THE 90th anniversary of the birth of “the world’s greatest music producer” was celebrated in his home town.

Members of the Joe Meek Society joined local music fans in Newent to pay tribute to the man behind worldwide No 1 Telstar on Saturday, April 6.

Meek, who died in tragic circumstances at his London recording studios in 1967, was born on April 5, 1929, in a house beside the town’s Market Hall, where a plaque commemorates the event, and is buried in Newent Cemetery.

Ranked the greatest producer ever by the New Musical Express in 2014, he developed an interest in electronics and performance art as a youngster in his granny’s shed, going on to to use overdubbing and sampling to exploit the recording studios as an instrument, and establishing the producer as an artist in his own right.

Meek’s chart-topping singles produced for other artists included Johnny Remember Me for John Leyton, Just Like Eddie for Heinz and Have I the Right? for The Honeycombs.

But it was his instrumental Telstar, performed by The Tornados and inspired by the satellite of the same name, which made him a superstar, rocketing a British band to the top of the US charts for the first time ever in 1962, two years ahead of The Beatles, and earning him an Ivor Novello award.

His reputation for experimenting in recording was acknowledged by the Music Producers’ Guild in 2009 when it created the Joe Meek Award for Innovation in Production as a “homage to [the] remarkable producer’s pioneering spirit”.

And in 2014, the New Musical Express said: “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.”

Pete Rochford, chairman of the Joe Meek Society, which organised the 90th anniversary celebrations, said the society’s AGM was followed on the day by the ‘Joe Meek Tour of Newent’.

“I took a large party of people around the town, pointing out all of the locations that holds a connection to Joe and his family which included No 1, Market Square (his grandmother’s house), the former cherry orchard (run by his parents), Joe’s grave and the family home at No 1, High Street in Newent,” he said.

“At the same time, an exhibition at the home of Joe’s niece, Sandra Meek-Williams, was opened to everyone, which consisted of personal items owned by Joe, all taken out of secure storage for just one day and items such as recording equipment, letters, photos, tape reels and many other spectacular objects.”

“We also held a Q&A session with former Joe Meek recording artists Dave Kaye and Malcolm Lenny at The George Hotel giving us all some real interesting memories of their recording days.

“In the evening, the main hall at The George Hotel was opened up to live music from The Triumphs, Dave Kaye, George Buddy and myself DJ-ing in between.

“The event was attended by around 80-90 people who all thoroughly enjoyed the day in celebration of Joe Meek’s 90th birthday. Also in attendance was a member of ’70s bands Wizzard and ELO.”

He said it was the society’s aim to promote the legacy Joe had left behind during his time as a recording engineer and record producer from 1956 to 1967.

“Joe is known as being Britain’s first independent record producer, but some may not know that he was the first person to record Shirley Bassey and Adam Faith,” he said.

“As a person, he was a kind-hearted man who came from a kind family. Joe was made patron (in 1966) for a charity that he supported and he held charity events in and around the Cinderford area of the Forest of Dean which included The Saxons/Tornados  with Robb Huxley and the Holder boys.

“Joe also donated £100 of his own money for the Aberfan disaster fund in that same year.

“Many local areas were used for song writing inspiration such as May Hill and Newent Lake. You can hear hints of these locations in some of his tracks.” 

Joe moved to London in 1954 to make a musical name for himself and also recorded the likes of Cliff Bennett, Tom Jones, and Freddie Starr.

A film of his life Telstar: The Joe Meek Story starring Con O’Neill was released in 2008.