Joe Meek's Bold Techniques

Legendary British producer and recording iconoclastic Joe Meek—the man behind the global hit “Telstar”—has become a cult figure since his death in 1967, inspiring competing fan clubs, myriad CD compilations, and various retrospectives, with a major documentary film, A Life in the Death of Joe Meek, on the way. Meek also topped New Musical Express’ list of The 50 Greatest Producers Ever.

Although much attention has been focused on his unusual life story and tragic passing, Joe Meek’s Bold Techniques is the first book that details the methods that led to Meek’s influential hits. Written by veteran music journalist Barry Cleveland, this book takes an industry perspective on Meek’s life. It explores his 12-year professional career in great depth, with special attention paid to the equipment and techniques he used, and the effect his work had on the people around him.

Responsible for many “firsts” in the U.K. and beyond, Meek was:

• One of the first to experiment professionally with sound-on-sound overdubbing techniques (1951)

• The first to put microphones directly in front of and sometimes inside sound sources (1954)

• The first to intentionally overload preamplifier inputs and print “hot” signals to tape (1954)

• The first to use compressors and limiters in creative rather than corrective applications (1954)

• The first to build a compact spring reverb unit (1957)

• The first to “flange” sounds using two synchronized tape recorders (1958)

• The first to employ tape loops on commercial recordings (1959)

This Second Edition of Joe Meek’s Bold Techniques updates the original 2001 publication with a new Introduction, new information, and an additional chapter. Also included is a newly restored and remastered version of Meek’s extraordinary 1959 stereo album about life on the Moon, I Hear a New World, made available in its original form for the first time (via digital streaming).