by Cub KodaOne of the saddest stories in rock & roll history surrounds the Tornados, an instrumental group from Britain. Although there were other groups with the same name (see listing for their surf-band American counterparts), this batch of Tornados were the creation of British producer Joe Meek. Meek was Englands first independent producer, being equal parts Thomas Edison, Phil Spector and Ed Wood. An inveterate tinkerer, he designed his own compression units and microphone preamps, giving his productions their own distinct sound. Setting up a homemade studio in a three-story flat on Holloway Road in London, Meek pioneered such recording techniques as close miking of instruments, distortion, his aforementioned trademark compression, loud drums fortified by percussion from pocket combs, milk bottles and stomping the floorboards himself. He put together the original Tornados in late 1961 as a studio session group, its original lineup consis...