The Tornados were produced by Joe Meek the legendary British producer and technical innovator behind the band’s hits “Telstar” and “Have I the Right.”   Meeks has become a cult figure since his death in 1967.   It was only six years between his first chart success and his suicide at the age of 38.   It’s no exaggeration to say that Joe Meek’s short life was stranger than fiction. He was a tone-deaf songwriter, a spiritualist convinced that he had foretold Buddy Holly’s death, and a hopelessly inept businessman who was conned out of his “Telstar” royalties. Like his contemporary Joe Orton he was gay, and like Orton he came to a violent and untimely end. Unlike Orton, however, Meek was a murderer instead of a murder victim – he shot his landlady Mrs Shenton before turning the shotgun on himself.

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