He would have turned 81 today: Roger LaVern of The Tornados

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Sun Nov 11, 2018, 07:43 PM - Edit history (4)

Hat tip, This Day In Rock:

1938 – Born on this day, Roger Lavern, keyboards, The Tornadoes — 1938 – Born on this day, Roger Lavern, keyboards, The Tornadoes, (1962 UK & US No.1 single ‘Telstar’). The first major hit from a UK act on the American chart.

They said he was born in 1938, but they get a lot of dates wrong, both days and years. I'm going with the obituary. Also the preferred spelling for the name of the group seems to be "The Tornados," without the "e."

Roger LaVern

Roger LaVern, who has died aged 75, was the keyboard player in The Tornados who, in 1962, became the first British group to reach No 1 in America, with Telstar; his rewards, however, were more sexual than financial.
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Roger LaVern (top right) with The Tornados in 1964 Photo: REX

5:59PM BST 28 Jun 2013

The Tornados were the creation of the record producer Joe Meek, who assembled a line-up of session musicians to act as house group for the artists he managed; at the same time they worked on tour for the impresario Larry Parnes, backing Billy Fury and other singers. But it was Telstar, a tribute to the world’s first communications satellite, that made their name, with initial sales of five million worldwide. It went on to become the biggest-selling instrumental of all time, and for a while The Tornados were seen as serious rivals to The Shadows.

Driven by a small electronic keyboard known as a clavioline, and opening with the sound of “radio signals” from outer space, Telstar was recorded in Meek’s studio during a short break from The Tornados’ summer season with Billy Fury at Great Yarmouth. LaVern played a piano in the rhythm section, as there was no time for him to lay down the main melody line. The clavioline and associated sound effects were overdubbed later. ... Yet Telstar seemed to capture the excitement of the early space age. As well as reaching No 1 in the States, it spent 25 weeks in the UK charts, five of them at No 1. The Tornados went on to record three more Top 20 hits — Robot, Ice Cream Man and Globetrotter, which made it to No 5 — but their time in the limelight was short-lived. Within a year or so of Telstar, pop instrumentals were giving way to the Mersey Sound.
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But eventually his hands seized up with Dupuytren’s Contracture and he had to return to Britain for a series of operations which took 10 years to correct the condition. His professional career was over, and at one point in the early 1990s he was reduced to working as a security guard for Associated Newspapers.

He was born Roger Keith Jackson on November 11 1937 and brought up at Kidderminster. His father, George, a director of a confectionery company, had wide contacts in the entertainments world and Roger would recall being bounced, aged nine, on the knee of Oliver Hardy until he was nearly sick. .... After seven operations over 10 years, by 1996 LaVern’s hands were partially restored and he returned to performing at charity gigs. In 2011 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the STAR Foundation, in the House of Lords, for his charitable work.

Roger LaVern’s wife Maria survives him.

Roger LaVern, born November 11 1937, died June 15 2013

Here's what he was known for:

Telstar (instrumental)

[Ron Obvious]

1. I always thought there was a sax involved in there

Cool upbeat song. I've always liked it.