The first number one hit rock record from UK over here was not from the Beatles, but this one, written by Brit Joe Meek (just prior to this, the catchy clarinet number, Strange on the Shore, was a UK number one in the US). The 1962 Telstar came out soon after the launch and orbiting of Telstar I, which satellite, if you care, is no longer relaying and sending phone and TV signals, but is still up there. Although NASA launched this thing, some whiz kids at the Bell Labs (naturally) designed and built 34 long Telstar I, and AT&T bankrolled the whole deal, a first for private space enterprises. The satellites orbit apogee was 592 miles but its perigee was 3,687 miles! Meanwhile, despite Meeks imaginative production, he at first made none of the substantial royalties because a French guy sued him for copyright infringement. Six years later the court figured out that Meek, the alleged infringer, had never heard the tune being infringed when he wrote Telstar, so Meeks won. But sadly he had committed suicide just a month prior to the ruling. youtube/watch?v=NY-YirJeox8
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 23:32:16 +0000
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