Telstar (song)

Telstar was the title of a named after the eponymous television satellites Instrumental Hits, which developed in 1962 in the version of the tornadoes the world's best-selling instrumental song of all time.

Genesis

Robert George "Joe" Meek was employed as an engineer and producer since 1953 in several independent recording studios in London before 1960 by the earned royalties of his published in the August 1958 composition Put a Ring on My Finger in the version by Les Paul & Mary Ford setting up their own recording studios financed. A cover version thereof took over the British rock & roll performer Tommy Steele as a B- side published in the November 1958 single Come On Let's Go.

Built in rented premises recording studio was on 12 September 1960 under the name of RGM Sounds Ltd.. registered and did not achieve the cutting edge of audio technology; However, this could make up for Meek with his technical expertise and creativity. He developed a particular device for stronger compression of sounds, in which he had engraved his name, or a developed from a fan heater echo device.

On 10 July 1962, the first TV satellite of the U.S. company AT & T under the name " Telstar " was started. Also Meek saw the news here about who inspired him the same evening to compose an instrumental piece. Meek asked the situated amidst a tour tornadoes (in the U.S.: Tornadoes ) on Sunday morning, July 15, 1962, in his RGM recording studios to rehearse with them the song and record it. First, the arrangements arose, then the rhythm tracks for the A and B sides were leveled in the twelve-hour marathon. The following Monday, the guitar breaks were taken, so the group after 14 clock could travel to their afternoon concert in Great Yarmouth within four hours. Of the tornadoes had when recording Alan Caddy (Lead Guitar), George Bellamy (rhythm guitar), Heinz Burt (bass guitar), Roger LaVern ( second keyboard, a Lowrey organ ) and Clem Cattini (drums) with. Meek was not satisfied with the outcome and let Geoff Goddard subsequently the main melody on a battery-powered, monophonic Klavioline play (only one key at a time could be served, chordal playing was not possible). Goddard was trained at the University as a pianist and served for Meek as a composer of many pop songs.

In the post-processing Meek decided to triple the overdubbing played in three octaves songs. Next, Meek imitated a rocket launch noise, which was created with the help of a self-oscillating tape delay. The many overdubbing humiliate especially the middle and low frequencies to an acoustic blur. An accelerated piano part leads to harp-like arpeggios. Even the sound of the lead guitar is underlaid with echo, the echo effects were produced by the coil springs of a converted Heizlüftgerätes. The classic Joe Meek sound is here brought fully to bear: The sound effects limiting (early restriction of a sound signal ) and compression ( reduces the dynamic range and therefore leads to listen to certain sounds richer ) are used here to excess, as in the drive industry had not yet been customary so far.

Publication

Meek offered the master tape of the British Decca Records, which was initially horrified by the excessive level of limiting and compression. Telstar / Jungle Fever (composed by Goddard ) ( Decca F11494 ) was finally released on August 17 in 1962 and thus took advantage of even the actuality for satellite model.

The instrumental recording provided with orbital sounds came in the British singles chart, where it reached the top spot on the 4th of October and remained there for five weeks on August 30, 1962. Already after three weeks of 250,000 shares were sold until October four million copies in the UK alone went over the counter. In the U.S., the timing was not perfect, because the title came only on 3 November 1962 in the pop charts, where he held the top position for three weeks. With nearly seven million copies sold worldwide, it was the top-selling British hit by the year 1964 and the highest turnover instrumental song. The single was the first UK single by a group that reached the top position of the U.S. charts and was awarded the Ivor Novello Award awarded as " best-selling A- site of the year 1962". Meek had negotiated with Decca royalties of five percent and was awarded 29,000 pounds, which points to a record sales of 580,000 pounds.

Plagiarism process

Plagiarism process cost Meeks whole strength and straight -earned assets. Plaintiff was in March 1963, the Frenchman Jean Ledrut, who wrote the soundtrack for the French film La Marche d' Austerlitz in 1960 ( Pathé 45 EA 374, May 1960 ). The period drama came on 17 June 1960 in the French cinema and was shown only in 1965 in Great Britain ( in Germany: Austerlitz - a gloss imperial crown ). Ledrut sued Meek in front of a Paris court, claiming Meek took over passages of his film music shamelessly; certain similarities were certainly present. Ledrut sat with an injunction by, first, that all royalties from Telstar were initially frozen. Joe Meek did not live to the end of the process, because he took on 3 February 1967, the life. In 1968, the court said the Frenchman 8,500 pounds (today around 250,000 euros ), the lawsuit dismissed but otherwise identical because only four clocks from ( " similar but not identical " ) and picked the lock of the royalties in favor of Meeks heirs again. In the judgment Meek is praised posthumously, because it pointed out that the melody is not alone decisive, but the sound and the entire technical production preparation of the piece should be seen as overall performance. For the first time the innovative work of a music producer was recognized as an independent creative power legally.

Cover versions

Camillo rims 1963 brought a German version under the title Telstar ( Sometime awakened a new day ) out with German text by Carl Ulrich Blecher. For Joe Meek total of 34 items are registered copyright at the ASCAP. Overall, there are at least 26 cover versions.