Marking 40 years of being dead on February 3rd.
http://www.skyemastering.com/joemeek.jpg
1. Ricky Wayne - He's a body builder with a mad Elvis-on-steroids voice. Lots of reverb. "Chick-a-roo"! "Muscles"! Say no more.
2. Glenda Collins - The voice sounds like Lyn Redgrave's character from "Smashing Time" crossed with Liza Minelli. The songs include some of the most definitive numbers Meek laid down (It's Hard To Believe It, Something I've Got To Tell You Baby). I heard she was engaged to Joe at one point, which is pretty weird.
3. Sharades - Two songs only. The super-heavy keyboard bassline on their version of Ginny Arnell's "Dumbhead" makes the original look very normal, and their over-the-top-loving-the-view vocalising on "Boy Trouble" easily outdoes the likes of the Vernon Girls (which they may also belonged to at some point). Also they look really cool in the booklet for the "Joe Meek's Girls" cd.
4. The Flee-rekkers - They were really, really good. Certainly the best of his intrumental groups. "Blue Tango" is yet another contender for best instrumental ever recorded.
5. Alan Dean and his Problems - Just for the name.
6. Cherry Wainer - Not so much for her recordings with Joe, but because she released the first South African Rock'n'Roll record, played the organ on "Hoots Mon!" (and "Wee Tom" for that matter), was Cliff Richard's beard in the 50s, married the drummer from Lord Rockinham's XI, still gigs in Las Vegas to this day with a big fuck-off Hammond and Leslie speakers and is all-round adorable. See what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jshVMTywYts
7. The Tornadoes - Apart from Telstar and multiple other classics like "No More You And Me", watch this and tell me what's not to love? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wte9z7Ts2io
8. Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages - This was a tough choice but this convinced me to include them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE6y8zHvUbk
9. Ray Dexter - His backing band was the Layabouts. Keyboard heaviosity and ultra-macho/camp-as-fuck vocal performances on "Atlantic Twist" and the ultra-simplistic "Just Like You" qualifies him for inclusion here.
10. Joe Meek - His so-called "tempramental outbursts" seem quite commendable by today's standards - publicly dissing the Beatles, booting Rod Stewart out his studio, writing to the NME telling them they were full of shit etc. Owned the first home studio in Britain and trailblazed for generations of producers to come by ditching the lab-coated 9-5 routine of his fellow recording engineers and instead took loads of speed and stayed up all night recording solo concept records about space that no-one wanted. Recorded in graveyards, invented compressors, echo devices and sampling equipment and was completely obsessed with music.
Apart from making everything else happen his recordings as an artist include lots of demos (with batty vocals), a few singles under various names (I think) and of course the 1959 landmark "I Hear A New World", which alone qualifies him as one of the greats.
― everything (everything), Thursday, 1 February 2007 23:00 (eighteen years ago)
Here's a reminder of most of the eligible candidates:
Screaming Lord Sutch and The Savages, The Tornados, The Honeycombs, The Syndicats, The Buzz, Mike Berry, The Outlaws, The Moontrekkers, Gene Vincent, Billy Fury, David John and The Mood, John Leyton, Geoff Goddard, Petula Clark, Lonnie Donegan, Humphrey Lyttelton, Diana Dors, The Blue Men, Tom Jones, Tony Dangerfield and the Thrills, Heinz and The Wild Boys, Dave Adams, Joy and Dave, Chico Arnez, Jimmy Miller and the Barbeques, Mike Preston, Emile Ford and the Checkmates, Chris Williams and the Monsters, Lance Fortune, Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers, Yolanda, Big Jim Sullivan, Ricky Wayne, George Chakiris, Michael Cox, Frankie Vaughan, Iain Gregory, Danny Rivers, Gerry Temple, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, The Charles Blackwell Orchestra, Don Charles, The Stonehenge Men, Andy Cavell, The Dowlands, Houston Wells and the Marksmen, The Packabeats, Jenny Moss, Burr Bailey and the Six Shooters, The Checkmates, The Saints, The Cameos, Sounds Incorporated, The Puppets, The Beat Boys, Mike Sarne, The Ambassadors, Pamela Blue, Glenda Collins, The Sharades, Roger LaVern and the Microns, Gunilla Thorne, Kim Roberts, Billie Davis, Freddie Starr and the Midnighters, Shade Joey and the Night Owls, Flip and the Dateliners, Valerie Masters, Alan Dean and His Problems, The Blue Rondos, Peter Cook, Jess Conrad, The Saxons, The Shakeouts, Bobby Rio and The Revelles, Peter London, The Four Matadors, The Cryin' Shames, The Riot Squad, The Millionaires, The Impac, Shirley Bassey, Anne Shelton, Kenny Graham and The Satellites, Tommy Steele, Chris Barber, The Fabulous Flee-Rakkers, Carter-Lewis and The Southerners, Brian White & The Magna Jazz Band, The Scorpions, Ray Dexter and The Layabouts, Neil Christian, Kenny Hollywood, Jamie Lee and The Atlantics, Toby Ventura, Wes Sands, The Thunderbolts, Silas Dooley Jr., Bobby Cristo and The Rebels, Malcolm and The Countdowns, The Diamond Twins, The Hotrods, Charles Kingsley Creation, Dannys Passion, The Classics and Joe Meek himself...
― everything (everything), Friday, 2 February 2007 05:38 (eighteen years ago)