Search - Tornados :: Ridin the Wind

Fans of the Tornados - look no further

Jonny Cruiser | London United Kingdom | 07/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The liner notes claim that his double CD contains the entire recorded output of the group - 64 tracks! More than you need really - I felt distinctly light-headed after listening to the whole lot in one session. I loved their sound back then - Telstar was electrifying, and I played the hit singles Globetrotter, The Ice Cream Man, Robot, Dragonfly to death, as well as the ones that failed, inexplicably, to make the charts, like Hot Pot and Monte Carlo. Then there were the gorgeous B-sides and album tracks like Blue, Blue, Blue Beat, Chasing Moonbeams and Red Roses and A Sky of Blue, the haunting Love and Fury and the wonderful Ridin' The Wind [the US and UK versions both here].

But how does it all stand up today? The defining thing about all these numbers is that they have proper tunes - melodies that you can hum, and I think this is what makes them still listenable [though maybe not all in one go]. The Tornados' sound was original and unique. Anyone coming to these tracks for the first time will probably find them trite and corny, and it must be said that several sound like afterthoughts and that a few are just downright naff. The recordings [made in Joe Meek's bathroom by the sound of them] were not even state of the art in the early 60s, but the CDs make the best of them, faithfully recreating the raw sounds, minus the pops and scratches that blighted my 45s and LPs.

Tornados' fans - forget all the other compilations and go for it!! An absolute bargain.



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