ABOUT THE JOE MEEK SOCIETY AND JOE MEEK

The Joe Meek Society (formerly Joe Meek Appreciation Society) was formed in the early nineties to remember and celebrate the music and life of legendary sixties record producer and song writer Joe Meek.

Joe - was born Robert George Meek in Newent, Gloucestershire, England 5.4.1929 and died in tragic circumstances on 3.2.1967.

He is most remembered by the number one hit Telstar by The Tornados but that was only the tip of the iceberg.  Joe started engineering hit records by the likes of Frankie Vaughan, Tommy Steele, Shirley Bassey, Anne Shelton,  Humphrey Lyttlelton, Chris Barber and Lonnie Donegan in the mid fifities.   As an engineer he started to develop his amazing techniques which all began as a child when wiring up the cherry orchards in his beloved Newent. In January 1960 as a producer he formed his own record company Triumph Records and had a big hit with Michael Cox's Angela Jones.   Joe then formed RGM Sound Ltd and Meeksville Sound Ltd. moving into 304 Holloway Road where he both lived and worked above a leather goods shop. Here Joe produced a great volume of work. Joe's first hit from this location went to number one - John Leyton's Johnny Remember Me written by Geoff Goddard who colloborated with Joe on a lot of songs

Joes's recording techniques were ground breaking and a Meek produced record stood out when heard on the radio.

There seems to be a Meek connection with most artists in the sixties.  He turned down the Beatles and Rod Stewart amongst others but  the number of artists who trudged up the stairs at 304 is vast and we are still uncovering them.  There are 64 teachests full of  unreleased tapes and who knows what treasures await unrevealling.

From the corners of the country they arrived at 304 Holloway Road - then The Great North Road and a very busy part of  London.  Imagine yourself a budding musician with high hopes of success and a little nervous as you cross the busy street and approach number 304.....

This video recreates that experience:


Here are just  a few of the many who made it...

John Leyton, The Tornados, Mike Berry, The Outlaws,  The Honeycombs, Screaming Lord Sutch, The Moontrekkers,  Gene Vincent, Billy Fury, David John & The Mood,  The Mannish Boys, The Ferridays,  The  Checkmates,  The Flee-Rakkers, Big Jim Sullivan,  Heinz, Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers, Freddie Starr,  Mike Preston, Danny Rivers, Cliff Bennettt, Don Charles,  Mike Sarne,   Jess Conrad, Houston Wells , Robb Shenton, Robb Huxley, Pete Holder

- in actual fact the list is endless and the many aspects of Joe's life are too numerous to detail here and we can only  give an overview on this site.

JOIN THE JOE MEEK SOCIETY RIGHT HERE ON-LINE
There is no substitute for  joining the Society  (click here for rates and to pay on-line)  if you are even remotely interested in the life and times of Joe Meek- the information you can read about Joe on the internet is vast but only the tip of the iceberg, our quarterly magazine (free to members) is packed with information - as are our newsletters. We are constantly discovering new facts and  former artists with Joe are making contact and telling their stores.

Every year we hold an AGM and sometimes have a musical evening at the same event.  Normally the AGM's are held alternating years London - Holloway Road and Newent.  The event in Newent is usually attended by Joe's niece who sometimes shows our members around Joe's old landmarks,   There is a plaque at Joe's birthplace in Newent.

FURTHER REFERENCE

ON THE WEB:

There is a comprehensive Wikipedia entry for Joe Meek here

Robb Huxley has written his story here - Robb lived a few miles from Joe and was eventually signed up with The Saxons who went on to be The Tornados

See our links page for more links.

FILMS:

A LIFE IN THE DEATH OF JOE MEEK
The Palm Door documentary A Life In The Death Of Joe Meek has been shown at various film festivals but so far not on mainstream release - here is a clip on You Tube

THE STRANGE STORY OR JOE MEEK
The BBC Arena documentary - The Stange Story Of Joe Meek was first broadcast in the early 90's and has never received a commercial release - but it has been posted  on You Tube and here is a link.

TELSTAR THE MOVIE
Telstar - The Movie was released in 2008 and had a limited general release in  Uk cinemas.  The dvd was released in 2009 but so far has not been released in North America.

THE JOE MEEK STORY
Cherry Red TV - The Joe Meek Story - in two parts commences here  John Repsch talks to Iain McNay about his labour of love, revealing some of the weird and wonderful facts he uncovered in hundreds of hours researching the life and work of Joe Meek.

BOOKS:  
The Legendary Joe Meek:
The Telstar Man by
John Repsch		Creative Music Production:
Joe Meek's Bold Techniques
by Barry Cleveland
Available at Amazon UK  and Amazon.comAvailable from Barry Cleveland's site and Amazon UK