YOU NEVER GIVE ME YOUR MONEY
February 16, 2010 12:23 PM Subscribe
Abbey Road the famous recording studios are up for sale! After losing their headline acts Radiohead and The Rolling Stones the troubled record company has posted losses of £1.75bn Former bond-trader Guy Hands has been running EMI since 2007
Jaltcoh: "`a full orcastra `
Oh, they didn't use a spell check"
Plus those whales were lousy musicians.
posted by boo_radley at 12:38 PM on February 16, 2010 [6 favorites]
Oh, they didn't use a spell check"
Plus those whales were lousy musicians.
posted by boo_radley at 12:38 PM on February 16, 2010 [6 favorites]
The Uruk-Hai, on the other hand, are pretty effin' metal.
posted by entropicamericana at 12:42 PM on February 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by entropicamericana at 12:42 PM on February 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Paul McCartney ought to buy it! God knows he can afford it, but maybe he can get George Martin in on it too. It would make the whole thing just come together full circle in terms of history. (Just keep Yoko away from it please....PLEASE!)
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 12:53 PM on February 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 12:53 PM on February 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Maybe a lot of the magic had to do with the engineers who were there in the earlier days, but it still ought to be a landmark, or preserved in some way. It'd probably be a drop in the bucket for Sir Paul.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:53 PM on February 16, 2010
posted by uncleozzy at 12:53 PM on February 16, 2010
yeah, "I'm surprised Paul hasn't bought it" was my first thought as well.
posted by anastasiav at 1:04 PM on February 16, 2010
posted by anastasiav at 1:04 PM on February 16, 2010
I certainly hope some musicians buy it. The amount of top musicians who've worked there (and, dare I say, who love the place) is incredible. Even Kanye West could buy that place :-)
posted by wackybrit at 1:09 PM on February 16, 2010
posted by wackybrit at 1:09 PM on February 16, 2010
To be fair, it's quite likely that Paul has no use for such a thing, and that it would be a financial albatross. But still.
posted by uncleozzy at 1:10 PM on February 16, 2010
posted by uncleozzy at 1:10 PM on February 16, 2010
Michael Jackson should buy it.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 1:17 PM on February 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by kuujjuarapik at 1:17 PM on February 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
There's unlimited supply
and there is no reason why
I tell you it was all a frame
they only did it 'cos of fame -
Who? EMI
posted by kcds at 1:35 PM on February 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
and there is no reason why
I tell you it was all a frame
they only did it 'cos of fame -
Who? EMI
posted by kcds at 1:35 PM on February 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
from the second link i found this and found it more interesting.
40%, how is that possible without distilling?
posted by djduckie at 1:46 PM on February 16, 2010
40%, how is that possible without distilling?
posted by djduckie at 1:46 PM on February 16, 2010
Maybe a lot of the magic had to do with the engineers who were there in the earlier days
The memoir "Here, There and Everywhere" by Geoff Emerick, the Beatles engineer, gives you a good picture of how concientious and professional most of the staff were at Abbey Road at the time the Beatles showed up for their audition for George Martin. As is well known, everyone who worked at the studio wore white lab coats, including Martin, in tribute to the quasi-scientific mysteries of sound recording of which they were the vestal guardians. In many ways, the Beatles destroyed that whole culture, and one of the sad things about Emerick's book is seeing how the studio discipline slowly eroded, with random people wandering in and out, in-studio drug use, and finally, you had Yoko Ono lying in one corner of the studio in a bed, during the sessions for Abbey Road (the album). The Beatles were at one moment the finest product of Abbey Road professionalism, and the cause of its decline -- and the beginning of the descent from quality throughout the whole recording industry from which we have yet to recover. (I've been involved in a project of listening to more than a thousand 1970s pop and rock recordings in recent days, and it's amazing what uspeakable shiite was put on tape beginning almost exactly at the outset of that decade. When you think of the gorgeous studio sound MOR artists achieved in the early sixties, in real time, on two tracks, and consider how fast it declined to the smothered, close-miked horror of 70s pop, you almost want to cry.)
posted by Faze at 1:49 PM on February 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
The memoir "Here, There and Everywhere" by Geoff Emerick, the Beatles engineer, gives you a good picture of how concientious and professional most of the staff were at Abbey Road at the time the Beatles showed up for their audition for George Martin. As is well known, everyone who worked at the studio wore white lab coats, including Martin, in tribute to the quasi-scientific mysteries of sound recording of which they were the vestal guardians. In many ways, the Beatles destroyed that whole culture, and one of the sad things about Emerick's book is seeing how the studio discipline slowly eroded, with random people wandering in and out, in-studio drug use, and finally, you had Yoko Ono lying in one corner of the studio in a bed, during the sessions for Abbey Road (the album). The Beatles were at one moment the finest product of Abbey Road professionalism, and the cause of its decline -- and the beginning of the descent from quality throughout the whole recording industry from which we have yet to recover. (I've been involved in a project of listening to more than a thousand 1970s pop and rock recordings in recent days, and it's amazing what uspeakable shiite was put on tape beginning almost exactly at the outset of that decade. When you think of the gorgeous studio sound MOR artists achieved in the early sixties, in real time, on two tracks, and consider how fast it declined to the smothered, close-miked horror of 70s pop, you almost want to cry.)
posted by Faze at 1:49 PM on February 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
It is already a tourist attraction so why doesn't some company like Tussauds buy it and turn it into a working Rock N' Roll museum.
The studios could still be used for recording and have a two way mirror so that people could watch the musicians at work.
There would be musos who wouldn't like it, but there would be more that would. If you cut them in on the admission or something.
posted by Webbster at 1:57 PM on February 16, 2010
The studios could still be used for recording and have a two way mirror so that people could watch the musicians at work.
There would be musos who wouldn't like it, but there would be more that would. If you cut them in on the admission or something.
posted by Webbster at 1:57 PM on February 16, 2010
Whenever someone mentions EMI I always think of that Sex Pistols song where they shout/whine "EMI" over and over again.
posted by clvrmnky at 2:04 PM on February 16, 2010
posted by clvrmnky at 2:04 PM on February 16, 2010
The memoir "Here, There and Everywhere" by Geoff Emerick
I thought Emerick was kind of a dick in that book. As did Abbey Road veteran Ken Scott, who pointed out the book's many inaccuracies on his blog a few years ago.
posted by chococat at 2:13 PM on February 16, 2010
I thought Emerick was kind of a dick in that book. As did Abbey Road veteran Ken Scott, who pointed out the book's many inaccuracies on his blog a few years ago.
posted by chococat at 2:13 PM on February 16, 2010
40%, how is that possible without distilling?
Freeze distilling - you freeze the beer and then remove the water ice.
posted by Laotic at 2:26 PM on February 16, 2010
Freeze distilling - you freeze the beer and then remove the water ice.
posted by Laotic at 2:26 PM on February 16, 2010
Ken Scott, who pointed out the book's many inaccuracies on his blog
That is fantastic.
posted by uncleozzy at 2:32 PM on February 16, 2010
That is fantastic.
posted by uncleozzy at 2:32 PM on February 16, 2010
To be fair, it's quite likely that Paul has no use for such a thing, and that it would be a financial albatross. But still.
uncleozzy: Your point is well-taken but consider this: Paul has his own studios, of course, and has recorded all over the world as well. But he also recorded many of his own solo projects at Abbey Road since 1971, and has more than a vested interest in this studio for decades. He also taped a TV special there a year or two ago, showing the original 2-track the Beatles used (as well as the old Mellotron of "Strawberry Fields" fame. Having his name directly attached to the studios as its owner would certainly, I believe, go a very long way against it becoming a "financial albatross", especially for more prestige artists with, perhaps, larger budgets --and orchestras like the London Symphony and the New York Philharmonic (both who have done work there). I'm just saying.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 2:39 PM on February 16, 2010
uncleozzy: Your point is well-taken but consider this: Paul has his own studios, of course, and has recorded all over the world as well. But he also recorded many of his own solo projects at Abbey Road since 1971, and has more than a vested interest in this studio for decades. He also taped a TV special there a year or two ago, showing the original 2-track the Beatles used (as well as the old Mellotron of "Strawberry Fields" fame. Having his name directly attached to the studios as its owner would certainly, I believe, go a very long way against it becoming a "financial albatross", especially for more prestige artists with, perhaps, larger budgets --and orchestras like the London Symphony and the New York Philharmonic (both who have done work there). I'm just saying.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 2:39 PM on February 16, 2010
No you are right, Giving Simon Cowell ideas now. Went to far with it.
Still think a working museum of some sorts is a viable option though.
posted by Webbster at 4:01 PM on February 16, 2010
Still think a working museum of some sorts is a viable option though.
posted by Webbster at 4:01 PM on February 16, 2010
£1.75 bn is a lot of money. It'd be far better for Paul to buy the property than the company
posted by niccolo at 6:11 PM on February 16, 2010
posted by niccolo at 6:11 PM on February 16, 2010
Paul Cole, man on Beatles' 'Abbey Road' cover, dies. RIP
posted by hortense at 6:52 PM on February 16, 2010
posted by hortense at 6:52 PM on February 16, 2010
The studios could still be used for recording and have a two way mirror so that people could watch the musicians at work.
I have a feeling you'd be shocked at how boring 98% of activity in a studio is.
posted by Jon-A-Thon at 5:50 AM on February 17, 2010
I have a feeling you'd be shocked at how boring 98% of activity in a studio is.
posted by Jon-A-Thon at 5:50 AM on February 17, 2010
That's one of their two assets gone. When they have to sell music publishing it will be all over for EMI.
Someone i know who worked for EMI until last year told me all their corporate Amex cards were being declined last week... couldn't pay the bill?
posted by derbs at 6:00 AM on February 17, 2010
Someone i know who worked for EMI until last year told me all their corporate Amex cards were being declined last week... couldn't pay the bill?
posted by derbs at 6:00 AM on February 17, 2010
The National Trust are now considering whether to buy Abbey Road.
Surely it deserves something more than being turned into another third rate London tourist attraction.
posted by Lanark at 11:45 AM on February 18, 2010
Surely it deserves something more than being turned into another third rate London tourist attraction.
posted by Lanark at 11:45 AM on February 18, 2010
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Ah, that's the problem with spell checks.
The Abbey Road studios were originally purchased in 1929 and are large enough for a full orcastra to record there, ...
Oh, they didn't use a spell check.
posted by Jaltcoh at 12:29 PM on February 16, 2010