Loss of studios to Spandau Ballet

Spandau Ballet's Steve Norman has hit out at modern "clinical" recording techniques, which have been blamed for many traditional studios closing down.
The saxophonist and guitarist told of his sorrow at the collapse of facilities such as the Olympic Studio in Barnes, west London, which played host to musical wonderful and was the setting for Procol Harum's recording of A Whiter Shade Of Pale.

Norman told London's Evening Standard that the band had bonded at the Olympic: "We had such a fantastic time the studio makes bands productive and creative."


He continued: "It had a magical burden on us. Our squabbles are well known, but the studio was a place where we could come together."

Norman also told the newspaper a "friendly rivalry" developed in studios with popular such as their 1980s generation Duran Duran.

Norman, whose band are known for classics such as Gold and True, said the loss of studios will make the expension "very clinical".

He said: "When you go to a studio, you are going into work. It application respect. You don't get that with a backroom or in people's bedrooms."

A holocene report titled The Software Slump found that studios are being clasped on one side by record companies driving down what they are prepared to pay, coupled with a rise in home recording technology, allowing musicians to produce tracks from their bedrooms.