TELSTAR Joe Meek Story tonight

[keithmantle]

BBC2 11.05pm

[JimN]

Sky plus set accordingly.

Watch out for the 2006 model guitars in 1962.

[RayL]

Having seen the movie (and the play from which the movie was derived) I won't say anything now, but I look forward to an interesting discussion once the transmission has taken place.

Ray

[Martin Page]

Yes, I recorded this the first time it was on TV. I remember a post here somewhere, where Rob Bradford pulled it apart for the many historical inaccuracies in the film.

Martin.

[Arpeggio]

That's right Martin. Being so close to the subject matter....my main worry was that anyone 'less in the know' might construe many of the events depicted as 'historical fact' - whereas much of it was 'artistic licence' / sheer fabrication. As a piece of entertainment (& a horrifying depiction of anyone's descent into paranoia / total nervous breakdown) - the film works. It most definitely should not be viewed as an accurate biopic. Plus, the dark / crazed side of Joe Meek's persona is played up for all its worth...and more. The other, more caring side (for example, Meek raised lots of money for charity and was very kind to many of his artistes) is more or less totally ignored. That, I suppose, is the nature of movie - making. Strong performances from a fine cast though.

Bests....Rob

[JimN]

I didn't know the film had been on TV before, and the last time I saw it was on the big screen at a Barking multi-screen cinema.

As a shared experience, with the large projected image and loud audio, the film looked and sounded better than it does on TV....

JN

PS: Did Chas Hodges really play on everything that Joe recorded? And go out on the road with every single one of the bands?

[Arpeggio]

Chas Hodges certainly did back a remarkable number of Meek artistes - often with The Outlaws - but also often uncredited on literally hundreds of recordings. Heinz was just one of many Meek singers they backed both in the studio and onstage. But.....they were also good enough to be allowed to back Gene Vincent & Jerry Lee Lewis when necessary. The film is flawed in that regard. Generally speaking - they didn't back John Leyton - that was left to the Tornados (billed as the Charles Blackwell 'orchestra' before they hit it big themselves). The Outlaws also backed Mike Berry & played on lots of his recordings. Plus, of course, they recorded over 20 instrumentals in their own right. Chas's "'ere mate...oh Gor' blimey, guv..." cheery, 'idiot', knockabout image refs: Chas'n'Dave is an act. Chas Hodges is a top class bassist. He is also a very talented lead guitarist (& not a bad rhythm player either). He can also play very fine jazz piano (as opposed to his Chas'n'Dave stylings) and 'cool' jazz guitar too.

Rob

[GoldenStreet]

I didn't know the film had been on TV before, and the last time I saw it was on the big screen at a Barking multi-screen cinema.

As a shared experience, with the large projected image and loud audio, the film looked and sounded better than it does on TV....

JN

PS: Did Chas Hodges really play on everything that Joe recorded? And go out on the road with every single one of the bands?

Hmm, I would have thought it unlikely!

From Chas's website...

http://www.chashodges.com/blog/

I was quite taken with the claim that the Hofner bass guitar that he bought in 1959 was "the first electric bass in north London"!

Bill

[kipper]

That's right Martin. Being so close to the subject matter....my main worry was that anyone 'less in the know' might construe many of the events depicted as 'historical fact' - whereas much of it was '. As a piece of entertainment (& a horrifying depiction of anyone's descent into paranoia / total nervous breakdown) - the film works. It most definitely should not be viewed as an accurate biopic. Plus, the dark / crazed side of Joe Meek's persona is played up for all its worth...and more. The other, more caring side (for example, Meek raised lots of money for charity and was very kind to many of his artistes) is more or less totally ignored. That, I suppose, is the nature of movie - making. Strong performances from a fine cast though.

Bests....Rob

hi rob i only just watched this joe meek film, then read this thread. how much was 'artistic licence' / sheer fabrication. the whole thing seemed to me just aimed at slaging of joe meek. is there a book or other media to get a more truefull insight to his life. surly the man was a great talent ( or was he?). peter

[Arpeggio]

Hi Peter. A genius of sound recording making incredible records from a tiny studio obviously wouldn't have made a riveting film. But....the sonic side of Joe's remarkable recording talent was scarcely covered at all. The definitive book about Joe Meek is by John Repsch: "Joe Meek: The Legendary Telstar Man". Essential reading. I believe it's currently out of print - but secondhand copies can be found on Amazon, eBaY etc. The portrayal of the recording of "Telstar" and "Have I The Right" was absolutely ludicrous. Total fiction and nothing like real life events (very odd - considering that Clem Cattini was one of the film's advisers! The "Johnny Remember Me" scene was probably the closest - but even that wasn't entirely accurate. The film was badly flawed......but certainly depicted Joe's descent into total mental breakdown very well.

Bests....Rob