TELSTAR- THE JOE MEEK STORY

[Alan Prudhoe]

Sad but True. I think Ron has hit the nail on the head - 100%.

[Alan Prudhoe]

Sad but True. I think Ray has hit the nail on the head - 100%.

[dave robinson]

Sad but True. I think Ron has hit the nail on the head - 100%.

Who's Ron?

[Arpeggio]

ck Moran's film about the life of Joe Meek was derived from his stage play, which in turn derived from a 'work-in-progress' that he developed in small London venues. His source material would have had to have been John Repsch's original book about Joe Meek, published in 1989 (there was no other source at the time).*

However, as an actor, he made a play and then a film for actors. Out went accuracy about history and people in favour of strong parts for actors, especially that of the leading role. An unexpected or mysterious death is ideal as the basis for a drama and Joe Meek has now followed others such as Glenn Miller and Buddy Holly in providing an emotionally-charged storyline.**

I saw the stage play (which had many elements of an end-of-pier farce) and then the film and both made me feel uncomfortable. Since I find soaps such as Eastenders or Coronation Street similarly unwatchable, perhaps what made me feel uncomfortable was that the life of a talented record producer and composer had been turned into a soap. Ray Liffen

To a large degree - Ray is correct. *Although John Repsch's biography must (deo facto) have been the main source of information, Nick Moran always vehemently denied it - resulting in a lengthy, protracted legal battle with JR. Ultimately some compromise must have been reached as there was a tiny 'acknowledgement' on the DVD - but it was 'fudged'. Nick Moran did speak to lots of Joe's former artists - but, eventually, he took his main slant from Chas Hodges.

** Definitely correct. We all know now (especially in the intervening 30+ years) that the "Buddy Holly Story" film contained numerous errors and fictionalised scenes. General fans & filmgoers took the film at face value as being 'true'. This is always a danger - but, inaccuracies notwithstanding, at least "T B H Story" was an affectionate tribute to Buddy and didn't harm his reputation. If anyone views "Telstar" as a true reflection of Joe Meek's life - then it is a damning portrait. Don't get me wrong. Joe Meek was clearly no saint and undoubtedly had personality flaws. I was lucky enough to meet Nick Moran a few times and to interview him at some depth. Whilst he admired Joe's contribution to music - this didn't really come across at all in the film. No, (which is where Ray is correct about 'an actor's film), Nick Moran always made it clear that he considered Joe Meek to be a 'Grand Guignol' character in the manner (if it's not too much of a contradiction) of a 'flawed hero / genius' in a 'Greek Tragedy'. Thus, he was fascinated by Joe Meek's descent into mental turmoil, psychosis, paranoia and ultimate self - destruction. In portraying that dreadful series of events leading up to total mental and physical breakdown....he succeeded admirably (& actor Con O'Neill was outstanding). But such a course inevitably dwells upon every aspect of unpleasantness (not all of it true). As such - it paints a dreadful, one - sided, one - dimensional portrait of Meek's life. The music and his vast skills, pioneering work as a sound recording expert are either ignored or trivialised. (End of this part!!!)

Rob

[Martin Page]

Martin,
Although actually born in Germany - Heinz spent the whole of his childhood & youth growing up in Southampton. Then, not surprisingly, he lived in London before returning to the Southampton / Eastleigh area. He died in Southampton in 2000.

Dave - entertainment is all very well...but it can be annoying / upsetting if events are falsified & fiction is presented as truth. There are parallels with programmes about Harry H Corbett in which events depicted in his life (& accepted as 'fact' by fans who never knew him - & some of these 'facts' were somewhat unpleasant) were later shown to be complete and utter fabrication by the writers. It caused a lot of distress to Harry's family & people who did know him. Many of Joe Meek's artists were fairly happy with the film, many weren't. Joe Meek's friends & family were happy with some aspects of the film - less happy with other parts of it (especially when it was pure invention). Inevitably - it was a bit of a compromise. It's hard to be completely dispassionate when you get too close to the subject matter. Some musical aspects were inaccurate too. OK - imagine a similar film about The Shadows (now there's a thought) - opening with a shot of Hank recording "Apache" - with a Gretsch. Imagine this was depicted as a 'fact'. Now...how would people on this site react.....i wonder? Just a thought!

Bests....Rob

Yes, I knew Heinz was born in Germany. I knew he had lived on the south coast - I misremembered Plymouth instead of Southampton. In fact we did a small tour of Devon and Cornwall with him and the first gig was in Plymouth (maybe that had fixed in my mind), which was actually cancelled at the last minute - can't remember why. Heinz was also a very keen fisherman; we hired a boat in Looe and the man caught several fish on our little excursion.

I can quite see that it was a stage play first because I remember thinking when I watched the film that it reminded me of one of those 'wordy' Billy Wilder/Frank Capra style comedies.

Martin.

[Arpeggio]

Thanks Martin. Most interesting. I've heard from other sources that Heinz was a keen (& pretty good) angler. He also enjoyed shooting in the countryside by all accounts.

Rob

[Alan Prudhoe]

Sad but True. I think Ron has hit the nail on the head - 100%.

NOTE for the PEDANTS amongst us:
I was, of course, replying to a post from Ray NOT Ron.
The post was corrected immediately - see the one below the original - but for some reason the original was posted too and I don't know how to delete it.

[Alan Prudhoe]

Sad but True. I think Ron has hit the nail on the head - 100%.

Who's Ron?

Who's asking??

[Jay Bass]

Heres A intersting interview with Roger La vern & Clem Cattini Regarding
The Tornados, Joe meek etc .
its in 5 parts but well worth a listen.


pt1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkf9pK8- ... ure=relmfu

Jay

[Martin Page]

Heres A intersting interview with Roger La vern & Clem Cattini Regarding
The Tornados, Joe meek etc .
its in 5 parts but well worth a listen.


pt1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkf9pK8- ... ure=relmfu

Jay

Yes, I've seen this before - well worth a look.

Martin.