Talk:Telstar (instrumental)

Margaret Thatcher
Formidable politician she might be, but Margaret Thatcher is not noted for her taste in music. An earlier Conservative Prime Minister, Edward Heath, was a keen musician and if he had expressed a liking for Telstar it might just have been worthy of mention. In his own article, perhaps. But if we start putting stuff like "Richard Nixon enjoyed Pinky and Perky" and "Harold Wilson once bought a copy of Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze during a walking holiday on the Isle of Wight" into our articles we might as well give up trying to be an encyclopedia, because we will have become a trivia site. --Tony Sidaway 10:34, 14 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I am not an expert on the good or bad musical taste of British Prime Ministers, and it is too subjective for Wikipedia anyway. The Margaret Thatcher reference in the article (which was not originally added by me) seems to have come about because she referred to the song in public on several occasions.  As mentioned, she chose it for Desert Island Discs.  She was also interviewed on camera for the 1991 BBC Arena documentary The Strange Story of Joe Meek (written by John Repsch, Meek's official biographer), in which she describes it as "a marvellous tune, full of life".  She also wrote to one of the Tornados, Roger LaVern, saying how much she enjoyed the record.  I am as much against trivia sections as the next person, but do not think that all of this put together is trivia.  I may re-add the Thatcher link with a bit more detail. -- ♦Ian Ma c  M♦  (talk to me) 22:21, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Tornados-telstar-german-sleeve.jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 02:42, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Echo Machine
The distinctive sound effects at the beginning and end of "Telstar" can be made very simply by turning up an echo machine and letting it feed back on itself, and then adjusting it during use to vary the sound of the feedback. I'll have to make a video to show how easy it is to do. Then we can have a reference. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Captainsiberia (talk • contribs) 05:38, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

The High Chaparral
Re this edit. Over the years, plenty of people have pointed out the similarity of the opening few bars of The High Chaparral theme by David Rose to Telstar. However, it is seen as a separate piece of music and has never been the subject of a plagiarism lawsuit. Ironically, it was Meek who was sued over a dubious claim that he had plagiarised a French film score.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 07:41, 27 October 2010 (UTC)


 * There is a YouTube video of La Marche d'Austerlitz here. Unfortunately it would be a copyvio to add this link to the article, but it can be used to decide whether Jean Ledrut was right that Telstar plagiarised this tune. It is similar, but then so is the theme from The High Chaparral, which was written after Telstar.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me)

Second sentence
is badly written and confusing. was telstar or stranger on the shore first?Toyokuni3 (talk) 19:01, 8 December 2012 (UTC)


 * This was clarified. The Tornados are sometimes described as the first British pop group to have a number one single in the USA, and while broadly true, Acker Bilk had been at number one earlier in the year with Stranger on the Shore.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 19:16, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

When is a song not a song?
While we're at it - why is this described as a 'song'? It is an instrumental - songs are so-called because they are sung. OK, there are some voices right at the end, but they aren't significant to qualify this as a 'song'.

And, before I'm accused of pedantry, what is the point of having the two words 'song' and 'instrumental' if we don't keep to their meanings? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.101.141.217 (talk) 19:17, 28 July 2013 (UTC)


 * I've often pondered this myself. I think the problem is that while 'song' is a recognised proper word, 'tune' is regarded as slang, this leaves 'instrumental' which is an adjective which has been used as a noun to the point where it's become one, which irks some people (It annoys me a bit even though I use it.  I get that nagging little OCD thing going in the back of my brain).  I also suspect that 'instrumental' has too many letters in it for some people, so they either shorten it to 'instro' which is both slang and still a bit long, so others revert to 'song', which is just plain Wrong, but it doesn't bother me enough to change it.Deke42 (talk) 10:48, 28 April 2016 (UTC)

Article title
Should not this article be re-named Telstar (instrumental) ? It is hardly a song.

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 15:24, 1 May 2014 (UTC)


 * There is some singing by Geoff Goddard towards the end, which The Tornados apparently hated when they first heard it, because it was added after they had laid down the instrumental tracks. This article was created as Telstar (song) in December 2004. It is a pop song in the loose sense of the term, but instrumental might be more accurate. I'm not too bothered about this, although the article could be proposed for renaming.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 17:33, 1 May 2014 (UTC)


 * In a world where vocal groups are called bands and beat poetry is called rap I have no problem with Telstar being called a song, particularly as there is a vocal version of the tune... --Deke42 (talk) 13:22, 22 May 2014 (UTC)

2012
Wasn't there a new version of Telstar released by several members of the original band on the 50th anniversary of both the original record and the satellite itself? --Deke42 (talk) 13:22, 22 May 2014 (UTC)

Ventures cover
Why is there no mention of the cover by the Ventures??? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:306:8BD5:3CF0:B9CF:EC48:6F1B:D574 (talk) 12:31, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
 * You're right, this should be mentioned as it is well known. It comes from the 1963 album The Ventures Play Telstar and the Lonely Bull. It uses a Hammond organ or similar for the lead so it doesn't have the clavioline which is used on the original version.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 18:03, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
 * It needs to pass WP:COVERSONG.  Mlpearc  ( open channel ) 18:22, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
 * It is well known because The Ventures were popular in the USA in the 1960s (similar to The Shadows in the UK). The version by The Ventures is at least as well known as some that are given in the article.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 18:28, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

sdrawkcab recording
The intro is rumored to be a backwards recording of flushing a toilet. Unfortunately, most references aren't first-hand accounts. 22yearswothanks (talk) 23:50, 15 September 2017 (UTC)


 * This is in various sources, eg here in the Daily Telegraph, which says "the rocket-launch sound at the beginning is said to be a toilet flushing in reverse; the sounds evoking radio signals were apparently produced by running a pencil around the rim of an ashtray." Nobody seems to have a first hand account for either of these claims, so they lead to problems with hearsay and reliable sourcing.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 05:12, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

YouTube videos
Is this video (by Dave Watts), of any use in this article? This video claims to be "orig video". But is it copyvio? Even if it is, if it's "genuine", it's hard to believe it's not mentioned anywhere in the article. Nice shot of Geoff Goddard on the Clavioline. What's the rocket disaster that closes the video? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 23:25, 25 February 2020 (UTC)