One of the U.K.'s most distinctive instrumental bands, the Tornados scored a worldwide hit with 1962's soaring space age ode "Telstar." The first song by a U.K. group to top the U.S. charts, its driven, clavioline-led sound was the perfect combination of their musicianship and producer Joe Meek's innovations. The Tornados juggled their obligations as one of the house bands at Meek's studio and the backing group for Billy Fury with their own releases, earning several Top 20 U.K. singles. Shifting trends and lineup changes contributed to the band's waning popularity, but they remained creative, incorporating classical influences on 1966's "Pop Art Goes Mozart" and unwittingly releasing the first openly gay pop song with the B-side "Do You Come Here Often?" Collections like 2002's Ridin' the Wind: The Anthology and 2023's Love & Fury: The Holloway Road Sessions 1962-1966 documented their special place in rock history.