MARCH 2020
THIS EVENT has now been cancelled due to growing concerns over the coronavirus.
We have no option but to abort any event for 2020 and start to focus on April 2021.
JOE MEEK LYRICS PROJECT
Greetings fellow lovers of that singular genius of British pop! My name is Adam Elkhadem, and I’m an artist and amateur archivist. Over the past couple years I have made it my mission to transcribe the lyrics to ALL of the songs produced by Joe Meek, and believe I have accomplished as much as I can do by myself, based on what audio recordings I have access to. It seems that nobody appreciates my countless hours of labour on this absolutely gigantic undertaking, but I thought you would. To be clear: I have transcribed hundreds of songs across Joe Meek’s career as a producer.
I have uploaded all the lyrics I have transcribed to Genius.com, and they can be accessed by anyone. The link is below:
https://genius.com/artists/Joe-meek
I really hope that you can get some use out of all my efforts.
JOE MEEK INSIGHT
I’m certainly pushing the Joe Meek mantra this year as well as my co-production and Glenda Collins releases and other Thunderbolt contributions. I am also known for a famous zine ‘Dedicated Follower’ that was showcased in a V & A exhibition (where original issues are still housed) I did a few one-offs ltd edition paper issues in recent years but the last one got such an overwhelming response I have brought it back on a regular basis. The first issue of the year features a special in-depth piece about Joe Meek’s other talents (rather than his production) His other talents being A & R and songwriting. There is an additional page about Glenda Collins as well of course. Other features like Mary Quant may also be of interest. It is ltd edition of only 500 and only £5 inc P&P anywhere in the world
The link below for people to get more info and acquire it
Russell C. Brennan of Future Legend Records
GLENDA COLLINS RELEASE
Before Glenda Collins was snapped up by the legendary Joe Meek to record a string of classic 45’s she was signed to Decca records and had 3 single very good single releases. All three A & B sides now feature on a download EP ‘In the Beginning’ now going for a special price on Itunes etc.
THUNDERBOLT #88
Being printed right now & should be with members by early March.
LATEST NEW GLENDA COLLINS RELEASE
Future Legend Records has now signed Glenda Collins up permanently and I’m currently recording an album with her. We also acquired her early Decca releases, and as Joe Meek didn’t produce those, I thought I’d do a remix of my favourite one ‘Find Another Fool‘ and release it as a single. It’s out today at Itunes – click on link below – and all good download sites now.
THE TORNADOS UNRELEASED AT TIME TRACK ON NEW COMPILATION ALBUM
A new compilation album including The Tornados’ “No More You And Me” (featuring you, unreleased at time of the recording), titled “A Slight Disturbance In My Mind – The British Proto-Psychedelic Sounds of 1966”, Various Artists, 3CD Boxset… is due from Grapefruit\Cherry Red in January 2020.
JANUARY RELEASE FOR RPM / CHERRY RED HONEYCOMBS BOX SET
I am delighted to announce that since August I have been working with Mark Stratford and Michael Robson on a 3-CD box set of Honeycombs recordings. Have I The Right? / THE COMPLETE 60s ALBUMS & SINGLES (RPM QRPMBX548) is coming out 24 January 2020. With a plethora of rare and unreleased items, it will comprise a trio of discs in individual wallets housed in a clam shell box which also includes a profusely illustrated 24-page booklet with notes written by myself. Out of the total of 78 tracks of which 7 make the transfer from vinyl to their worldwide CD debut including the rare Japanese Christmas single, 8 have never before been released and 16 others appear in the UK for the very first time – plus the original mono version of “All Systems Go!” finally on CD in this country. Rob Bradford’s review will be appearing in the February 2020 issue of Thunderbolt; and with next year being the 60th anniversary of Joe Meek moving to 304 Holloway Road, this long-awaited collection is making a timely appearance for RGM60.
Disc 1: The Honeycombs album, UK singles June 1964 – July 1965 plus “I Can’t Stop” (US 45 version), German single “Hab’ Ich Das Recht?” / “Du Sollst Nicht Traurig Sein”, live radio session “That’s The Way” / “Colour Slide”, full-length backing track of “Hab’ Ich Das Recht?” (“Have I The Right?”).
Disc 2: All Systems Go! album, UK singles November 1965 – September 1966, “Somewhere Along The Way”, “I Can Tell (Something’s Up)” (unreleased version), “Tell Me Baby”.
Disc 3: [Messages from Denny, Allan, John and Peter leading into…] In Tokyo (live) album, “Goldfinger”, Japanese singles “Santa Claus Is Backin’ To Town” / “Silent Night, Holy Night” and “Hurricane” / “Music Train”, “Time”, “White Sands From The Ocean”; Martin Murray solo single “I Know What I Want” / “Goodbye My Baby”; Denny D’ell solo singles “It Breaks My Heart” / “Better Use Your Head” and “A Woman Called Sorrow” / “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes”.
Mark has now given me the go-ahead to post details ahead of them appearing on the Cherry Red website, where in due course you can pre-order the item – but, of course, will also be available from Amazon and other retailers.
PAUL R. MOY
NEW ALBUM FROM WESTERN STAR RECORDS
The new Joe Meek tribute album is complete. This should be in stock early October.
Genuine, grade A stars such as Chas Hodges and John Leyton re-recordings sit alongside current bands such as The Strays, Henry & The Bleeders and many more.
STATUE FOR JOE MEEK UPDATE
The statue for Joe Meek is currently going through talks with the Council and there will definitely be a statue, it’s just the case of getting together to discuss the final details and I’m sure we’re all aware of how long these things can take but I have been assured that there is no need for anyone to be concerned re the length of time it’s all taking.
As for the ‘Go Fund Me’ link, nothing will be put into action until I’ve had the meeting with the Council and I have all that I need to know, then the sculpture can get to work with his creativity.
Hopefully, I can give everyone a further update as soon as I have the go-ahead from the meeting, and hoping everyone will kindly get involved with the ‘Go Fund Me’ so that hopefully the statue will be erected as soon as financially possible.
Many thanks and kind regards,
Pete Rochford ~ JMS Chairman
To purchase go to our Merchandise link
NEW TRIUMPHS ALBUM AVAILABLE
THE TRIUMPHS – MEEK AND WILD
CD 24 Tracks with 12-page booklet
1. Meeksville 2. Telstar 3. Runaway 4. Husky Team 5. North Wind 6. Eye Of The Storm 7. Wild Wind 8. M25 9. Green Jeans 10. All Shook Up 11. Wipeout 12. Here Come The Good Times 13. He’ll Only Hurt You 14. Loneliness 15. Sunday Date 16. Dreaming Of You 17. Heart Of A Teenage Girl 18. Teardrops Fall Like Rain 19. Big Jim 20. The Coalman’s Lament 21. Night Of The Vampire 22. Jack The Ripper 23. Little Sister (Live) 24. Have I The Right (Live) This is The Triumphs’ tribute to the work of famed record producer Joe Meek. Joe recorded many styles of music and ‘Meek and Wild’ offers a ‘jukebox’ full of great sounds, both vocal (15 tracks) and instrumental.(9 tracks).
In addition to popular chart toppers like Telstar and Have I The Right, the spotlight also falls on rarities such as Ray Dexter’s The Coalman’s Lament and, from the Tea Chest tapes, Geoff Goddard’s Here Come The Good Times. There are five original tracks, all inspired by the work of Joe Meek.
The Triumphs (Rob Bradford, Trev Faull, Ken Ledran and Ray Liffen) have as their special guest Dave Kaye, who recorded with Joe Meek. One of Dave’s tracks is He’ll Only Hurt You, a powerful ballad which he recorded with Joe, but which was never released at that time. Now you can hear it in a brand new arrangement with Dave backed by The Triumphs.
The album’s 12-page booklet includes descriptions of all the tracks and pictures of the band with many of the original Joe Meek artists that they have had the privilege of working with, including Clem Cattini, Dave Kaye, Malcolm Lenny (The Packabeats), Ray Dexter, Bobby Rio and Danny Rivers.
UK £9.99 including postage and packing Europe £12.50 including postage and packing Americas, Africa, Asia £13.50 including postage and packing Australia, New Zealand £13.80 including postage and packing
Go to The Triumphs web site to purchase securely through 
Now also available on-line at Bim Bam Records and Leo’s Den
Other methods of payment:
Pay by cheque (drawn on UK bank) made payable to ‘R. Liffen’ and sent to 24 Dalmeny Road, Carshalton, SM5 4PP U.K Pay manually Paypal to rayliffen@compuserve.com
The album is also available as a digital download at many outlets including
I Tunes UK I Tunes US Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Google Play and also Spotify
BACK ISSUES OF OUR NEWSLETTERS
All our Newsletters are still available as back issues and they have now been reduced to 10p (plus postage) – the same price as digital copies. Special rates available if you buy in bulk. There is a lot of information in these – especially the early ones edited by John Repsch and he used to answer letters in these too. Contact us if you are interested in back issues.