Lapland is one of those obscure instrumentals that was surprisingly popular in Australia. In early 1968, it reached #5 in Sydney, #20 Melbourne, #9 Brisbane, #20 Adelaide. It didn't register nationally in the US, but charted regionally.
As for The Tornados: I can't believe I overlooked them, as they would've been a rich source of Timeout Instrumentals. They had that one stunning worldwide hit with Telstar (1962), produced by Joe Meek who also wrote a lot of their tracks, and they continued with a series of organ-led instros. These were pleasant enough but not in the same class as Telstar, and tended to sneak into the lukewarm end of the hottest hits.
Globetrotter (1962), Robot (1963), Dragonfly (1963), Monte Carlo (1964), Hot Pot (1964) and Exodus (1964) all charted somewhere in Australia - though not spectacularly - and I remember The Ice Cream Man getting some airplay as well. One thing Aussies dug in those days was an instrumental.
The Tornados. Bassist Heinz Burt (far right) had some vocal hits as 'Heinz', notably Just Like Eddie (1963)
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In the midst of Beatlemania the instrumental "Cry For A Shadow" often became the timeout to the news. While the memory 40 yrs down the track is a bit hazy I don't remember the Shadows or the surf instrumentals being used as timeouts. Guess they had enough 'power'to stand alone!!
John, your memory accords with mine on the Shadows, as I noted earlier. In my neck of the woods at least, they were always on the radio anyway, and I think the Timeout was usually chosen for its value as background rather than featured music. For some reason I have a feeling that 'The Miracle' by the Shads may've been timed out, which would make sense since it was an EP track and not so well known. (I always liked it, a sort of poor man's 'Wonderful Land'; its writing credentials were okay too, Michael 'Man Of Mystery' Carr + Norrie Paramour.) And yes, 'Cry For A Shadow'...
Lyn, do you know if the theme from Lapland by the B&O Marching Band came from a previous composition, or was new to that record? I seem to remember having priorknowledge of it when the 45 came out, but I can't find anything about it. Thanks!
Country Paul
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