"Let's Go! Joe Meek's Girls." Compilation released in 1996.
I was planning on never reviewing a compilation, or reviewing an album that was released in 1996. However, this album is one of the rare exceptions I have found. The album itself was released in 1996, but it contains decades and decades of songs that British producer Joe Meek put out with different (somewhat unknown) female artists.
Joe Meek, himself is one of the most fascinating people I have read about in the music biz for some time. I think apart of me wanted to review this album, in the event that someone else would dive as deeply into his life as I have and learn about his remarkable story.
He was a pioneer in the England as a producer and songwriter,and his career began in 1954 when he moved to London and began working as an audio engineer for an independent radio station. He then went on to become the founder of Triumph Records and then eventually went on to set up his own recording studio in his three floor home above a leather goods store in 1960.
His style of recording, the techniques and methods of manipulation to get the 'perfect sound' has become groundbreaking for producers all the way up to current day. He was a legend. A lot of the articles I read about him explain that while other audio techs were still wearing white lab coats and pocket protectors, Joe Meek stood out as being eccentric as he worked out of his home, and used almost anything to distort sounds, using reverb and echo effects on voices for the first time.
Another funny side story, taken from his biography written by Joe Repsch called 'The Legendary Joe Meek'.. He passed up the chance to work with the then unknown David Bowie, the Beatles (the latter he once described as "just another bunch of noise, copying other people's music") and Rod Stewart. Repsch recounts that upon hearing Stewart sing, Meek rushed into the studio, put his fingers in his hears and screamed until Stewart had left.
While he was carrying out his career, he recorded 245 singles including the 29 on this track. I love this album, and when you listen you can see the theme that someone was going for when they put it together. All of the female singers are reminiscent of the 1950's-1960's girl doo-wop bands. However, the reason why this album stands out is because the music in the background definitely has a unique sound than anything else going on at that time. There are echos, weird synthesizers, and the some of the vocals have an eerie effect. He uses samples and other techniques that were unheard of at the time. I find this album intriguing and a great overall representation of his life's work, wrapped in a neat little package (Some of his other albums are very strange and hard to listen to on a regular basis).
However, although I love this album I think his life is more interesting. In 1967 after battling depression and paranoia and having to conceal his homosexuality (illegal in the U.K at the time) Joe Meek grabbed a shotgun and in a crazy/blind rage killed his landlady and then himself. Today, there are documentaries/movies and plays about his life. Specifically, one film came out after a play called Telstar: The Joe Meek Story in 2009 and starred Kevin Spacey. He is definitely worth looking to. I though instead of posting the album information, I will post a link to one of his many docs. (Its an hour long..) and also post one of the songs on his album Let's Go!
Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tcS91fL8jQ&feature=related
Song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdV7GKzrqjU
Billy Joel- 'The Stranger' 1977
I decided to do something different with this blog post/album review. Instead of giving the history of Billy Joel and the play by play of the tracks I took a different approach. I put on the record ‘The Stranger’ in my room and while all my roommates sat around and listened to it, I cleverly recorded their conversation and will now write it down as it happened the other night. Be aware these are twenty something year old males, and I could not censor them. Like good journalism, I just took it all in. I could only get through the first seven songs, before they all got completely off track. I only wrote down what pertained to the topic at hand.The key players are Josh, Zac and Coulson. I will set the scene for you now.
It’s 10 pm on a Wednesday evening. Everyone is sitting around enjoying a glass of gin (we were feeling classy) and then Billy Joel’s ‘The Stranger’ side A begins to play.
First song ‘Moving Out’ begins.
J- “Laughs. I love when the motorcycle revs in this song”
Z- “It revs my engine. Laughs”
J- “Wait. I think it may be a car.’
(They get off topic about something that doesn’t matter)..
The Song ‘The Stranger’ Begins
J-”This song reminds me of when I was little, driving with my mom to Cederdale. And it’s weird because the song is called ‘The Stranger’ but I think it’s about himself?”
(They continue to get off topic once again)
Me (Interjecting)- “Did you guys know Billy Joel drank a lot and I’m pretty sure he married a 19 year old when he was like fifty something?”
Z- “That’s wicked sick.”
J- “Yeah, we obviously know about that. It’s like common knowledge.”
‘Scenes from an Italian Restaurant’ Begins
J- “I never could tell if this song is going to annoy me or not, but it doesn’t.”
Z- “Yeah, no.”
Z- “I don’t really know but this always sounds like two songs, because everyone forgets what it’s going to end up being at the end of the song.”
Me- “Yeah, like ‘Band on the Run’ it’s so crazy. It has like three different parts and if I just heard one part I would have a hard time figuring out what it was.”
Switches to Side B.
‘Vienna’ Begins.
J-”I always wonder if he thinks about Vienna fingers when he plays this song.Laughs”
No one laughs.
Silence.
Z-”This song is beautiful. I want to dance to it at my wedding. Laughs.”
‘Only the Good Die Young’ Begins.
J- “This song is like immediately uplifting.”
Coulson Enters.
C-”You guys remember that kid Pat St. Pierre has the name of this song tattooed on his arm because his little brother died?”
Everyone is silent. The mood immediately becomes gloomy.
Everyone starts to wonder why Coulson even came in the room, in the first place.
Z- “Holy Shit Coulson.”
C- “What?”
Z- “That really killed it for everyone.”
J- (keeping the faith alive) “This song has a similar theme to Uptown Girls.”
Track Listing *= personal favorties
1. Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)- 3:30
2. The Stranger- 5:10
3. Just the Way you Are- 4:52 (ours skipped)
4. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant- 7:37*
5. Vienna- 3:34
6. Only the Good Die Young- 3:55*
7. She’s Always a Woman- 3:21
8. Get it Right the First Time- 3:57
9.Everybody Has A Dream/The Stranger- 6:38
A Character Piece: The Many Masks of Steely Dan’s ‘Aja’ 1977
Scene 1. Picture This. It’s evening time, perhaps the twinkling at dusk. You are in the mood for some tunes, nothing too abrasive but also a little more aggressive than easy listening. You pop open a bottle of wine, maybe you are hoping for some romance in the near future or are spending a quiet night alone. Either way you are looking to feel good, maybe even a little sassier than usual. The needle drops and the smooth cracking of the record begins- there is a quiet hush before you are fully submerged in the wonderful, charming world of Steely Dan’s ‘Aja’.
Scene 2. I’m writing part of this review at a bar down the street from my house, called the Bus Stop Pub and when I look around at the wood panelled walls and untouched 70’s decor it reminds me of this album. I take a huge gulp of Budweiser, and for a brief moment I am brought back to the late 70’s and early 80’s. This seven track album makes me feel like a smoozy, twenty something year old all dressed up to go to a dark, smoky back room bar.
The fusion between rock and r+b is very well balanced on this album creating a dancey atmosphere specifically with songs like ‘Peg’. With the slow heavy bass parts, horns as well as the solid guitar and drums ‘Aja’ in my own humble opinion, was ahead of the curve in the late 1970’s, and created a solid foundation for the 1980s.
The lead singer Donald Fagen’s voice, which is a little bit higher pitched is upbeat and pleasant. His ability to delegate which words to emphasize and hold out gives an added bonus, as well as an element of surprise to this album.
Track Listing- *= personal favorites
1. Black Cow- 5:10*
2. Aja- 7:57
3. Deacon Blues- 7:37*
4. Peg-3:57*
5. Home at Last- 5:34
6. I Got the News- 5:06
7. Josie- 4:33s
