A Life in the Death of Joe Meek

I saw this film at a special screening at the Sheffield Showroom Cinema in early October 2014 having only recently been introduced to Joe Meek and the influence he had on the 1960's music scene. I found this documentary to be an amazing piece of work and really helped me to understand the real Joe Meek and his rise and decline.

The way Berger and Stahman have captured the highlights and pitfalls of Meek's career are so descriptive and the interviews with friends, colleagues and family really help you to understand what type of person Meek was and why he is so influential to this day in the world of music production.

It's easy to tell how much effort and love went into the this documentary and does not fail to deliver on making you feel as though you have been on this epic journey of discovery and knowledge right along side the directors.

To everyone, be you a long serving Meek fan or having just heard about him from this review, I recommend viewing this master piece. I guarantee you will not regret the decision.

Having begged a friend who had to do coverage of this doc for a "big" festival to let me watch it with her (I am a big Joe Meek fan), I have to say, I was wonderfully surprised.

Joe Meek is slowly becoming a household word after nearly 40 years since his death and probably for all the wrong reasons. This film gleefully and briskly sets the record straight. What works so well is the collection of entertaining interviews by a variety of genuine characters and the very personal perspectives they impart. Highly informative, poignant and entertaining.

What it boils down to is that Joe was a human being who did extraordinary things -- he was not a homicidal superman as another doc from a distant era would like you to believe. Not a carnival freak, but a clever intuitive human who knew how to get a lot out of other equally intuitive individuals. That's what an artist does and the doc hits on this dead on. Very inspiring and never disappointing. Especially from this fan's perspective.

A vibrant, super-fast paced winner from 2 American filmmakers who shocked the audience I saw this with at the Sensoria Film Festival here in Sheffield, UK. The story of Joe Meek, a name I've heard made many times in passing reference over the years by friends of mine in numerous local bands finally has an indelible, very human face to it with this warm, complex and extremely funny documentary that had everyone around me, after 2 hours of running time, begging for more, but only because we were already marvellously satisfied! Joe Meek was the United Kindom's first independent pop record producer. Gay when the UK deemed it criminal, devoted only to creating extraordinary, unique pop recordings on his own terms, endlessly battling against the rigid, corporate norms of the 1950's and '60's recording studio rules, Joe pioneered, not only new ways of recording music, but new ways of promoting it and new markets to promote to. He was pretty much the first producer to aim his sights directly at the burgeoning teen record-buying market after WWII and after successfully identifying the needs of that market, he gave them exactly what they wanted: loud, rhythmic music with enough hooks and strange sounds to last several lifetimes. But the real treasure in this feature is how we are made to care for this man's desperate struggle to make contact with someone, anyone and how much instinctive genius he used to do it. Telstar by the Tornadoes is his most famous achievement, but the film shows many other acts under his control that are just as worthy of attention. The segments chart his chronological growth from inventive little boy in far away rural Newent to his ultimate move to London where he focused his talents to suit his own idea of pop recording and basically fought the industry to a desperate and bloody showdown. I won't dare give any more away from this carefully plotted, dazzlingly edited mini-epic for it would truly spoil all the fun that the very creative co-directors have constructed. What a task! The interviews themselves are a treat and the art within them is an obviously unbiased uncondescending care toward each and every subject. Each person has wit, personality and warmth and more importantly: something to say! Remarkable retro-graphics are equally deft and well directed. The director, before the screening mentioned that things still need technical tweaking, but for the life of me and the half-dozen friends that came with me, we had no idea what he could have been referring to! It is really hard to imagine how much better this brilliant, sensitive and perfectly imagined doc could possibly get, but after seeing it for ourselves, we'd trust that he'd accomplish whatever he (and his collaborator) set out to do. This film is a treat and I hope it gets a major release here and not just in the States. It's an audience picture, one that effortlessly educates, entertains and leaves you ready to discuss, debate and watch it again and again. Smart pick for the opening night of this wonderful new fest! Great job, Yanks!

I have just got back from Raindance Film Festival where I caught this 12 min short. And not only that, I actually sat next To Howard S Berger after we had got chatting in the queue. I will admit that I had no idea who Joe Meek was before tonight but even in 12 minutes I now have a fair idea of what he meant to the music industry. There seems to be a lot to the guy, including his homosexuality and 12 minutes certain was not enough to capture the essence of his story. Shot as a documentary, the (short) film intersperses footage of Meek's work along with interview with his contemporaries and from more recent musicians, including Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand). Although this might just come across as being yet another Biopic of someone who not many people may know, I found this informative, entertaining and funny in places too. I look forward to seeing the finished work.

I had seen this film a short while ago on a wild, stormy summer night after a full day of consuming rock docs. I have to say, I had never heard of its subject before. I gave it a chance, though my ass was already quite sore from the aforementioned daily indulgence and I hadn't eaten much between flicks. In fact, I was pretty grouchy too... But the add art was cool and the buzz about this thing in the lobby of the NFB piqued my curiosity. So I thought that I'd at least give it a shot. Now this was over a year ago and not one week has passed where my mind hasn't begged the question: "When will this film be released???" I found emotions and moments upon moments of humour and heart that quite simply DO NOT EXIST in current motion pictures, let alone rock docs. The story of England's first independent pop record producer and creator of such iconic melodies as the revelatory instrumental "TELSTAR" is rich with interesting characters who are eloquent and personal in sharing their recollections and sharp, profound insights on history and culture. The music is memorable as is the witty, fast paced editing and photo manipulations. One of the film's 2 directors was present at the screening, which he informed the crowd was actually a work-in-progress. Very impressive for a movie made by just 2 people on such a small budget (with a few very talented graphic artists as well!)! I have never seen a crowd more interested in a Q&A in my life! A documentary on the art-metal-delic rock band THE MONKS preceded this with one of The Monks actually present and went quite well, but when the Joe Meek director took the stage later in the evening, not one person left the theatre... for nearly another hour and a half! Unheard of! The story is just that fascinating. While thestory is at times very, very heartbreaking it also sparkles with wit and great storytelling. I really fell in love that night. With Joe Meek (his passion and innovation)and this film. But I also miss it and wish to see it surface again soon, hopefully finished to the very talented directors (one of whom is a woman, thank you very much!)satisfaction. I wish them all the best.