Abbey Road opened on 12th November 1931 and as part of their 90th anniversary celebrations, Mark Kermode recorded a special Scala Radio show exploring the studios’ rich history of film score recordings.
On a warm July morning, Mark and I found ourselves sitting in the reception at Abbey Road – the first time we’d seen each other IRL since March 2020 due to lockdown, having recorded over a year’s worth of shows remotely, contending with patchy wifi connections and noisy boilers – and soon we were in the Mixstage where Mark was in conversation with Abbey Road’s Head of Audio Products, Mirek Stiles.
Mirek gave us a little tour beforehand: a team of engineers were preparing the mighty Studio 1 for a small ensemble who were recording the music of Philip Glass, then as we left Studio 2 we bumped into a jolly gentleman who looks after all the microphones and other key recording equipment [apologies for not knowing his name or official job title] holding up, as he called it, “Ringo’s Mic” – and then we peered into Studio 3 and found out about the albums that have been recorded there by the likes of Frank Ocean and Pink Floyd.
I’ve been lucky enough to sit in on several recording sessions in Studio 1 over the years, such as Daniel Pemberton‘s score for Yesterday and Harry Gregson-Williams‘ music for Early Man, and every time I’ve wandered through the corridors and admired the photos on the walls, it’s always felt a bit magical. I can’t imagine that that sense of awe and wonder fades too quickly for the Abbey Road team.
Mirek’s written some insightful blog posts about the history of film score recordings at Abbey Road, so we took these as the springboard for the interview. It was a chronological journey, starting with the studio manager Ken Townsend teaming up with scoring engineer Eric Tomlinson and his Anvil Film Unit who were looking for a new home due to the closure of the Denham Studios.
The first significant score to be recorded at Abbey Road was Raiders of the Lost Ark by John Williams, and Mark and Mirek’s conversation over the course of an hour or so brought us from the early 1980s up to Black Widow by Lorne Balfe, covering Star Wars, Brazil, Aliens, Braveheart, Eyes Wide Shut, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Black Panther and more. Quite the journey!
Mark’s show, featuring cues from the discussed scores, broadcast on Scala Radio on August 28th 2021 and the extended interview is now available as a Kermode on Film podcast.
Not only was the Abbey Road special a huge amount of fun to produce, but we received some lovely listener feedback, including this email from a chap who lives nearby:
“When I’m not dodging tourists clamouring to take a selfie on the pelican crossing – oh how the van drivers love that – I often see the musicians coming in and out and occasionally spot the odd celebrity. But I always wonder, are they recording the latest blockbuster movie? Do those cello and violin cases I see them carrying contain the very instruments that have just brought to life my next must-have soundtrack?
“So it was fabulous to hear the history of the studio and to find out that so much of the music I love was recorded less than 60 feet away. I feel even closer to the music, so thank you so much.”
