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Like its subject matter, the Telstar satellites, Joe Meek's track was also pioneering and other worldly. We now take global communication and entertainment for granted, but in the early 1960s it was the cutting-edge of technology. The Telstars were a series of satellites launched to provide telecommunications and faxes as well as live and recorded television feeds. The first Telstar was tiny, measuring under three feet in width and powered by a tiny 14 watts of power. Telstar 18 was launched as recently as 2004, and given that its life expectancy was 13 years, it must still be circling the globe high above us, visible against a clear night sky. And famously another Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, declared on Desert Island Discs that it was her favourite pop song.

It's believed that at least 5 million copies of Telstar were sold, and the track was the first British single to go to number one in the USA. But there wasn't to be a happy ending to this story. Meek didn't get much chance to bask in the glory of all this trailblazing success; he was sued by a French composer, Jean Ledrut for plagiarism. The court case blocked Meek's royalties and the case was finally settled in his favour...but three weeks after Meek had taken his own life in 1967.

Joe Meek's pop music brought romance and heart to the space-race. Telstar's vision of the future is beautiful and adventurous in contrast with the next episode's track - the dystopian vision embodied in Gary Numan's Are Friends Electric?