Tributes paid to drummer Clem Cattini, who played on UK number-one hits

Tributes have been paid to Clem Cattini, the drummer who played on several UK number-one singles and co-founded the Tornados. He was 89.

The Tornados’ instrumental “Telstar” spent five weeks at the top of the UK chart in 1962. The group also became the first British act to top the US Billboard Hot 100, according to the BBC.

Cattini later worked as a session musician, playing on hits including Tom Jones’s “Green, Green Grass of Home”, Dusty Springfield’s “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” and Tony Christie’s “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo?”. His other credits included recordings with Paul Weller, The Kinks and The Wombles, as well as all 11 tracks on Paul and Linda McCartney’s instrumental album “Thrillington”.

Christie described Cattini in a Facebook post as “a world class musician but also a world class gentleman”. He said Cattini had played on more number-one records than any other British drummer. Drummer Carl Palmer said musicians across the UK owed Cattini “a lot for opening the door for all of us”.

Cattini was born to Italian parents in Stoke Newington, north London, in August 1937, and lived in Hertfordshire. He also toured with Cliff Richard and Roy Orbison, and performed with the Top of the Pops orchestra.