Artist: The Tornados
Title: Ridin' the Wind - The Anthology
Year Of Release: 2002
Label: Castle Music – CMDDD 428
Genre: Surf, Instrumental Rock
Quality: FLAC | lossless
Total Time: 02:34:27

Tracklist:
CD1
01. Love and Fury
02. Popeye Twist
03. Telstar
04. Jungle Fever
05. Globetrotter
06. Locomotion With Me
07. Ridin' The Wind (US Version)
08. The Breeze And I
09. Robot
10. Life On Venus
11. The Ice Cream Man
12. Theme from "The Scales of Justice"
13. Dragonfly
14. Hymn For Teenagers
15. Joystick
16. Hot Pot
17. Monte Carlo
18. Blue, Blue Beat
19. Exodus
20. Blackpool Rock
21. Granada
22. Ragunboneman
23. Early Bird
24. Stompin' Through the Rye
25. Stingray
26. Aqua Marina
27. Pop Art Goes Mozart
28. Too Much In Love to Hear
29. Is That A Ship I Hear?
30. Do You Come Here Often?

CD2
01. Ridin' the Wind
02. Dreaming On A Cloud
03. Red Roses And A Sky Of Blue
04. Earthy
05. All The Stars In The Sky
06. Swinging Beefeater
07. Chasing Moonbeams
08. Theme From "A Summer Place"
09. Ready Teddy
10. My Babe
11. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
12. Long Tall Sally
13. Indian Brave
14. Flycatcher
15. Dreams Do Come True
16. Lullaby For Gulia
17. Costa Monger
18. Lonely Paradise
19. Chattanooga Choo Choo
20. Rip It Up
21. Alan's Tune
22. Cootenanny
23. Night Rider
24. Lullaby Of The Stars
25. Shakedown
26. Party Spirit
27. Sidewalk Serenade
28. Alright
29. Fortune Teller
30. Telstar (Live)
31. Exodus (Live)
32. Czardas (Live)
33. Lawrence of Arabia
34. No More You And Me

This magnificent anthology currently serves humanity both as a tribute to record producer Joe Meek and as the unparalleled definitive history of the British pop/rock group known as the Tornados. Famous for their recording of Meek's peculiarly unforgettable space age instrumental that was inspired by and named after Telstar (the U.S.A.'s belated answer to the Soviet Union's Sputnik), the group was initially formed by Meek as a nameless backup band for a series of now nearly forgotten pop singers. The cardinal participants were bass guitarist Heinz Burt, lead guitarist Alan Caddy, rhythm guitarist George Bellamy, drummer Clem Cattini, and Roger LaVern, an electric organist who could also rattle away at an upright piano. On "Love and Fury," Norman Hale is heard playing the clavioline; that instrument's haunting tonalities would be immortalized when in July 1962 LaVern played it on "Telstar." Most of this group's recordings are instrumental; although the ten vocal tracks are intriguing tidbits ("Ragunboneman," "Too Much in Love to Hear," "Ready Teddy," "My Babe," "Long Tall Sally," "Rip It Up," "Fortune Teller," "No More You and Me," "Alright," and a swell version of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky"), most humans still turn to the Tornados for dependably entertaining and pleasantly disorienting instrumentals. Fun items include "Popeye Twist"; a rockin' number called "Earthy"; a superbly improbable version of "Chattanooga Choo Choo"; live performances of "Telstar," "Exodus," and "Czardas"; and "Do You Come Here Often?," which has a melody largely based on "I'm an Old Cowhand" and a contrived conversation between two men at a gay bar. The peppy "Costa Monger" has whistling and a shout at the end of it that brand this tune as Joe Meek's answer to producer Noel Walker's robust creation, Whistling Jack Smith. Everything the Tornados ever recorded appears to have been compiled here: that means their one LP, all of their singles and EPs, and 11 rare, previously unreleased tracks. The enclosed documentation, disclosing nearly all that is known about this group and its producer, is in the form of a glossy, folded double-sided "poster," although a more conventional CD booklet would have been more durable and easier to reference. The lingering influence of the Tornados is detectable throughout Western Civilization, including the recorded legacies of electronic space age pop pioneers Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley, adventure puppet animation king Barry Gray, and even Frank Zappa in his early squinky "Studio Z" surf mode. Like it says on the CD packaging: Joe Meek Lives.