Chapter 1: Britannia Row and Pink Floyd

The large three-storey building at number 35 of Britannia Row was originally part of St.Mary's Church (the church still exist, at the bottom of Britannia Row), but having suffered heavily from bombardment during the Second World War, it had later become some sort of factory / warehouse (awaiting information on the subject). As such it must have been already in disuse for a few years when in 1975 Pink Floyd arrived to buy the lot and convert it in to their personal headquarters.
Until that time, the band had enjoyed unlimited access to Abbey Road's studios as part of an unusual deal with EMI, where the cost of the studio was offset against a large percentage of their profits.

Having just finished recording what was to become one of the best selling albums of all times – The Dark Side of The Moon – they decided it was about time to have all of their things under one roof. The studio was quickly built on the ground floor, while the rest of the building was to be used to accommodate accountants (you need accountants), pool tables (you need pool tables), and all the equipment they had accumulated over the years

A photographic studio was added a little later, not the first attempt for the band to get involved in to business ventures other than producing music. In fact, the recording studio was also meant to become a source of income, to be let as a commercial facility when not in use by Pink Floyd (Joy Division and then New Order were among the first clients).

Next to the recording studio another part of the building was occupied by the massive amplification system owned by the band; this too was supposed to pay for itself in between tours, so a separate company was created to provide equipment for hire. It turns out that not many bands could actually afford (or indeed require) the extravagant and oversized amplification system that PInk Floyd used on their tour, but it was nevertheless the start of what went on to become the UK's largest sound reinforcement company, Britannia Row Productions, now a completely separate entity.

This period is recalled by Nick Mason in his book 'Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd' (chapter eight, see link below), where he provides a very enjoyable read with details about the construction of the studio, the recording of 'Animals', the business ambitions and internal tensions of the band, not to mention the story of how he came to be the unlikely producer for Captain Sensible's punk band.

Google Book Search has a preview of this chapter, which contains also pictures of the studio at the time: chapter 8, The Baloon goes Up.

People

Nick Griffiths > Recording Engineer, Producer: link 1, link 2
Michael Johnson
Brian Humphries
Nigel Taylor

At the moment we have very scarce information as to the people involved in the construction and running of the studio. Please get in touch if you can help.

Recordings

The first album to be entirely record and mixed at Britannia Row studio was 'Animals'. One year after its release the studio was being used by Nick Mason to record 'Music For Pleasure' by the Damned, and it is likely that David Gilmour would have used the studio to record early demos of Kate Bush and other artists he was developing.
As the studio gained notoriety it started to attract more clients, and in particular a few from Manchester's now legendary Factory, the record label created by Tony Wilson.
Joy Division recorded a few songs for 'Closer; and later had the classic 'Love will tear us apart' remixed here for what was to become the definitive release. Other Factory artists to use the studio were Section 25 and the Durutti Column.

Apparently Robert Wyatt did some recordings here, although we have no evidence of which sessions and when.

Finally, other records worth of note from this early period are: 'The Hapless Child' by Michael Mantler, 'Green' by Steve Hillage, 'Expresso 2' by Gong.

The Offspring

Britannia Row Studio, Britannia Row Productions, Britannia Row Limited: coming soon.

 

Check this space for updates. If you have any information, comments, corrections about Britannia Row studio please contact admin@londonschoolofsound.co.uk