Decca Studios

Decca Studios was a recording facility in Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, North London, England controlled by Decca Records.

History

From the company's beginnings in 1929, British Decca's earliest recordings were made at two locations, the Chenil Galleries Studios in Chelsea, and later in Lower Thames Street. Auditory evidence from the time suggests that these setups were rather rudimentary affairs, with the recording quality mediocre at best, although from about 1933 onwards, with technological and acoustic changes to these studios, recording quality gradually improved, but was still a long way short of the standard being produced at Abbey Road Studios, and it was only with the opening of new purpose built facilities at Broadhurst Gardens that Decca was finally able to compete for acoustic quality.

The Beatles failed their Decca audition at the location on 1 January 1962,[1] and subsequently signed with Parlophone instead.

With the sale of Decca to Polygram, the studios were closed in 1980 and the building was renamed Lilian Baylis House, and is currently used as rehearsal space by English National Opera.

Recording artists

Many popular songs and albums were recorded at Decca Studios. John Mayall's 1968 Blues from Laurel Canyon was recorded there, along with five albums by the Moody Blues. David Bowie recorded his first single, "Liza Jane", at the studio in 1964.[2] The studios also saw the formation of the original Fleetwood Mac, under the aegis of then-Bluesbreakers guitarist Peter Green, after John Mayall bought him studio time as a birthday present, recording the tracks "First Train Home", "Rambling Pony" and the instrumental "Fleetwood Mac".[3] Marc Bolan recorded his debut single "The Wizard" at the studio in 1965.[4] Marmalade recorded most of their Decca hits in Studio 2, including "Reflections of My Life". Adam and the Ants recorded full band demos of their then live repertoire at the studio in August and December 1978. These have been widely bootlegged among Adam Ant fans prior to their commercial release.[5] The Zombies recorded "She's Not There" at the facility.

Many classical recordings were made at the studios.[6] Britain's leading Big Band, Ted Heath and his Orchestra recorded a succession of big band recordings at Broadhurst Gardens for Decca during the band's peak years from 1945 until Heath's death in 1969.

Selected recordings

See also
  • The Decca audition - for a fuller account

References
  1. "London Studios and Clubs". Music.indiana.edu. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  2. "David Bowie FAQ: Early On". Teenagewildlife.com. 14 January 1966. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  3. Martin E. Adelson. "The Original Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac". Discog.fleetwoodmac.net. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  4. Melly, George (21 September 2013). "From the Observer archive, 26 September 1965: life's a gas for the latest pop sensations". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Philip Stuart (2009). "Decca Classical, 1929-2009" (PDF). Images.cch.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  7. "Bands and Artists: R: Rolling Stones: Discography: Singles: Rolling Stones EP, The". MusicMoz. 10 January 1964. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  8. "Music Collectors pages - John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - 05/04/2010". Chrome Oxide. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  9. "Taylormade - The Mick Taylor Database". Nzentgraf.de. Retrieved 4 December 2012.

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