EMI sells 'home of the Stones'
EMI has sold its prestigious Olympic Sound Studios as it seeks to reduce the size of its £2.6bn debt mountain.

By Lawrie Holmes
Published: 11:58PM GMT 27 Feb 2010

The studio, where the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin recorded some of their most famous tracks, has been sold for around £3.5m to a businessman who is considering a number of options for the site including opening a cinema.
EMI's decision to sell Olympic, in Barnes, south-west London, comes days after the troubled music group U-turned on a decision to sell Abbey Road studios after public outcry over the future ownership of the site where the Beatles recorded most of their records.

Sources close to EMI said the group decided to sell Olympic after ending recordings at the loss-making studio last year. Best-selling Irish rock band U2 recorded its last album No Line On The Horizon there as recently as December 2008.
Previous to that the site has hosted numerous rock and pop acts as well as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice who recorded their rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar there.
The studio mothballed the studio last year.
The Rolling Stones were one of the first bands to use the studio after it was opened in 1966, laying down tracks for the album Between The Buttons and then recording their next six albums including Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers there. Led Zeppelin recorded their first album there in 1968, and followed it with tracks for all their albums until 1975. In the 1980s Duran Duran, Roxy Music and Spandau Ballet also used the studio.
EMI lost £1.75bn last year, including a £1.04bn write-down. Guy Hands, founder of Terra Firma, which owns EMI, has asked investors to put £120m into the business to avoid breaching its banking covenants.
earlier this month, said it would retain Abbey Road despite receiving a £30m bid last year. The group said it was planning to sell a minority stake in order to modernise the loss-making north London studio, but said in a statement: "We believe that Abbey Road should remain in EMI's ownership." Sir Paul McCartney and Andrew Lloyd-Webber were among the voices calling for the studios to be saved.
EMI's loss, which included a £1.04bn write-down, was revealed in accounts for Maltby Capital, the Terra Firma investment vehicle that owns the home of Coldplay and The Beatles. Guy Hands, the founder of Terra Firma, has asked investors to pump £120 million into the business to avoid breaching its banking covenants. Terra Firma is embroiled in a bitter legal battle with Citigroup, which it accuses of duping it into buying EMI for £4.2bn on the eve of the credit crunch. Citigroup denies the claim.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7331855/EMI-sells-home-of-the-Stones.html

First Abbey Road and now here - very sad

Does anyone know what the Beatles involvement with the studio was? Wasn't Hey Jude recorded there?

Honky Tonk Man wrote on Feb 28^th, 2010 at 3:54am:

First Abbey Road and now here - very sad Does anyone know what the Beatles involvement with the studio was? Wasn't Hey Jude recorded there?

Going by this link, it was where all their recordings were made from '62 to '69.
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_Road_Studios"

I think he meant Olympic, not Abbey Road.

According to my research, the Beatles recorded the All You Need Is Love/Baby You're a Rich Man single there.

Let us not also forget the mighty Who's Next is an Olympic product.  

Question:  Why don't these rich bastards buy the places they immortalized (and that immortalized them) and turn them into museums?   :whydontcha

I think Abbey Road has been "saved"....they decided not to sell. But....BOOOOO for selling Olympic! If I EVER get to England, that's certainly on my tour "list".  >:(

Honky Tonk Man wrote on Feb 28^th, 2010 at 3:54am:

First Abbey Road and now here - very sad Does anyone know what the Beatles involvement with the studio was? Wasn't Hey Jude recorded there?

No. 'Hey Jude' was recorded at Abbey Road on 29-30/7/68, with the orchestral parts added at Trident Studios over the following two days, because Trident had an 8-track studio.

The backing track for 'All You Need is Love' was recorded at Olympic on 14/6/67 (and then finished at Abbey Road on 19/6/67 and 23-25/6/67)

'Baby You're a Rich Man' was recorded at Olympic on 11/5/67.

Parts of two songs on the 'Abbey Road' album were recorded at Olympic before being finished at Abbey Road:

"Something" (5/5/69)
"You Never Give Me Your Money" (6/5/69)

Another case of Beatles bias! Keep Abbey Road, but fuck Olympic. I'm getting close to exploding over the 4 headed monster from Liverpool.

And where is Rolling Stones rock band for ps3??????????????????????????????

Olympic hasnt even been a working studio for a year or two now, and even then bore no resemblance to the studio used by the Stones many years ago.