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Eamonn


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(Different Class and This Is Hardcore's places of birth)  and converted into flats. It's called progress in't it? 

 

Pulp, Blur, Coldplay studio to be turned into luxury flats

The site of Townhouse Studios in Shepherds Bush has been sold to developers for £7.5 million

 

 

The London studio where some of the biggest rock albums of the last few decades were recorded is to be turned into flats after being sold for £7.5 million. 

Townhouse Studios in Shepherd's Bush was the site where Blur recorded 'The Great Escape', Coldplay recorded 'X&Y', The Jam recorded 'Setting Sons' and Pulp recorded 'Different Class'. Oasis, Muse, Robbie Williams and Elton John have also all recorded there. 

The studio closed in 2008 and has remained empty since then, the Evening Standard reports. 

It has now been bought by Irish property developers Perpetuum Developments, with the aim for the studios to be partially demolished and converted into 11 luxury apartments  which are expected to be sold for £2 million each. 

Rock historian Adrian Bray told the newspaper: "It is sad when our historical heritage slowly slips from view. All the iconic musical venues are disappearing. The Townhouse is not a beautiful building and its economic life is clearly over yet it is significant. The fact is that if the council let Hammermsith Palais disappear without a backward glance, this place didnt have a chance."

The Townhouse was built in 1978 by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Records.



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Panther


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Thanks for posting that, Eamonn. I went and had a snoop around the outside of this building in the spring, out of Pulp-related curiosity, and it was looking very sorry for itself then.

Olympic Studios in Barnes (where Pulp also did some recording, if I remember rightly) has now been turned into a cinema and, according to my friend who lives in Barnes, before the start of every feature, they show some old footage of the studios in use - rather good.

Fortress Studios, (another Pulp place), up in Shoreditch, is still going strong, I believe.

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Eamonn


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Yes, I spend an idle half hour this morning (while the boss was out) seeing how many of Pulp's old recording haunts were still around. Britannia Row (which you also recently gave an examination of from the exterior I believe, Panther!) seems to be still in business.

I believe Island's Fallout Shelter facility was in Chiswick and sold quite a few years ago (Pulp recorded the demos that got them signed to Island in 1992 there).
Maison Rogue Studio was where Razzmatazz was recorded, right next to Fulham Broadway, but I'm not sure if it's still open.
Matrix Studios was used to re-mix Razzmatazz. There is one open in that name, also nearby in Fulham (I believe Blur demoed Parklife there too).
Stacks/Inside Susan/59 Lyndhurst Grove were cut at Protocol Studios in East London. Again, can't verify if it's still there. Google images shows a building that could feasibly be used for bands rehearsing and recording.
Metropolis Studios, also in Chiswick, where We Love Life was done with Scott Walker, is regarded as one of the finest anywhere (pity it didn't sprinkle much magic on 'I Love Life' ;))
The Depot was used to do songs with Chris Thomas in 2000, anyone know about that place? Wessex Studios, where Pulp first demoed for We Love Life, was closed down shortly afterwards.

Sadder are probably the fate of the various Sheff studios Pulp toiled and made their accidental magic in through the 80's and 90's. Doesn't seem as if many are still around. What happened to FON in the end?
It seems that Axis, the central location where they recorded and rehearsed so much, especially in the first part of the 90's, is now derelict. Pulp used it as their reunion rehearsal space. It must have brought back old memories. I don't know if it had been active as a recording facility up to 2011 but apparently Mike Timm, the guvnor there, spent years fighting against the council to keep it open.


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Sturdy


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The Depot still existed when I rang them up in 2002!

Old Sheffield places then...

Ken Patten, Kayley (Rotherham demo) - both long gone
Input - also gone, but think it sort-of moved house and evolved into Axis. Think it was somewhere around Devonshire Green originally.
Victoria and Vibrasound - both part of the old Wicker factory building where Jarvis lived, demolished late '80s/early '90s
FON - this is an interesting one cos there were two different incarnations. The first one, where Rattlesnake and Death Comes to Town were done, was the same space in the Wicker factory where Sudan Gerri was done. Then it moved to Brown Street, where they did Separations and OU. It then changed hands and became Steelworks in the mid '90s, and appears to still be in business: www.steelworksstudios.com/about/

Most of the people involved with these studios have long since moved on too, but Alan Smyth is still working in his own studio 2Fly which is extremely well thought-of - see 2flystudios.com/

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weej


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Is Ken Patten's house still there, Sturdy? I forget. Would be under new owners, of course...

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Sturdy


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Well, the address is on Pulpwiki and it looks like there's still a house there...

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Sturdy


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Eamonn wrote:

The Depot was used to do songs with Chris Thomas in 2000, anyone know about that place?

Oh - from memory I think they told me it was a video studio first and foremost. Not quite sure why Pulp chose it as a place to do demos.



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Eamonn


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So FON/Steelworks and Axis are on the same street?

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Sturdy


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Looks like Axis is now The Foundry and has been absorbed into the Steelworks complex. So it looks like at one time it was Fon and Axis next door to each other, and now it's all Steelworks.

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Eamonn


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Ta for that Mark. Good to fit the puzzle together.

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Eamonn


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Found this really good site on gone but not completely forgotten recording studios, mostly London: www.philsbook.com/1.Buttons/studio-index.htm

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Panther


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Ooh, that's excellent.

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