Posts Tagged ‘King Crimson’

Mar

26

2009

Olympic Studios closes: A sad day for music

Author: admin
Olympic Studios have closed their doors for the last time.
, now gone.

 

On January the 30th 2009, Olympic Studios closed its doors for the last time. 

Helios console
console
This legendary studio in South-West London has been the home of from such great artists as , and  in its time, and the closure signifies the end of an era for the recording industry.
 
Apparently EMI decided that they could no longer afford to keep this world-reknowned studio, due to it not being profitable.  The closure means that EMI have only one remaining recording studio in the UK, Studios in St. John’s Wood. 

For decades, EMI have been unable to tap into the merchandising market for Olympic in the same way they had with Abbey Road, due to legal problems concerning the use of the name “Olympic”.

Nevertheless, Olympic has up until now braved onwards, producing great music by the likes of , , , , , , , , , , , , and amongst many others, winning numerous UK recording industry awards for “Best Studio” along the way. 

From a technical point of view, Olympic Studios has always been at the forefront of music recording technology.  Back in the 60′s, the Olympic maintenance staff manufactured Olympic’s mixing consoles, and Olympic was home to the first ever Helios console.  An EMI TG console remained in use in the studios until the very end.   Presumably this has now been moved to Abbey Road.
EMI TG console
EMI TG console

In modern times this trend has continued, with Olympic being home to the last few generations of large-format in-line mixing console.

Olympic Studios Studio 1 SSL K-series

Olympic Studios Studio 1 SSL K-series in-line console

To say goodbye, the last remaining staff of Olympic Studios got together in the week of business to record a cover of The Rolling Stones classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”.

Here’s their version of the song, and the video they made to go with it…

Goodbye Olympic, and thanks for all the wonderful memories!  Best of luck, everyone!

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