Music: 'Various Artists: Joe Meek – A Curious Mind'

The eccentric genius of the 1960s composer is brought to life in this compendium full of Meek, his admirers and the experimental unknown

Aug 26, 2025

The subtitle of this compilation – Outer Space! Horror! Death Discs! The Wild West! Demos! – is enough of a taste for anyone with a passing interest in Joe Meek. You’ve probably heard Meek without knowing it. Like Shakespeare, he’s a figure that lives in everyday life… if you’re paying close attention.

Joe Meek – A Curious Mind brings together an eclectic array of artists, including Meek himself and his galaxy of talented interpreters, with a generous helping of the British native as home-studio experimenter, out-of-the-box contributor to a plethora of lesser-known pop acts, and a discoverer of technological weirdness.

The Tornados - Telstar/℗© Ivy Music/YouTube

Meek’s most public-facing fame came as the writer and producer of the 1962 instrumental “Telstar.” The outer-space contrived modulation and frisky pace, tied to the worldwide fascination with new-fangled satellite communication, propelled it to the Number 1 position on both sides of the Atlantic and gave the former Royal Air Force radar technician a song that would be inextricably tied to his musical legacy for the rest of his short career.

However, with this specific collection, Meek is given a broader appreciation of his unique perspective on music composition and production. Not exactly aligned with Phil Spector’s ‘Wall of Sound’ and not as orchestrally harmonious as Brian Wilson, Meek occupies his own singular universe, with instances that overlapped into commercialism and popularity that might have been more accepted if his vision of creativity had been better understood in that period.

Screaming Lord Sutch And The Savages (She's Fallen In Love With The Monster Man)/℗© Lynn Music/YouTube

If any name pops up with regularity in an association with Meek, it’s the equally unique character known as Screaming Lord Sutch. In sync with the theatrical nature of Meek and his recording environment, Sutch and his band of cohorts benefited from the studio shenanigans, as evident in songs like “My Monster in Black Tights” and “Till The Following Night,” which featured the colorful addition of horror-themed sound effects and campy surf melodies. While not completely within the bounds of 1963 pop music, it’s certainly not a stretch to hear Meek in the same company as his contemporaries Ross Bagdasarian, Bobby “Boris” Pickett, and comedic storyteller Allan Sherman.

But what set Meek apart was, in fact, the very thing that hindered his acceptance of mainstream airplay: his refusal to conform and his choice of material allowed him freedom but confounded his admirers. As far back as 1960, his concept album I Hear A New World (presented in this release for the first time in pristine quality) was brimming with unheard experiments in studio recording manipulation, created and found sounds, all brought together by Meek’s obsessive love of outer space.

I Hear a New World/℗© 1960 Triumph/Ivy Music Ltd/YouTube

His pioneering work with the use of overdubs, sampling, and using reverb, echo and compression kept him on the outer fringe of recording, even if his role as producer did eventually spill into the mainstream with The Honeycombs’ “Have I The Right?” as it rode the wave of the British Invasion in June 1964 to become a Number 5 hit in the US.

Have I The Right? - The Honeycombs (Rare Promotional Video) UK# 1 - June 1964/℗© Ivy Music/An R.G.M. Sound Production/YouTube

What transpired after that fleeting success spiraled downward, as Meek sank further into depression, brought on by schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and fearful of being discovered as a closeted gay man at a time when it was illegal. He took his own life and that of his landlady on February 3, 1967. Just ten days later, The Beatles released their double A-side “Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane“ in what can be described as either serendipity or synchronicity.

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Meek’s legacy is far-flung and eclectic, none of which has stopped those seeking the outlier ways of his compositions. Tributes number in the dozens, from musicians such as Frank Black’s “White Noise Maker” to Sheryl Crow asserting “A Change Would Do You Good” as inspiration to Swing Out Sister’s instrumental “Joe Meek’s Cat.” His life has spawned documentaries, stage plays, and even a radio drama. Could he have gone on to greater acclaim or perhaps been at the forefront of recording technology as it continued to evolve in the past 60 years? This compilation can make a compelling case for the affirmative.

Various Artists: Joe Meek – A Curious Mind – Outer Space! Horror! Death Discs! The Wild West! Demos! releases August 29 from Cherry Red as a 3CD, 82-track collection, with 57 previously unreleased tracks and a 10-page booklet with sleevenotes from The Joe Meek Society’s Craig Newton.