Just watched the DVD of Telstar and thought it was absolutely wonderful; Con O'Neill deserved an Oscar; he was sensational as Joe Meek.

Check out 65 My Life So Far for my letter from Joe and listen to my song He Stood In The Bath And He Stamped On The Floor in Vile Pervert; The Musical as my tribute to Joe, one of the great geniuses of our musical time and someone I admired and respected.

My only negative is that they should have ended with the brilliant (Joe produced) Cryin’ Shames version of Please Stay and not Duffy’s ghastly cover.

Several e-mails agreeing with me.

Just had a lovely E-Mail from Patrick Pink (the unsung hero of the Meek story) who was incredibly kind and tolerant to me when I recorded for Joe and was frustrated at not getting a release (thank heavens)... he hated the film due to the numerous factual inaccuracies but loved it as entertainment (he comes out of it brilliantly, incidentally, and has a cameo in it, as do Clem, Jess Conrad and others).

www.65mylifesofar.com/part4.html?start=7

I saw Telstar as well and absolutely loved it. I agree about Con O'Neil he did an amazing job. Because he is a theater actor rather than a film actor I felt there was a little bit of scenery chewing but it didn't make me appreciate the performance any less. I don't know if you saw Con O'Neil in the original cast of Willy Russell's "Blood Brothers" but that was a breath-taking performance as well. And he has a GREAT singing voice.
I love both versions of "Please Stay."

I didn't know this was out on DVD - must get asap

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/mpd/permalink/mIDKG6EVJWPHA

Just rec'd my copy .... that's 112 minutes of good viewing for tonight.

You'll love it ITK - let us know your thoughts (and whether you agree the one big mistake is Duffy over the closing credits and not the Cryin' Shames).

Excellent film, JK - thoroughly enjoyed it.

I do prefer the Cryin' Shames version ... perhaps they could not license it for some reason?

Joe Meek is part of pop history ... time the industry acknowledged this fact.

When the film was released, Duffy was a big star. So the film producers choose her version for the marketing value.

(Almost) Nobody knows The Cryin' Shames ... which is really a crying shame!

I found this interesting (German) page about Meek - www.joemeekpage.info/essay_E.htm - our JK gets a mention too !

I can't believe there is not a Cryin Shames CD out there only on compilations. Please Stay is a classic and a typical Meek recording. Duffy I don't have time for whatsoever.

Has anyone heard of Birds of Prey ?

Does anyone know the real name of Paul Kane he sang- My Fair Baby ?