Joe Meek

Joe Meek

JOE MEEK d1967. English record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who pioneered space age and experimental pop music. He also assisted the development of recording practices like overdubbing / sampling and reverb. He is considered one of the most influential sound engineers of all time, being one of the first to develop ideas such as the recording artist as an instrument and becoming one of the first producers to be recognized for his individual identity. His charting singles he produced for other artists include classics ; "Johnny Remember Me & Wild Wind (John Leyton 1961) / Just Like Eddie (Heinz Burt 1963) / Angela Jones (Michael Cox 1963) and Have I The Right (The Honeycombs 1964). He will be best remembered for The Tornados 1962 instrumental "Telstar" which was written and produced by Meek. It became the first record by a British rock group to reach No1 in the US Hot100. It also spent five weeks at No1 in the UK singles chart, with Meek receiving an Ivor Novello Award for this production of the "Best-Selling A-Side" of 1962. His reputation for experiments in recording music was acknowledged by the Music Producers Guild who in 2009 created "The Joe Meek Award for Innovation in Production" as a "homage to this remarkable producer's pioneering spirit". In 2014, he was ranked the greatest producer of all time by NME, elaborating : "Meek was a complete trailblazer, attempting endless new ideas in his search for the perfect sound. ... The legacy of his endless experimentation is writ large over most of your favourite music today." His commercial success as a producer was short-lived and he gradually sank into debt and depression. On 3rd February 1967 aged just 37, using a shotgun owned by musician Heinz Burt, Joe Meek killed his landlady Violet Shenton and then shot himself. At the time of his death, he possessed thousands of unreleased recordings later dubbed "The Tea Chest Tapes".

 

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