Roger LaVern

 

Musician with the Tornados, who became the first British group to top the US charts when they released the instrumental Telstar in 1962.
Roger LaVern played keyboards with the Tornados, who in 1962 pipped the Beatles by more than a year to become the first British group to top the American charts. The record, which was also a British No 1, was the futuristic-sounding instrumental Telstar, named after the world’s first telecommunications satellite, which had been launched into space a few weeks earlier.

It was swiftly followed by another British Top 5 entry with Globetrotter, and for a brief while the Tornados were considered rivals to the Shadows as Britain’s foremost beat group. But the advent of the Beatles led to a decline...

Source: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article3821890.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2013_07_21