Joe Meek | The Freakbeat Singles (1964-67) [Mini-documentary]

Joe Meek was the first truly independent producer in Britain, and his DIY production techniques were way ahead of their time. Many of his productions, which were all recorded and produced at his apartment above a leather shop, became major hits in the late 50s and early 60s. And “Telstar” by the Tornados went down in history as the first British record to reach number 1 in both the UK and in the States. But when the Beatles and the Stones and the rest of the British Invasion bands appeared on the scene, Meek struggled to adapt to the new times. Most of the records he produced from 1964 until his death in 1967 either failed to chart or stalled at the lower regions of the Top 40. But Meek never lost his passion for experimenting and coming up with new sounds and some of his recordings from that era sound quite ahead of their time and have become cult classics over the years.