1. Robert George "Joe" Meek was an English record producer and songwriter considered one of the most influential sound engineers of all time, being one of the first to develop ideas such as the recording studio as an instrument, and becoming one of the first producers to be recognised for his individual identity as an artist.
The Tornados' instrumental "Telstar", written and produced by Joe Meek, became the first record by a British rock group to reach number one in the US Hot 100.
On 3 February 1967, using a shotgun owned by musician Heinz Burt, Joe Meek killed his landlady, Violet Shenton, with whom he had argued over the loudness of his studio, which he rented from her, and then shot himself.
At the time of his death, Joe Meek possessed thousands of unreleased recordings later dubbed "The Tea Chest Tapes".
Joe Meek was born at 1 Market Square, Newent, Gloucestershire, and developed an interest in electronics and performance art at a very early age, filling his parents' garden shed with begged and borrowed electronic components, building circuits, radios and what is believed to be the region's first working television.
Joe Meek used the resources of the company to develop his interest in electronics and music production, including acquiring a disc cutter and producing his first record.
Joe Meek left the electricity board to work as an audio engineer for a leading independent radio production company which made programmes for Radio Luxembourg, and made his breakthrough with his work on Ivy Benson's Music for Lonely Lovers.
Joe Meek then put enormous effort into Denis Preston's Landsdowne Studio but tensions between Preston and Meek soon saw Meek leaving.
Joe Meek engineered many jazz and calypso records including vocalist and percussionist Frank Holder and band leader Kenny Graham.
Joe Meek was working as a songwriter at this time, using the name "Robert Duke".
In January 1960, together with William Barrington-Coupe, Joe Meek founded Triumph Records.
The record made a respectable appearance in the Top Ten, but it demonstrated that Joe Meek needed the distribution network of the major companies for his records to reach retail outlets.
Joe Meek later licensed many Triumph recordings to labels such as Top Rank and Pye.
Joe Meek went on to set up his own production company known as RGM Sound Ltd with toy importer Major Wilfred Alonzo Banks as his financial backer.
Joe Meek operated from his home studio which he constructed at 304 Holloway Road, Islington, a three-floor flat above a leather-goods store.
Joe Meek's first hit from Holloway Road reached No 1 in the UK Singles Chart: John Leyton's "Johnny Remember Me" written by Geoff Goddard.
The instrumental "Telstar", written and produced by Joe Meek, was recorded at the Holloway Road studio in July 1962.
The Joe Meek-produced track became a number 5 hit on the American Billboard pop charts.
Joe Meek was one of the first producers to grasp and fully exploit the possibilities of the modern recording studio.
Joe Meek pioneered signal processing by using direct input units on bass guitars, and treating instruments and voices with echo, reverb and compression, or his fabled home-made electronic devices.
At a time when studio engineers limited themselves to maintaining clarity and fidelity, Joe Meek was never afraid to distort or manipulate the sound if it created the effect he was seeking.
Joe Meek became fascinated with the idea of communicating with the dead, after reading the works about EVP of Friedrich Jurgenson and Konstantins Raudive.
Joe Meek would set up tape machines in graveyards in an attempt to record voices from beyond the grave, in one instance capturing the meows of a cat he believed was speaking in human tones, asking for help.
Joe Meek was affected by bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and, upon receiving an apparently innocent phone call from American record producer Phil Spector, Joe Meek immediately accused Spector of stealing his ideas before hanging up angrily.
In later years, Joe Meek started experiencing psychotic delusions, culminating in his refusal to use the studio telephone for important communications due to his belief that his landlady was eavesdropping on his calls through the chimney, that he could control the minds of others with his recording equipment, and that he could monitor his acts while away from the studio through supernatural means.
Joe Meek was a frequent recreational drug user, with his barbiturate abuse further worsening his depressive episodes.
Joe Meek always walked everywhere outside the studio wearing sunglasses, fearing recognition by local gangsters such as the Kray twins, whom he feared would attempt to steal his acts or blackmail him regarding his homosexuality.
Joe Meek's depression deepened as his financial position became increasingly desperate.
The lawsuit meant that Joe Meek did not receive royalties from the record during his lifetime, and the issue was not resolved in his favour until three weeks after his death in 1967.
On 3 February 1967, Joe Meek killed his landlady Violet Shenton and then himself, at his Holloway Road residence.
Joe Meek had kept the gun under his bed, along with some cartridges.
Joe Meek worked on 245 singles, 45 of which reached the top fifty.
The tribute to Joe Meek was due to his influence in the early stages of audio compression.
The tapes contained many examples of Joe Meek composing songs and experimental sound techniques.
Joe Meek recorded seven tracks with Jones and took them to various labels in an attempt to get a record deal, with no success.
Two years later after Jones' worldwide hit "It's Not Unusual" in 1965, Joe Meek was able to sell the tapes he had recorded with Jones to Tower and Columbia.