At long last we are delighted to bring a video feature shot at Dean Street Studios.
Dean Street Studios have a long history having been the site of Tony Visconti’s Good Earth Studios where a ton of huge records were made. The studio still retains much of what was so good about the old studio and has built on the excellent sonics and design featuring a brand new SSL Duality console plus more gear than you can shake a stick at: guitars, amps, keyboards and much more!
Studio manager Jazz took time out to record a short video feature – A big thanks to everyone at Dean Street Studios!!!
Gary Langan, record producer, artist and recording engineer, is simply in a class apart. From his earliest days as a rookie at SARM Studios, Gary’s work has always stood out. We caught up with Gary at Metropolis Studios, London.
Gary’s recording career began as an assistant engineer at SARM Studios where he worked closely with founder and renowned producer Gary Lyons, his first and foremost tutor, Mike Stone, Roy Thomas Baker and the interminable Trevor Horn.
Starting out as a tea boy /runner, Gary’s enthusiasm soon saw him progress to an assistant on a variety of hit albums including Bay City Rollers’ “Rollin”, Queens “News of the World” and “Day at the Races” and was present to witness the first edited playback of the timeless Bohemian Rhapsody (which many will know was constructed in three sections due to its length and complexity).
During his time at SARM, Gary worked on many classic recordings including Lexicon Of Love, ABC and Yes and has been instrumental in creating numerous hit records including UK number ones for Spandau Ballet, the Boomtown Rats’ hit album “Rat Trap” and The Buggles’ “Video Kills The Radio Star” – for which he received the NME Engineer Of The Year Award. Gary also worked and appeared on Malcolm Maclaren’s 1982 album “Duck Rock”.
Gary was also a founder member of the ground-breaking group, Art of Noise who were the first to use the revolutionary Fairlight CMI Sampler noise to create listenable, popular, dance music – resulting in numerous hits including Tom Jones’ rebirth hit “Kiss”, the Max Headroom experience with “Paranoimia,” and, most notably, a Grammy Award for the cover of the Peter Gunn theme on the “Visible Silence” album. This was a personal landmark for Gary as well as the music industry in general as it broke new barriers in the academy’s awards due to it being, a. instrumental and b. A piece of urban music created by white musicians, which became hugely popular in the urban markets.
In 1983 Gary, alongside Carey Taylor and ex SARM studio manager Karin Clayton formed One Management, which looked after the interests of various engineers/producers/keyboard programmers, before founding the illustrious Metropolis Studios in Chiswick two years later. Gary spent a year seeking the best staff across the board, from engineers and management to maintenance and service to make Metropolis the UK’s premier studio and, with working relationships based on respect and trust, the Metropolis engineers were encouraged to push their work as far as they could – further than they may have had the freedom to do at the other studios of the time.
Alongside his Metropolis business commitments, Gary continued to engineer, produce and mix albums and singles for a variety of top artists including Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Scritty Politti, Public Image, Billy Idol and Spandau Ballet – who he became close working allies with, producing four of their five albums.
The nineties saw Gary venture onto the international stage with a spell in the States working with a selection of producers including Jon Carin, of Pink Flloyd fame, and mixing Billy Idol’s hit album “Whiplash Smile”, and in Europe working with The Stranglers’ Hugh Cornwell on “Wild” before teaming up with Chris Hughes (better known as Merrick, the drummer and Producer for Adam and the Ants and Co-producer and drummer with Tears for Fears) for a variety of projects including albums for Propaganda and Gay Dad.
The late nineties saw Gary enlisted by SSL to lecture on the use of their consoles to Japanese studio staff and students in Tokyo. Gary highlights this as a great experience, which allowed him to pass on his skills to those as passionate as himself as well as forging strong links within the Japanese market. The international links paid off with Gary teaming up with Personzs, a very successful Japanese group, enabling mixes for a selection of albums over the years in London, NY and Tokyo.
Present day and Gary has just completed 5.1 mixes for the Spandau Ballet DVD “Live (at the NEC)” and Jeff Wayne’s epic – ‘War of the Worlds’ as well as albums for James “Pleased To Meet You” – working alongside legendary producer Brian Eno, Wild’s debut album “Time” (EMI Classical new signing and brainchild of impresario Mel Bush). Gary was also once-again reunited with Trevor Horn for Lisa Stansfield’s sophisticated new album “The Moment” and the soundtrack for the remake of cartoon classic Magic Roundabout, whilst also finding time to record singles for hotly tipped London rock act Rooster’s self-titled debut album and work with PSII on the research and development of new game “Play Mix”.
The War of the Worlds is described, in Gary’s own words, as “An original masterpiece of epic proportions” and due to the depth of Jeff Wayne’s 1978 original composition there has been no stone unturned in the production of the 5.1 version, “The complexity of the original meant it was one of those definitive albums made for 5.1 mixing.” (WOTW is released by Sony Music on 6 July 2005).
Gary is represented by Karen Goodman at Upfront Management.
Credits include: artist – album – role
Rooster Singles Eng.
Lisa Stansfield (ZTT) The Moment Mix
Natalie Imbruglia (BMG) Album & LP Tracks Rec.
Magic Roundabout Soundtrack Rec.
Dina Carroll (Mercury) Someone Like You (from Bridget Jones) Mix
Dina Carroll (Mercury) All I Ask LP track Mix
James (Mercury) Album & LP Eng
Naimee Coleman (EMI) My Star – LP tracks Mix
Yum (Sony) Forthcoming album & LP Mix
Gay Dad (London) Leisure Noise LP Rec./Mix
Republica (Deconstruction) Single: Pretty Girl Hate Mix
Archive (Independiente) Take My Head LP Rec.
Bullyrag (Mercury) Songs Of Praise LP Rec./Mix
The Aloof (East West) Seeking Pleasure LP Rec./Mix
Big Country (Castle) Eclectic LP Prod.
Voice of the Beehive (London) Honey Lingers LP Prod.
Hothouse Flowers (London) Home LP Prod.
Public Image Ltd (Virgin) Don’t Ask Me EP Prod.
Then Jericho (MCA) The Big Area LP Prod.
Hipsway (Columbia) The Honeythief LP Prod
Public Image Ltd (Virgin) Happy? LP Prod.
Belouis Some (Capitol) Animal Magic LP Prod.
Divinyls (Chrysalis) What a Life LP Prod.
Hipsway (Columbia) Hipsway LP Prod.
Spandau Ballet (Epic) Through the Barricades LP Prod. /Eng.
The The (Epic) The Mercy Beat Single Prod.
The The (Epic) Angels Of Deception Single Prod.
The Dream Academy (Warner’s) The Dream Academy LP Prod.
ABC (Mercury) That Was Then… Single Prod.
R.P.M. (Warner Brothers) Photogenic LP Prod.
ABC (Mercury) Beauty Stab LP Prod. /Eng.
My Life Story (Parlophone) The Golden Mile LP Prod.
Big Country (Castle) Brighton Rock LP Prod. / Eng
ABC (Phonogram) Lexicon Of Love LP Rec. /Mix
Dream Academy (Warner Music) Life In A Northern Town LP Prod.
Hugh Cornwell (Pheonix Records) Wired LP Prod.
The Divinyls (EMI) What A Life! LP Prod.
T’Pau (Circa) Bridge Of Spies LP Prod.
Mick Jagger (EMI) It’s Raining Single Mix
Mick Jagger (Emi) Ruthless People Single Mix
Scritti Politti (Virgin) Hypnotise Single Mix
Jimmy Somerville (London) You Make Me Feel Single Mix
Propaganda (ZTT) Secret Wish LP Rec./ Mix
P. McCartney & M. Jackson (Sony) The Man Single Mix
Yes (Atlantic) 90215 LP Rec./ Mix
Billy Idol (Chrysalis) Whiplash Smile Single Mix
Queen (EMI) Day at The Races LP Rec.
Malcolm McClaren (Charisma) Duck Rock LP Rec.
Buggles (Island) Age Of Plastic LP Rec.
Elton John & Kiki Dee (Rocket) Don’t Go Breaking My Heart Single Rec.
Art Of Noise (ZTT) Who’s Afraid Of… LP Artist /Prod/Eng.
Art Of Noise (China) Invisible Silence LP Artist /Prod/Eng.
Spandau Ballet (Epic) Heart Like The Sky LP Prod. / Eng.
Scritti Politti (Virgin) Absolute Single Mix
Jimmy Somerville (London) Read My Lips Single Mix
Special thanks to Scott Mathews for the kind use of his music and to George Shilling for asking the questions. Many thanks to Gary Langan for giving his time and to Zen at Resolution Magazine for helping tie things up.
Dean Street Studios, set in the heart of London’s Soho, has a long history as a recording studio. Quite some time ago it was owned by legendary record producer Tony Visconti and in those days was named Good Earth Studios. Today, 5th Feb 2010, the studio celebrated its latest update with a Duality console replacing the AWS 900 with a great party.
We plan to bring a video tour around the studio and interviews with studio owners Jazz (pictured with studio dog) and Ben in the next month. We love Dean Street Studios, great vibe and more guitar cabs than you can shake a stick at plus a brand new Mellotron! The studio is awash with funky instruments, some previously owned by George Harrison etc. Meanwhile, check out our photo gallery of the studio.
Computer Warehouse and its professional Divisions CWPro (Professional Audio and Video) and TSC ‘machinery for musicians’ are now housed at a 15,000 sq ft purpose built studio and demonstration facility in Park Royal, West London.
Previously the home of Cream Recording Studios the new building is twice the size of their previous location and has no less than 7 studios and a live room all designed by professional studio designers Recording Architecture at a cost of £2 million.
Computer Warehouse will continue to rent out these facilities to audio and video clients under the brand Cream Recording Studios and the White Rooms. The seven studios are designed for programming, preproduction and post production, each with an overdub booth.
The studios are available on various rental periods and provided ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ hire with or without their in-house audio technicians. The move is directly designed to service CWPro’s expanding client base in the pro audio and video market.
Already certifed as Apple solution experts, CWPro and TSC have recently been appointed authorised Yamaha and Roland dealers. They will have the ideal environment to demonstrate the new products to their fullest and provide the extra space needed to host their popular professional application training ‘deep dive seminars’
Managing Director Simon Ellson explains “The Company has changed significantly over the last year and this move compliments everything we are doing with the direction of the Company, of course many of our higher profile clients in the music industry will also benefit from the new facilities”
Over the next few weeks CW we be hosting a series of events to show the new facility and details of these will be posted on the their website
For studio information please contact Siobhan on 020 8400 4398
The LMS began its life in 1972, when Ronnie Lane, bass player, songwriter and singer with The Small Faces and The Faces imported a 1968 Airstream Trailer from the USA. Right out of the box the LMS was a massive success, and from the very first year was responsible for some of the most successful and influential recordings in rock music’s history.
The list of recordings in no particular order…..…..
Led Zeppelin – “Physical Graffiti”
The Who – “Quadrophenia”
Bad Company – “Bad Company”
Eric Clapton – “Rainbow Concert”
The Faces – “Ooh La La”
The Stones – “Black & Blue”
Mott The Hoople – “Mott”
The Who – “The Who by Numbers” &…
Ronnie Lane – “Slim Chance” &
“Rough Mix” with Pete Townsend
Other recordings include: Bob Marley, Jack Bruce, Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Van Morrison, The Damned, Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder, John Lee Hooker, Keith & Ronnie, B.B. King, Dave Edmunds, Jeff Beck and…
And now, the LMS is back. Resplendent in classic ‘70’s orange, sand & mauve and re-commissioned with a classic, analogue, Cadac console with loads of other rare, precious and funky old stuff. Ladies and gentlemen, the LMS will be available to make records that change the world in a location near you any day now…….
