I was like yes! I luv that song.

[FA7273]

May This song last forever

[codeaires]

This song always creeped me out when I was a kid for some reason.

[Connie2424]

Watching "24 Hours in the ER" Episode 3 on the BBC channel. The man with chest pains is the organist from this band. How bizarre, I've never heard of this band, but the song does ring a bell in my memory.

[Infinitas8]

@Connie2424 I'm watching it right now. So I looked up the song. Ha

[JessieZaks]

@Connie2424 I noticed the man as well and had to look up the song. I must admit I don't recognize the number. I found it kinda sad he brought press clippings into the hospital, but he certainly has reason to be proud of the bands accomplishments.

[wildkirbi]

@Connie2424 i am wachtsing it on tlc

[wildkirbi]

@Connie2424 sad 11 year boy in the episode

[thanatos454]

@Connie2424 According to wikipedia(so who knows how accurate it is...) The rhythm guitarist in this band is the father of Matthew Bellamy of Muse fame. They did a tribute to this song called Knights of Cydonia on the album Black Holes and Revelations.

[TwinkletoesPlusR]

@Connie2424

Try listening to the more recent 'Knights of Cydonia' by Muse.

[mrscry]

@Connie2424 The guitarist of this band is actually the singer of Muse's dad.

[donkeybrainsify]

@mrscry

I love this wordswap.

[mrscry]

@donkeybrainsify What is a wordswap? Exchaging comments on YouTube?

[Kaneniteforever]

@Connie2424 Lol that episode is on tv now, on sbs in Australia. weird

[robdotcom71]

@Connie2424 I just saw that episode today in Australia..... :D

[moirasmith]

@Connie2424 Yeah Roger 'Jackson' the guy on the TV prog said 'Most people say they've never heard of it ... but when they hear it they say "'Oh yes I remember now" '. Me too - also remember the space event Telstar on the news but I was still in primary school. (Just saw the episode in Aus, like you .... He said 'You can Google it' so I did!)

Poor Kofi. Did feel for his parents. Glad to see both Roger and Kofi survived. And what lovely staff at King's.

[PaulDePace]

The number of hits on this version of a truly great song is a tribute only to its time on here... The sound reproduction ranks in the pantheon of the worst recordings on YouTube. Who would post something like this and be happy with it.? (And is it not the unusual sound techniques that are part of this record's personality that I am referring to...I am talking only about the technical recording itself. Terrible.)

[upajos]

@PaulDePace I agree. Fortunately, this piece is available on CD these days, where it sounds better than it ever did in 1963 on AM radio.

[12wwedx]

One of the all-time greatest pop instrumentals - period.

[deer30084]

I remember this on the boardwalk at Seaside Heights, New Jersey!

[nmgt1048]

I remember first hearing this song in high school -what memories

[ripcalwill]

OMG! 8th grade! I remember the disc jockey playing this at our Catholic school!!! Beatles! Mercury astronauts.,.John F. Kennedy and "Camelot."

[psychedelicsam1]

alan smithee lmao

[chuckbyf1]

I used to love this when it came on the radio. It thrilled me to think that we could send a satelite up into orbit. God, what an innocent time.

[ripcalwill]

@chuckbyf1 Innocent time? Yeah...before integration of schools, our black brothers and sisters not being able to vote..Yeah! Innocent time!

[loufalce]

When I hear this, I think about my `62 Olds Starfire coupe.

[taypar11]

The lead guitar players in this band had a tragic life. But when the world was just experiencing satellite's were just beginning to make their mark, this band wrote this song as an inspirational message to the future. of us all. Great song.

[prienlake48]

The reason this sounds so bad is because that is the way it was intended to sound. As the satellite orbited the globe, it would start to be received with a lot of distortion and static, slowly build to a certain point of clarity and then fade away, again with the noise and distortion. All of that is captured here, not just a piece of music, but a bit of a time capsule as well.

[MrKovi72]

all time classic

[MerleOberon]

the 60s were the future, when anything was possible...

[spencerhx]

the intro is the sound of a toilet flushing backwards

[TheReadsbororegular]

Why with 803,573 hits, so far, does this copy sound so BAD? 

[pasarfan]

@TheReadsbororegular  This is the ORIGINAL sound believe it or not. It was transmitted by satellite for the FIRST time in the early sizties. Sattelite has made big progress since then. Kind regards from The Netherlands.

[redsoxfan7855]

@TheReadsbororegular

Because everyone who had this on 45 played the life out of it!!

[alphamone]

@redsoxfan7855

the record that my mother owns has definately had the hell played out of it, though the water damage it took (and it also seems to have cat prints on it O.o) probably have contributed to its decline in the quality of the records sound and playability.

[iwiott]

thumbs up if you knew the Tornadoes (obviously) influenced Muse before Knights of Cydonia was ever written...it's called research bitches, learn it

[cdiller77]

Unafficial theme song of VF-1

[XxGiiniexX]

It's sounds like "knight of Cydonia " .No?

[sarahgishot]

When this came on in Mad Men I was like OH OH OH Telstar!

[naryaquid]

@sarahgishot ...Me too!...I was riding high on it the whole day!

[jdollinter]

Celebrating the launch of our first telecommunications satellite,it's amazing when you think how far we have come since then.

[MsJames9elias]

Yeah Muse sucks, they have no artistic integrity, just cheezy and overblown, like some crappy sci fi novel you'd find in an op-shop. This is good because it's tongue in cheek, kinda ironic. Muse take themselves really seriously, too ambitious, so it's just pretentious.

[daregularperson]

@MsJames9elias So Muse can't take themselves seriously? In my opinion, it is only pretentious if you take yourself seriously and don't have the talent to back it up. But with Muse, you get excellent musicianship, intelligent songwriting, and even some pop hooks thrown in. I don't want to get in a fist fight with you here, to be clear, I just want to start a discussion here.

[clonecomanderfox]

@MsJames9elias I like it cause it's ironic cause I'm a hipster. Now excuse me I need to get some PBR for the iwrestledabearonce concert. I'm not going cause I like them, I'm going so I can mock the new fans who only like them cause they're mainstream.

[ddrmetal]

@MsJames9elias No one that in history made more than 100.000 pounds /year can have what you call artistic integrity. Art meets market always also in this track. They are ambitious , ambition is good, and they are one of the best rock bands of this century believe it or not.

[stopsiqn]

@MsJames9elias you should listen to muse's earlier stuff.

like

Muse - Nature_1

[VanKeweba]

#7 billboard 1962 :o amazing that a song with no lyrics made it to number 7 :D

[TheDJGrandPa]

@VanKeweba Sleepwalk went to #1, Wipeout #2 and there's probably a lot more that I'm missing, well, there IS a lot more I'm missing... :P

[VanKeweba]

@TheDJGrandPa wow, interesting, those are great songs :)

[TheDJGrandPa]

@VanKeweba Yeah, the Surf Rock genre was all about instrumental songs in the beginning, like Dick Dale, who was probably the guy who created surf rock. There are some instrumental gems if you just know where to look :D

[LTurbide]

@VanKeweba in the early 1970's "Loves Theme" By the Love Unlimited Orchestra went all the way to #1

[willy1514]

Alan Smithee--the greatest director that never was.

[shininggallade]

I like everything by muse. It's good they have a lot of variety between their albums.

[diakae]

knights of cydonia ! thanks george bellamy for matt !

THE TORNADOS & MUSE ROCKS 4EVA!

[rockmeslowly79]

who could say they don`t like this song

[Gmancrap]

Someone with no ears or really slow. The Tornados is one of the best bands of all time.

[frogboy7000]

The song quality makes me feel really weird, like I'm listening to a dying station while driving down a broad interstate with no one else on the road at 3 AM. The stars start to slowly move from their positions in the sky to pencil out abstract geometry in my vision while the white broken lines of the road below tap out the rhythm of the song. An asphalt metronome; I own the celestial; a journey alone; the crackling of a dying radio station fading parsecs behind me.

[xD1CE]

@frogboy7000 And then you've entered... the Twilight Zone.

[baraxor]

It begins like a variation of "The High Chapparel" theme

[SBH95]

You really hear the similarities between this and Knights Of cydonia!

And i really like this song, it gives you that heartwarming feeling that only those japanese movie soundtracks can give you!<3

[mkl62]

A #1 hit for The Tornados in December 1962. I'm sure that they had a very Merry Christmas. Well, we say goodbye to 1962 and move into 1963. What will the music scene be like in the upcoming year. Will we have a breakout act to upsurp Elvis Presley? The Four Seasons aren't bad. Maybe they're the ones.

[ITILII]

@mkl62 nobody would usurp the King, and the Four Seasons are great, but they found 4 guys in Liverpool who did a pretty good job of making some hit records....Tornados are the first British group to have a #1 in the USA, but the first British artist to have a #1 in the USA did it earlier in 1962, Mr. Acker Bilk with the legendary tune, Stranger on the Shore...rock on friends

[mkl62]

@ITILII The British are coming. The British are coming.

[jonval95]

GO PAPA BELLAMY!!!!!

[elliott021]

The record sounds warped, Not good.

[Gmancrap]

I really hope this is a joke.

[elliott021]

@Gmancrap It's not. Listen.

[Fido1488]

Mad Men brought me here.

[bandeiraglaucia]

A hole in the time. beatiful... Many Thank's.

[sades1988]

just read on wikipedia :

The former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher named "Telstar" as one of her favourite pop songs .

The Iron Lady has a good taste when it comes to music

[philipperholland]

@sades1988 i love that - i wonder if she knows it was written and produced by a murderous gay guy

[mexicanguacamole]

The Tornadoes did the original song

[GrayEagle48]

Who was the key grip?

[caseguit]

TKS - SO - MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!

[undrcvrmn1]

who did the origional, Tornados or Ventures?

[stinkyfishermen]

@undrcvrmn1 im not sure but i can tell you the ventures covered lots of pop songs from the 50s and 60s so my guess is the tornadoes

[elliott021]

@undrcvrmn1 The Tornadoes

[purga60]

look up telstar and you will see that this was a dedication to to first satellite a precursor to what drives your mobile phones etc

[WalterWalkie]

newspace anthem!



[dkkoover]

the beginning sounds like somebody is taking a hit from a bong

[behangplakker2]

@dkkoover well i am, but thats not me

[SmileysRevenge100]

@dkkoover It's actually the sound of a toilet being flushed but played in reversed. 

[samthelegoman1]

@dkkoover lol hits from the bong by cypress hill

[OKMUNWURX]

@dkkoover The beginning was all kinds of echo special effects, state of the art stuff back then.

[scorpiocancerpisces]

@dkkoover That is an extremely stupid comment.

[dkkoover]

@scorpiocancerpisces if it's so stupid then why does it have 35 likes

[mrxtoronto]

R2 D2's head looks like it was modeled after the Telstar satalite.

Is Telstar still in orbit ? Functional ?

[Alphahumphrey2011]

Also heard in the end of Fanfare on Danish P3.

[supar2100]

the dna is ticker than the ink orn the blood or than a neutron star...

[Syndicate93]

Possibly the beginning of techno? This song is so cool, nothing like it would be heard until nearly twenty years later :s

[Thermalfiredotcom]

classic

[lokuendero]

knights of cydonia

[ahkoifish]

The father of Muse! Literally! Muse based Knights of Cydonia of of this! George Bellamy was Matthew Bellamy's father!

[dianko97]

@ahkoifish George died ??

[ahkoifish]

@dianko97 No.. I never said anything about that? He's alive...

[dianko97]

@ahkoifish Ah ok ^^ I was just wondering...

Thanks :)

[ahkoifish]

@dianko97 Anytime, friend. :)

[dianko97]

@ahkoifish ^^

[Pat12151215]

@ahkoifish !

[Gmancrap]

Muse is also a horrible band :)

[ahkoifish]

@Gmancrap Muse is one of my favorite bands.. I'm sorry you feel that way about them. :(

[Gmancrap]

Yeah word, can't stand them =P

[ahkoifish]

@Gmancrap Why is that?

[Gmancrap]

They become uninteresting, generic and repetitive after Origin of Symmetry. Almost as if they were directly taking Radio Heads style and putting the name Muse on it.

[ahkoifish]

@Gmancrap That's good that you have your opinions on them. Believe me when I say I don't like them JUST because of Uprising like every other person who has listened to that single song and are 'in love' with them. I actually prefer their older songs like the ones in Showbiz but I still do enjoy their new songs.

[Gmancrap]

Yeah defiantly. I respect your opinion. But if anything I dig their old stuff I just can't stand their new stuff.

[vMattmcd]

@Gmancrap I think Muse has some pretty kickass old stuff (showbiz, origin of symmetry, hullabaloo), but I actually enjoy listening to most of their newer songs too. I don't think that its a direct copy of Radiohead, but there are definitely many similarities. Either way, Muse is one of my favorite bands and I took a liking to them much before The Resistance (that's not saying much though for some fans).

[parkman35]

A very scary sounding song...from what I remember all those years ago...

[TheSnowballEarth]

aka "The Haunting Theme Song" from "Mr. Mikes's Mondo Video"

...Nations despise us,

wouldn't surprise us,

if they finally dropped the bomb

and blew apart our

Crazy World of Mondo Video...

[TheTaylorBarrett]

Matt Bellamy (The lead singer and lead guitarist of Muse) is the son of one of the people in this band.

[macmillantac501]

@TheTaylorBarrett also, knights of cydonia is a tribute to exactly this song. :) interesting fact, no?

[TheTaylorBarrett]

@macmillantac501 i know right! its cool that matt shows respect to his dads works

[Jarstlord]

@macmillantac501 interesting lol. i had put on this song and my mum said: ain't that KoC? :P

[kathycantrellbrown]

I love this music thanks for posting

[USMCnwmama]

"Telstar" was the name of the first AT&T satellite launched into orbit in July of 1962. It was a staggeringly huge leap forward in the communications world, and this song was its (outstanding) commemoration.

[CocaCola782]

why did they make this song and what was the point of it?

[MerleOberon]

@CocaCola782 you had to grow up in the 60s

[ironmoger]

muse 60 years ago