“Telstar” by the Tornadoes shows what legendary British record producer Joe Meek could do with a few tape recorders, an odd assortment of non-musical instruments and a highly personal vision. Called the English Phil Spector, Meek was also truly one of the great loons of the 20th century. “His public life was one of laughter, tears and, above all, music,” notes the cover blurb. “His private life was a tortured tangle of violence, sex, drugs, gangsters, the occult and, eventually, murder.” These are only the basics, however. Kept in girls’ clothes by his mother during his formative years, in later life Meek developed an obsession with Buddy Holly (whom he believed he contacted through a Ouija board), made an unsuccessful pass at Tom Jones, and produced hundreds of singles—some so outré that to this day they sound not simply contemporary but of the future. Then at age 37, on the eighth anniversary of Buddy Holly’s death, Meek killed his landlady and then himself while in an apparent state of panic brought on by a forthcoming police investigation of a particularly grisly homosexual torso slaying. This is one of the best biographies of a musical figure, period. JW

Publisher: Woodford House
Paperback: 341 pages
Illustrated