The Beatles were not the first British act to top the Billboard Hot 100. Some 20 months before the Fab Four monopolized the U.S. charts in February 1964 and ushered in the British Invasion, clarinetist Acker Bilk scored a # 1 hit on May 26, 1962 with the instrumental song “Stranger on the Shore”, which stayed in the top slot for one week.

Originally titled “Jenny” after his young daughter, the song was to be used as the theme song for a new BBC television show “Stranger on the Shore”, so the title of the song was changed to match the name of the show. The instrumental song is an unlikely forerunner to the British Invasion and was Bilk’s only hit in the U.S.
Seven months later, on December 22, 1962, the second British act to hit number one in the U.S., and the first British group, The Tornadoes, topped the charts for three weeks with “Telstar”, another instrumental.

Written and produced by Joe Meek, “Telstar” was performed by The Tornadoes, a band that producer Meek had put together himself and had started out by backing up singer Billy Fury.

Named after the Telstar communications satellite, which was launched into orbit on July 10, 1962, the record sold five million copies worldwide. In 2007, Tim Wheeler of Ash wrote that “Telstar” was one of the earliest pop songs influenced by science fiction, and that “for its time it was so futuristic, and it still sounds pretty weird today.”

The Tornadoes had a few more hits in Britain, but “Telstar” was their only hit in the U.S.

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