As someone who bought Telstar when it came out I should really mention Butterboy’s excellent find of a Cherry Red Special of Joe Meek's work. An iconoclast and mysterious figure he is a legend from that time on
Joe Meek, A Curious Mind - Outer Space! Horror! Death Discs! The Wild West! Demos! [2025]
The original Telstar The Tornados (colourised) 1962 I was 9
JOE MEEK
So, Joe Meek, A Curious Mind - Outer Space! Horror! Death Discs! The Wild West!
Demos!
via Cherry Red, is a proper treasure chest, three CDs,
82 tracks, and a whopping 57 of them previously unreleased.
That’s not just rare, that’s “never-heard-this-before” territory.
All pulled from the legendary Tea Chest Tapes, which have been
locked away for decades.
Disc One is where Meek’s space obsession takes flight.
You get alternate edits of “Telstar,”
stereo versions of Tornados deep cuts,
and FX experiments that sound like they were beamed in from the future.
There’s even a track called “Have You Ever Tried Living on the Moon?”,
and yes, it’s as weird and wonderful as it sounds.
Disc Two shifts' gears into horror and Wild West themes.
Screaming Lord Sutch is here with “Jack the Ripper” and “Monster in Black Tights,”
plus eerie demos like “Johnny Must Be Hung” and “Darkness Fills the Sky.”
Then suddenly you’re in cowboy land with stereo rarities like
“Chahawki” and “Jesse James.
” It’s like Meek was scoring a haunted Western in his head.
Disc Three is the emotional heart—demos, outtakes, and alternate mixes from
the I Hear a New World sessions.
You’ll hear Meek’s vulnerability, his obsession with sound texture,
and tributes like “Johnny Remember Me (‘Died’ Version)” that hit surprisingly hard.
The whole thing’s mastered by Alan Wilson and annotated by Craig Newton from
the Joe Meek Society, so it’s not just a wild ride, it’s archivally solid.
If you’re into sonic oddities, emotional depth, and studio wizardry,
this box set is Meek at his most unfiltered.
(Butterboy)
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