The Tornadoes were an American surf band from

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 census. The city is located approximately west of Palm Springs and east of Lo ...

. They were the second band to receive national airplay with a surf instrumental, after

The Marketts The Marketts were an American instrumental pop group, formed in January 1961 in Hollywood, California, by Michael Z. Gordon. They are best known for their 1964 million-seller, "Out of Limits". Biography The Marketts' line-up featured Michael ...

, with their song "Bustin' Surfboards", released on Aertaun Records in 1962. "Bustin' Surfboards" has since become a classic and mainstay of the surf genre. One of its distinctions, and appeals, was that the song opened with the sound of an ocean swell that continued throughout the song, thereby creating a sense of being at a beach. The album with the same name was belatedly released on September 20, 1963. The band, however, did not manage to follow up on their success. Their song "Shootin' Beavers" was banned from

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

because of its suggestive title. The band temporarily changed their name to The Hollywood Tornadoes, because the British band,

The Tornados The Tornados (The Tornadoes in North America) were an English instrumental rock group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hits ...

, were charting with the song "

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fir ...

." "Bustin' Surfboards" was included on the ''

Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...

'' soundtrack in 1994, thereby renewing interest in the band. The Tornadoes continued to perform through 2007. Members as of 2007 (including four members of the original band) were brothers Gerald (bass) and Norman "Roly" Sanders (lead guitar), their cousin Jesse Sanders (rhythm guitar), Leonard Delaney (May 18, 1943 – October 5, 2014; drums) and Joel Willenbring (saxophone). In 2005, they released a CD called ''Now and Then'' on the Crossfire Publications label containing 29 tracks, including live recordings from their performance at the Zappanale concert in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 2003, cuts from a 1998 CD, and two new recordings. The 2006 Crossfire Publications CD ''Charge Of The Tornadoes'' featured more of their 1960s masters and Zappanale performances. The band announced on their website that they would retire and cease performing as of November 2008, but the band has since decided to continue. During a conversation with Crossfire Publications head, Greg Russo, on July 13, 2014, Tornadoes leader Gerald Sanders confirmed that the band was still active. Former band member Leonard Delaney died on October 5, 2014, aged 71, in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

, from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

Discography

Singles

*"Bustin' Surfboards" (Norman Sanders, Leonard Delaney) / "Beyond the Surf" (Dave Aerni) Aertaun Records (1962) *"The Gremmie Pt. 1" / "The Gremmie Pt. 2" Aertaun Records (1962) (Issued as The Hollywood Tornadoes) *"Moon Dawg" / "The Inebriated Surfer" Aertaun Records (1963) (Issued as The Hollywood Tornadoes) *"Phantom Surfer" / "Shootin' Beavers" Aertaun Records (1963) *"Phantom Surfer" / "Lightnin'" Aertaun Records (1964) ("Lightnin'" is an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

version of "Shootin' Beavers") *"The Swag" / "Rawhide"

Sundazed Records Sundazed Music is an American independent record label based in Coxsackie, New York. It specializes in obscure and rare recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s. In 2000, Sundazed had a staff of 15 and two mixing studios, including a vintage audio ...

(2000)

Albums

*''Bustin' Surfboards''

Josie Records Josie Records was a subsidiary of Jubilee Records in New York City that was active from 1954 to 1971. The label's best selling bands were The Cadillacs ("Speedoo"), Bobby Freeman and the Meters. Other hits for Josie Records included the Chip ...

(1963); CD reissue: Sundazed Records (1993)

References

External links

* *
Aertaun Records list
American surf music groups Rock music groups from California Musical groups established in 1960 1960 establishments in California {{US-rock-band-stub