The Blue Men has been played on NTS over 60 times, featured on 61 episodes and was first played on 2 September 2013.

In 1959, along with a group of musicians collectively known as The Blue Men, studio pioneer Joe Meek recorded the innovative, strange album “I Hear A New World” at his Holland Park flat and at Lansdowne Studios.

The Blue Men were originally the West Five, a skiffle group from Ealing in London. In addition to recording as The Blue Men, they also recorded under the name of Rodd, Ken and the Cavaliers for Meek. The line up was:

Rod Freeman (group leader) – guitar, vocals Ken Harvey – tenor sax, vocals Roger Fiola – Hawaiian guitar Chris White – guitar Doug Collins – bass Dave Golding – drums

Of the recordings only a 4 track EP was released in 1960. Apart from a few demo copies, I Hear A New World was not released in its entirety until 1991. Nevertheless, it is regarded as a watershed in modern music due to Meek’s approach to the recording process, opening up the world of sound technology, redefining it from science to an art in its own right. It marked the beginning of creative audio engineering, with vocals being recorded in obscure locations for effect, peculiar time and pitch shifting effects, and home built compressors and equalizers (the original designs of which are still used today by professional engineers). Joe Meek & The Blue Men created an album that would not only go on to become a musical success, but which would also inspire and influence countless people and generations in both music and music technology.