Joe Meek
b. Robert George Meek, 5 April 1929, Newent, Gloucestershire, England, d. 3 February 1967, London, England. Britain's premier independent record producer of the early '60s, Meek was equally renowned for his pioneering recording techniques and eccentric personality. His career began in 1954, when he joined IBC, the leading independent recording studio of the era. Originally an engineer, he worked on a number of hits, including Lonnie Donegan's Cumberland Gap, Frankie Vaughan's Green Door, Johnny Duncan's Last Train To San Fernando and Humphrey Lyttelton's Bad Penny Blues. He also turned his hand to songwriting, penning Tommy Steele's Put A Ring On Her Finger in 1958. 
By 1960, he had set up Lansdowne Studios in west London, where he worked with producer Denis Preston on recordings by various popular jazz artists. An ill-advised expansion policy encouraged Meek to launch Triumph Records, which enjoyed a hit with Michael Cox's Angela Jones before rapidly winding down its activities. Thereafter, Meek concentrated on leasing tapes to major labels using the title, RGM Sound. He worked from a converted studio situated above a shop in Holloway Road, north London and it was here that he created the unusual sounds which were to become his hallmark. His first major hit as a producer was John Leyton's Johnny Remember Me, an atmospheric, eerily echo-laden affair which topped the UK charts in 1961. Leyton followed-up with other Meek-produced successes, including Wild Wind, Son, This Is She and Lonely City. With Geoff Goddard composing suitably ethereal material, Meek enjoyed further vicarious chart action with Mike Berry (Tribute To Buddy Holly) and backing group the Outlaws (Swingin Low’ and Ambush). By 1962, the increasingly inventive producer had reached his apogee on the spacy instrumental Telstar, which took the Tornadoes to the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. He was now hailed as a genuine original, with an innovative flair unmatched by any of his rivals. The accolades were to prove short-lived. 
The mid-60s beat boom spearheaded by the Beatlesseriously dented Meek's credibility and commercial standing. His work was increasingly regarded as novel, rather than important, and his love for gimmicks took precedence on recordings by Screaming Lord Sutch and others. Meek responded with the much publicized Heinz, who reached the Top 10 with the Eddie Cochran tribute, Just Like Eddie. The swirling Have I The Right provided a 1964 UK number 1 for the Honeycombs, but this was to be Meek's last major success. By 1965, he seemed something of an anachronism, and his production techniques seemed leaden and predictable rather than startling. The departure of songwriter Geoff Goddard weakened the supply of good material, and a motley series of flop records left record companies disenchanted. Meek's tempestuous personality and often violent behaviour alienated many old friends, while his homosexuality produced feelings of self-loathing and engendered a fear of imminent scandal. His mental instability worsened with successive personal and business problems, and on 3 February 1967, he was involved in a bizarre shooting incident in which he fatally shot his landlady before turning the gun on himself. It was the end of a sometimes brilliant but frustratingly erratic career.