Disc 47 / 48

Hey, I did this twice so it's a tradition. "Joe Meek Fights Back From the Grave!" is my personal testimonial that the RGM Sound is not dead. If you know me well enough to have a Timothology you already know about Meek and I don't need to restate the depth of his influence and genius here. I also don't need to remind you just how much I needed a bunch of bouncy upbeat pop songs that resonate so well with someone who has never been comfortable in his own skin. And I probably don't need to mention:  drums miked so close they sound like thunder or rifle shots, angelic women's voices in the chorus, early synthesizers, death ditties, stomping feet used in lieu of percussion instruments, a key change for the last verse, and bleepy electroskronk sound effects at the beginning and/or end of a song.

So. Here it is, in final release form after over a hundred attempts to codify what Joe Meek means to me in one disc (and occasionally two:  "He Heard a New World" and "Meeksville Sound is Dead"; as it turns out, I didn't want to drop any of the other 47 discs from the set to make room for two RGM tributes). 79 minutes of music from people who were influenced by Joe Meek enough to want to create art in his memory (or just rip off his percussion sound, as the Dave Clark Five did).

The final track on this disc is perhaps the best Meek tribute ever made, and I don't know that the artists were trying to do that when they recorded it. Listen to it again and then meet me at the bottom of the post.

Timothology:  Strange Aeons Disc 47 / 48
Theme:  Joe Meek tributes and soundalikes
Label phrase:  "Joe Meek Fights Back From the Grave!"

01) No. 1 With a Bullet / Alan Moore and Tim Perkins
02) Red Rocket / The Tornados
03) Joe Meek / Wreckless Eric
04) Bits and Pieces / The Dave Clark Five
05) The Orbitus / The Ron Drand Orchestra
06) Joe Meek's Dream (single version) / Narrow Sparrow
07) Johnny, Are You Queer? / Josie Cotton
08) Telstar / Les Fradkin
09) Baby, I Love You / Andy Kim
10) Navy Blue / Diane Renay
11) Ghost Power / The Chords
12) I'm Gonna Love You Too / Terry Jacks
13) Meek My Joe / Die Zorros
14) Lonely Joe / Robb Shenton
15) Popcorn / Hot Butter
16) Fox on the Run / The Sweet
17) My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme From Titanic) / Los Straitjackets
18) Unforgettable Love / Russ Sainty
19) Joe Meek / The Pocket Gods
20) Insufficient Data / The Masonics
21) Strange New World / Jacqueline Hyde and the Moonfolk
22) White Noise Maker / Frank Black
23) The Mighty Atom / The Kaisers
24) Joe Meek / Pluto Monkey
25) He Stood in the Bath and He Stamped on the Floor / Jonathan King
26) Passport to the Future / Jean-Jacques Perry
27) The Staircase Stomp / The Deadbeat Poets
28) Maybe / Jill Read

"Jill Read" does not exist and never did. The vocals on that track were provided by Dave Edmunds, who figured out how to pitch-shift his voice (by recording at a slower speed and then playing the tape back normally, I believe) and make himself sound like a woman. In order to fit seamlessly with the backing musicians, he would have had to record his track in a different key and at a precisely calibrated speed for every single note, word and phrase so that it would mesh with the rest of the band. I don't know if he recorded his part first and then arranged all the backing instruments or got the band to lay down the backing tracks first and then calculated everything he'd have to do to synch up with them, but either way it's an inconceivable amount of effort for a song that he wasn't even releasing under his own name.

A production gimmick from start to finish that gives you a technique that nobody ever did before, and a song that wouldn't have been possible without pushing the envelope of what was considered possible. Just like Joe Meek did in his kitchen in 1962.