The Surfin’ State Street and Barbeque will be on June 14th between 5 pm to 8 pm in downtown Redlands between Orange and Ninth Street. This fantastic downtown Redlands event will feature The Tornadoes, a classic car cruise, BBQ, Hanger 24 brew, and a state street winery. This is a great family time opportunity to hang out and meet new friends and enjoy great music.
The Tornadoes features Leonard Delaney, an original band member, and local Redlands resident, not to mention a Redlands High School graduate of 1965.
Emerging in 1961 as a session band for the iconic Joe Meek, The Tornados carved their name into the music history books with their unique instrumental prowess. The band showcased their creativity by jazzing up Margarita Lecuona’s “Taboo” for the film short, ‘The Johnny Leyton Touch.’ In the whirlwind years from 1962 to 1963, they juggled their own performances and recordings while also backing the remarkable Billy Fury, all under the expert production of Mike Smith and Ivor Raymonde.
Renowned for their early music videos, the Tornados created a scopitone film for their chart-topping hit “Telstar,” and another for “Robot,” featuring a whimsical woodland adventure. At their peak, they rivaled The Shadows, with their single “Globetrotter” soaring to #5 on the UK Singles Chart. However, as the Mersey Sound wave led by The Beatles swept the nation in 1963, the popularity of pop instrumentals began to wane. This period marked a transition as the Tornados’ bassist Heinz Burt was persuaded by Joe Meek to embark on a solo career, signaling the beginning of the end for the original band. By 1965, none of the original members remained.
The subsequent line-ups, often advertised as “Tornados ’65” and “The New Tornados,” continued the legacy. They returned to backing Billy Fury, and even journeyed to Israel in 1968 for a ten-week tour, during which the band disbanded. The Tornados’ members Watts and Huxley stayed in Israel, contributing their talent to The Lions of Judea and The Churchills respectively, thus closing the chapter on a pivotal band in the history of British music
