Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod the Mod finds his solo footing, headed for stardom, with the Faces in his wake.
6:00 AM GMT 22/06/2011
Features Disc of the day
The Tornados
Telstar
(Decca, 1962)
At 45rpm in 1962, pop lifts off into space.
A mind-stoving 49 years ago, production visionary and independent hitmaker Joe Meek oversaw an otherworldly LP called I Hear A New World. Credited to The Blue Men and unreleased until 1991, it remains a bizarro mix-up of rock and roll and early electronics, delivering intrigue, thrills and headaches in equal measure with its speeded-up vocals and bold eccentricity (it concerns the habits of imaginary alien lifeforms as the Saroos, the Globbots and the Dribcots, in case you’re wondering). But Meek’s longing for contact with extra-terrestrials is perhaps better expressed by the single Telstar, named for the first telecommunications satellite and arguably the greatest instrumental hit of all time. Recorded in Meek’s flat-cum-studio at 304 Holloway Road by beat instrumentalists The Tornados, the song remains a wondrously transporting three minutes of velocity, euphoria and release, with the Clavioline ur-synth to the fore and further escape from earthly constraints provided by its producer’s self-devised use of echo, compression and overdubbing. Meek was also a keen spiritualist – does Telstar’s angelic chorus suggest the final destination might well have been heaven? A UK number one in August 1962, it also made The Tornadoes the first British group to top the charts in the USA, ultimately selling upwards of 5 million copies worldwide and winning Meek an Ivor Novello songwriting award. In May 1963, though, film composer Jean Ledrut sued for plagiarism, the dispute still unresolved by the time of Meek’s bizarre murder/ suicide in 1967. “As a sound man Joe was a genius,” recalled Tornados keyboardist Roger Laverne. “But he had a devil on his shoulder.”
Ian Harrison
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 03/09/2008
Further Listening
The Tornados – Ridin’ The Wind: The Anthology (Sanctuary, 2008)
Joe Meek/The Blue Men – I Hear A New World (RPM, 1991)
Various – Portrait Of a Genius (Sanctuary, 2005)
Previous Disc of the day
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Earl Brutus - Larky
Last salvo of Ginsters Pasty-Warholism from Britpop ramraiders.
12:04 PM GMT 08/06/2011
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Loudon Wainwright - T-Shirt
An overlooked small wonder from an unpredictable career.
6:00 AM GMT 03/06/2011
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Landscape - From The Tea-rooms Of Mars… To The Hell-holes Of Uranus
Dry computer club Futurists, upon hitting implausible chart paydirt.
6:00 AM GMT 17/05/2011
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Causa Sui - Summer Sessions Vol 1-3
Epic Danish jams, for when the neighbours get you down.
6:00 AM GMT 12/05/2011
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Just read a flurry of Meek-related items this morning!
The documentary, A LIFE IN THE DEATH OF JOE MEEK, is screening both at the Cambridge Film Festival (on Sept.23) and the Raindance Film Festival in London (on October 4th).
The coveted Tea Chest tapes that Meek produced and were hidden for 40 years by millionaire Chris Cooper (with rare trax by Bowie Jimmy Page, Tom Jones, Gene Vincent) are being auctioned in London this week.
And the Music Producers Guild in London is setting up the 2009 Producers Awards with "The Joe Meek Award for Innovation in Production (for work on "qualifying" productions which is recognised as genuinely original and ground-breaking creative use of technology in record production)"!!!
Posted by Starman at 6:05 PM GMT 03/09/2008 Report Abuse
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RE: Starman My brothers name is Cliff Cooper. Ken Cooper. The Millionaires.
Posted by K. Cooper at 3:45 PM GMT 15/01/2010 Report Abuse
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