Telstar: The Joe Meek Story

"Hit after hit... Someone's bound to get hurt."

Jun 19 2009 R 1h 59m
Biography, Drama, Music

Set against a backdrop of early '60s London, Telstar is the story of the world's first independent record producer, Joe Meek. A maverick genius who enjoyed phenomenal success with Telstar – the biggest selling record of it's time – before bad luck, depression, heartbreak and paranoia led to his downfall.

Plot

In the early 1960s self-taught electronics whizz Joe Meek amazingly produces a string of home made hit singles from his studio in his flat above a leather shop in London. His biggest success is the instrumental 'Telstar' but accusations of plagiarism delay royalties. Joe's mercurial temper causes his artists to forsake him for other labels, in particular his young lover Heinz Burt. Now in debt and after unwisely parting from his chief financier Major Banks, Joe finds himself unable to control his life. Increasingly paranoid, believing he is being bugged by rival record companies and that everybody is out to get him, the last straw comes when landlady Violet tells him she is selling the building in which he lives. Joe had once confiscated a shotgun from Heinz. Now it is dangerously close at hand and about to end the Joe Meek story.

Written by

Nick Moran, James Hicks

Directed by

Nick Moran

Production Countries

United Kingdom

Production Companies

Aspiration Films

Languages

English

Awards

1 nomination

Scores
# of Votes
1,982
Average Rating
6.4 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA