Joe Meek: Demented Musical Genius

Friday Mayhem 9 2PM-6PM
Hosted by Carson Street

Look at the life and music of Joe Meek pioneering English music producer and song writer. We will look at his music and some of the music produced by later generations that he influenced. He had hits and misses but in every record he produced he went for the "sound" he was looking for and invented recording techniques as needed to achieve it. His last work (not released until after his death) was I Hear a New World - a concept piece on which he produced music as an "outer space fantasy". This album influenced artists such as Steven Stapleton and Saint Etienne and the title song was covered by the Television Personalities, Mark Sultan and They Might Be Giants. Meek pioneered studio techniques such as multiple over-dubbing on one- and two-track machines, close miking, direct input of bass guitars, the compressor, and effects like echo and reverb, as well as sampling. Meek's best remembered record is "Telstar" which became the first record to reach #1 in the U.S. and England. Telstar was a neat combination of Meek's fascination with outer space, new recordings techniques and his obsession with the occult. Joe Meek was a paranoid of major proportions. Eventually it effected his work and led to him murder his landlady and commit suicide. He was gay at a time in the UK when homosexuality was illegal. He was convicted of "importuning for immoral purposes" in 1967 and fined. His life and genius were, shall we say, complicated.