The Legendary Joe Meek: The Telstar Man
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"…ONE OF THE GREATEST, STRANGEST STORIES IN ROCK N' ROLL…" -- Q MAGAZINE, MAY 2001
"…REVEALS THE FASCINATING UNDERBELLY OF EARLY 60'S POP." -- BOB CHAPMAN, MOJO, MAY 2001
"…REVEALS THE FASCINATING UNDERBELLY OF EARLY 60'S POP." -- BOB CHAPMAN, MOJO, MAY 2001
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By D. M. Farmbrough
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
This is very readable, yet detailed and fair. Biographies tend to either be hagiographies or character assasinations, especially of larger than life characters such as Meek. But Repsch steers clear of making much of easy targets such as Meek's sexuality or his depression and suicide. He concentrates on the music and career with insights into the troubled life that created them. The discography at the back might need updating now, with the later Meek discoveries being released on C.D., but for a chronicle of his chart career it's invaluable.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Z. Ride
Format:Paperback
I bought this book having just watched Telstar, the amazing film about the life of Joe Meek. I adored the film and naturally wanted to search out more on the fascinating subject of Joe Meek. I knew very little about the man himself, despite the fact I'd heard of several of his proteges and songs.
I was not disappointed with this purchase. Far from it, it kept me enthralled all the way through. An absolutely brilliant account of a legend whose genius was, sadly, not revered at the time. I know the terms 'legend' and 'genius' are overused in this day and age, but Joe Meek was, and in my opinion still is, a genius and legend. He pioneered the sounds that are taken for granted today and yet he did it on a very low budget and in a bedroom above a shop. He had help along the way, none more so than from another legend, Geoff Goddard, who wrote some fabulous music that even then was criminally underrated.
This book doesnt cover up what Joe Meek was, rather it glories in the fact that Meek was a genius and stunningly brilliant at what he did, even from a very young age. Rooms full of equipment to make different noises, even at his parents' home in Newent. His struggle against the very straight-laced 'scientists' who were producing flat-sounding records back in the late 50s, early 60s - his needing to rebel against this brought us wonderful sounds such as the gorgeous Telstar, and the violin-laden, echo-y sounds that typified the Meek sound.
It doesnt cover up his homosexuality and Meek's struggle to come to terms with this; it portraits it starkly in black and white, particularly his predatory advances to the young lads calling round wanting to be pop stars. For all that, Meek does come across as a character not to be pitied but to be sympathised with.... Read more ›
I was not disappointed with this purchase. Far from it, it kept me enthralled all the way through. An absolutely brilliant account of a legend whose genius was, sadly, not revered at the time. I know the terms 'legend' and 'genius' are overused in this day and age, but Joe Meek was, and in my opinion still is, a genius and legend. He pioneered the sounds that are taken for granted today and yet he did it on a very low budget and in a bedroom above a shop. He had help along the way, none more so than from another legend, Geoff Goddard, who wrote some fabulous music that even then was criminally underrated.
This book doesnt cover up what Joe Meek was, rather it glories in the fact that Meek was a genius and stunningly brilliant at what he did, even from a very young age. Rooms full of equipment to make different noises, even at his parents' home in Newent. His struggle against the very straight-laced 'scientists' who were producing flat-sounding records back in the late 50s, early 60s - his needing to rebel against this brought us wonderful sounds such as the gorgeous Telstar, and the violin-laden, echo-y sounds that typified the Meek sound.
It doesnt cover up his homosexuality and Meek's struggle to come to terms with this; it portraits it starkly in black and white, particularly his predatory advances to the young lads calling round wanting to be pop stars. For all that, Meek does come across as a character not to be pitied but to be sympathised with.... Read more ›
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Eagerly awaited by thousands of Meekophiles, the reprint has finally arrived. Let's put the big glasses on and see what's on offer...The text is largely the same as the original book which is fascinating, but there are extra pictures and a new discography of releases since Meek's death. The cover is also different with a strange colour shot of Mr Meek. The interest in Meek has grown in the last few years, and fans have sought the original book unsuccessfully. I recommend this book, and warn that with a print run of 2000,it will become as sought after as the original print-run.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A. Buyer.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you want a flavour of the Joe Meek story, this is a good peice of it.I enjoyed the book,which gave me many more insights into the story, I thought I knew. Excelent!
By neilb
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Very interesting book, describing the life of a genius from a bygone era. Fascinating insight into his life and work. Amazed by the contacts and missed opportunities he'd had. Well worth buying.
By Alan Letts
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Great book about the talented and troubled genius Joe Meek. A great insight into the music and the bands from the 60's.
Format:Paperback
When I re-watched the film Telstar, I couldn't help thinking some of the incidents were a bit far-fetched, even for someone as strange as Joe Meek. However, when I went back to the book, I realised that the film is not just based on the book, but is a very faithful adaptation of it. As the book appears to be based on extensive research , including interviews with most of the main protagonists, I assume it is largely true.
The Telstar Man is an absorbing and well-crafted evocation of one of pop's oddest Svengalis. Repsch paints the picture of a driven man who achieved the fame he wanted, but only in patches, and ultimately crashed and burned. He shows in detail how Meek achieved his success by a bewildering mixture of studio home-grown wizardry and head games which veered wildly between charm and hysteria.
Meek is compared, briefly, with two of his contemporaries with their own demons to fight, Brian Epstein and Phil Spector. He was one of the many who turned down the Beatles, later (with the bitterness of sour grapes) ridiculing them as churning out "matchbox music", and he was so paranoid that Spector would steal his ideas that he refused to answer his phone call. Repsch makes a brief but telling comparison between Spector and Meek; Spector had a very low output, honing each production in search of perfection and achieving an incredibly high proportion of hits, whereas Meek let a thousand flowers bloom, always assuming that his next track would be another Telstar.... Read more ›
The Telstar Man is an absorbing and well-crafted evocation of one of pop's oddest Svengalis. Repsch paints the picture of a driven man who achieved the fame he wanted, but only in patches, and ultimately crashed and burned. He shows in detail how Meek achieved his success by a bewildering mixture of studio home-grown wizardry and head games which veered wildly between charm and hysteria.
Meek is compared, briefly, with two of his contemporaries with their own demons to fight, Brian Epstein and Phil Spector. He was one of the many who turned down the Beatles, later (with the bitterness of sour grapes) ridiculing them as churning out "matchbox music", and he was so paranoid that Spector would steal his ideas that he refused to answer his phone call. Repsch makes a brief but telling comparison between Spector and Meek; Spector had a very low output, honing each production in search of perfection and achieving an incredibly high proportion of hits, whereas Meek let a thousand flowers bloom, always assuming that his next track would be another Telstar.... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
joe meek
Out of print at the moment, I never thought I would be able to get it as a a christmas present for my husband, so was very pleased as he had just watched a film about Joe Meek and... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Lorraine Littlewort
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gripping read and insight into British pop music industry in the...
A gripping read and insight into British pop music industry in the fifties and sixties
As an aficionado of pop music of the fifties and sixties I had to read about Joe... Read more
As an aficionado of pop music of the fifties and sixties I had to read about Joe... Read more
Published on 22 May 2010 by Peter Wade
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE ANONYMOUS VOICE OF THE PERFORMING RIGHTS SOCIETY
Moonshine and starshine always delight the "rude mechanicals" of mankind. They gather, as I write, to perform once more around the poor star of Michael Jackson in the way they set... Read more
Published on 3 July 2009 by TOM THUMB
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting subject deserves a better biography
I wouldn't rave about this book to be honest. I've read it several times over the years since it was first issued, and I just find the saccharined, twee prose style more irritating... Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2004 by Phil Clark
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