Joe Meek

Unique among the 1960s pop landscape, and facilitated by his own home studio set-up, Joe Meek pursued and expressed a passion for his countless hobbies through his hit records and studio productions. From the legendary ‘I Hear A New World’ sonic landscapes and the Tornados’ global hit ‘Telstar!’ to several successful horror-themed records with Screaming Lord Sutch and his smash hit laments to both Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran, Meek’s fascinations were never far from his thoughts, often resulting in wildly imaginative and way ahead of their time recordings.

The Latest Release From The Legendary Tea Chest Tapes. 119 Previously Unreleased Recordings! Albums, Singles, Session Out-Takes, Demos And Countless 'Lost' Recordings. Sleevenotes From The Joe Meek Society's Craig Newton. Restored And Mastered By Alan Wilson At Western Star. Throw Away Your Bootlegs And Vinyl-Sourced Compilations - This Is The Tornados As You've Never Heard Them Before! Between 1962 and 1966, The Tornados (in many guises) were mainstays of Joe Meek's production line studio at 304 Holloway Road.

Four CDs in a long box, with 48-page, full color, saddle-stitched booklet, brimming with rare pics and memorabilia. "The Ultimate Joe Meek Anthology", this is his first wholly comprehensive career overview. Disc 1: presents many of the hits he engineered for the major UK labels during the mid/late 50s. Disc 2: Joe goes it alone, and tops the UK Charts with "Johnny Remember Me". Disc 3: ‘Telstar’ propels Meek to international success. Disc 4: "Have I The Right’ Introduces a whole new RGM sound. Disc 2, 3 and 4 include copious collectors’ rarities, demos, interviews, previously unissued sides, etc. Liner notes by St Etienne’s Bob Stanley, a self-confessed Joe Meek fanatic.

A presentation featuring Joe Meek's fantastical lunar stereophonic sound adventure, I Hear A New World; both the celebrated 1991 RPM restoration and the original unreleased 1960 concept album; placed in broader international context alongside seminal works by other pioneers of electronic music; from Daphne Oram to Edgard Varèse. Considered in this context, Meek's masterpiece seems less an oddball pop novelty than a daring and visionary electronic sound exploration. The legendary British pop producer came to prominence during the repressed monochrome days before the Beatles arrived to change everything; an era of fascination with all things Space Age and nuclear; a mood Meek encapsulated with his biggest hit, Telstar by the Tornados; a million selling chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic and the first British pop single to reach Number One in America.

In the pre-Beatle era, when British pop was a veritable smorgasbord of genres and musical ideas without a dominant narrative, Joe Meek sampled almost everything on offer. From novelty hits to sound effect laden masterpieces, straight forward pre-beat pop and light instrumentals to cinematic ballads, his work with excellent singers such as JOHN LEYTON and MIKE BERRY, alongside talented writers like GEOFF GODDARD and RAY DEXTER, always carried his signature studio techniques, still years ahead of many major commercial studios.

When you take the plunge into a Joe Meek rarity CD, you have fair warning that you're not going to encounter many lost masterworks. This compilation of 29 tracks by female singers he worked with in the early and mid-'60s, though, is one of the better ones on the market. None of these – by the likes of Jenny Moss, Gunilla Thorn, Kim Roberts, and Yolanda – were hits (ten tracks weren't even previously released), and frankly they didn't deserve to be, due to the extremely innocuous and slight nature of the material. That's not, however, what Meek connoisseurs are seeking with these archival releases. You want examples of Meek's inimitable outer space bathroom production techniques, whether highly polished or in progress, and you get them here, via the Casper-the-ghost strings, compressed percussion, and spooky keyboards. Which makes it a not half-bad document if you've got the Meek bug, even if the songs themselves are completely overshadowed by their embellishments, although the odd tune (Jenny Moss' "Hobbies," Pamela Blue's "Hey There Stranger," and especially Glenda Collins' dramatic "Baby It Hurts") carried some hit potential.

The latest release from Joe Meek’s legendary Tea Chest Tapes.. Featuring numerous unreleased tracks. Liverpool beat band The Cryin’ Shames left behind a slim legacy of just two singles before splitting but they gave producer Joe Meek his last Top 30 hit in 1966 with the magnificent, haunting, tearjerker, ‘Please Stay’ and freakbeat fans love the B side, ‘What’s News Pussycat’, that sounds like the early Stones covering Dylan! Their second single combined another ballad ‘Nobody Waved Goodbye’ with the infectious beat of ‘You’, but now alongside the four single sides, many other recordings have been unearthed from the Tea Chest Tapes including alternative versions and works in progress but also many previously unissued tracks such as interpretations of The Marvelettes’ ‘I’ll Keep Holding On’, Marvin Gaye’s ‘No Good Without You Baby‘ and Them’s ‘Gloria’. Highlights abound with ‘Let Me In’ (also recorded by The Sorrows) and the previously unknown ‘Breakout’, particular stand outs.

Moving seamlessly between TV and film studios and the recording studio, John Leyton cut a series of masterful pop singles during the early 1960s, often tied in to his on-screen work. Embellished by Joe Meek’s inventive production and the writing talents of Geoff Goddard and others, he quickly became a firm favourite on the pop scene, complete with his “lonely” outsider image. ‘Lone Rider’ brings together the highlights of John’s recordings found among Meek’s legendary Tea Chest Tapes. From early and alternate versions of well-known hits, never-before-heard stereo masters (including the entire ‘Two Sides Of John Leyton’ album), demos, session outtakes, instrumentals, rehearsals and a number of previously unknown songs, this is another remarkable window into the world of Joe Meek’s independent home studio, situated in a first floor flat on North London’s Holloway Road.

Long before he'd evolved into a fully-fledged cult figure, Joe Meek was the UK's first fully independent record producer. This unique traces his career from his earliest sessions, as a sound balance engineer in the mid-'50s, to his emergence as a major songwriter and hit maker in the early '60s. It includes many of Meek's biggest records, including five UK # 1s by, Anne Shelton, Lonnie Donegan, Frankie Vaughan, Emile Ford and John Leyton, plus several other major million selling hits! Indeed, more than half of the sixty sides included herein were significant UK hits. This set also includes several collectors' rarities, previously unavailable on CD, most notably Gary Miller's unfeasibly-rare 'Moby Dick'. John Fraser's 'Golden Cage' and Geoff Goddard's 'Girl Bride'. If you are looking for what is by far the most interesting Joe Meek-related compilation for years then this is it!