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IBC STUDIO  - THE HISTORY

IBC was originally housed in Hallem Street, on the site of what is now the BBC's Broadcasting House extension. To allow the BBC to develop the Broadcasting House site, the deWalden Estate moved IBC over the road to a prestigious site in Portland Place, previously mainly occupied by embassies.

 This was at number 35 PORTLAND PLACE, and after the Second World War it was the address of the leading independent studio in London and the British Isles. The complete history of how Radio Normandy became IBC has been lost in time (unless anyone out there can throw more light on the subject)

I arrived at the studio in 1965 to train as a disc-cutting engineer, under the supervision of PAUL CLAY. The studio already had a reputation of good engineers and a good sound, having recorded RAWHIDE by FRANKIE LANE in the 1950's and the first ROLLING STONES demo in 1963.
The engineer on that session was GLYN JOHNS, who became the STONES producer/engineer on many of the hits that followed.

Another engineer that worked at IBC (seen working here in the disc cutting room) was the renown JOE MEEK,who went on to record the first British single to top the American charts, TELSTAR by THE TORNADOES.

In the old days, engineers use to wear white coats and were more technical than interested in the sounds of the day. Engineers like GLYN, HOWARD BURROW and TERRY JOHNSON were a new breed who were up to date with a younger generation. The following pictures will give you some idea of what the studio looked like in the 1950's,when two-track recording was a thing of the future and 1/4 inch tape was all that was used.

All this equipment just to work in mono!

The technical department made it all work and even they had to wear ties!  

 This was the disc cutting studio where I was later to work. By then we had progressed to limiters and equalisers and the wearing of jeans became a matter of choice.
This is the mono room and when I first started at IBC the stereo disc cutting room was only used for classical mastering. A few years later along came THE WHO and HENDRIX who blew away the cobwebs from that room.
There was a 100-watt Lockwood speaker in the corner of this room and it was great to whack up the volume at ten o clock in the morning especially if the night before your Dad had told you to turn your music down at home!

During the 1960's IBC was responsible for some of the great songs to come out of England. At that time there were only 5 major record companies, EMI. DECCA, PHILIPS, CBS and PYE. They all had their own studios but as they were not available all the time and "outside" producers were now making names for themselves, studios like IBC and OLYMPIC were now recording the big names.

In my time at IBC (1965-1977) I saw and heard some of the finest artists to come out of this country. Here are a few and some stories to go with them.

THE ROLLING STONES:

Although they never recorded at IBC in my time (I did get to work with Brian Jones after he left the Stones) their start on the road to success happened in STUDIO A at number 35 on 11th March 1963. GLYN JOHNS brought a bunch of hopefuls into the studio to record a few numbers that they needed to take to record companies. At the time the studio was owned by ERIC ROBINSON,the bandleader and a man named GEORGE CLOUSTON. Both were out of touch with what was happening in the music of the youth and agreed to Glyn using "dead Time" That session produced "DIDDLEY DADDY" BRIGHT LIGHTS,BIG CITY" "I WANNA BE LOVED" AND "ROADRUNNER". The story goes that Clouston didn't rate what he heard and a copy was made that found it's way to Decca and a recording contract. IBC's loss was Decca's gain and the STONES never returned as a group to the studio that started it all, although IBC did record them with a mobile unit which included a young DAMON LYON SHAW for "GOT LIVE IF YOU WANT IT" (1965).

T HE BEATLES

Another band that recorded at IBC before I joined was the best known group in the world who were there on 19^th April 1964. The session was for a TV special called “AROUND THE BEATLES” which was produced by JACK GOOD.

The tracks they laid down were “TWIST AND SHOUT”, “ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN”,  “I WANNA BE YOUR MAN”, “LONG TALL SALLY” “CANT BUY ME LOVE”, and a melody of their singles “LOVE ME DO,PLEASE PLEASE ME, FROM ME TO YOU, SHE LOVES YOU and I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND”.
Like the STONES,the BEATLES never again recorded as a group at IBC but it's amazing that two of the best bands to come out of England recorded there in their early days. JOHN and PAUL later turned up at the studios on 24th November 1967 when they sat in on the GRAPEFRUIT session on their first hit, "DEAR DELILAH".

THE WHO

Up until they went to OLYMPIC STUDIOS to record “THE  WHO’S NEXT”  IBC played a big part in the bands music.  “I CANT EXPLAIN”, “ANYWAY,ANYHOW,ANYWHERE”  and “MY GENERATION” were all recorded there in 1965  and they were followed by “I’M A BOY” (1966)  “PICTURES OF LILY” (1967) and “MAGIC BUS” (1968).  There was also a hastily mastering session of “THE LAST  TIME/UNDER MY THUMB” which was to publicise the jail  sentence of MICK JAGGER and KEITH RICHARDS for the  possession of illegal woodbines!

But perhaps the biggest album they ever recorded at IBC  was the classic rock opera “TOMMY”. The band had used  the studio for  “A QUICK ONE” (1966) and “THE WHO  SELL OUT” (1967) but it was “TOMMY” that took up most  of their time in 1969 as they spent hours recording or  drinking at THE DOVER CASTLE, the pub that was just a  few yards from the back door of the building.

The recording of “TOMMY” meant that we saw the band nearly every day and although I was down stairs from Studio A in my cutting room it did give me the chance to work with PETE TOWNSHED who was always popping in for an acetate.  
I had been lucky enough to have cut quite a few of the WHO's records and usually it was left up to their manager, KIT LAMBERT to supervise the cutting. He loved the band and he would always try and get the maximum level on the singles we cut.   As long as the meter stayed in the red and it did not distort he was happy.
All this changed when everybody started cutting in stereo (BACK TO MONO) and the art of disc cutting became more technical as you had to worry about the depth of the cut as well as the horizontal. Basically you could get more level with a mono cut, as proved by early 45’s.

Kit Lambert	Shel Talmy who produced many of the Whos early hits with Pete and Keith

DAMON LYON SHAW was the engineer on "TOMMY" and with TOWNSHED in command each day brought either a new idea or another classic track. The WHO were the first band at IBC that stayed a long time as recordings got more involved and stereo was used to it's potential.
I don't suppose any of the band members can recall the many things that happened, but I saw it all through the eyes of a young man that had nothing but respect for the genius of their arm swinging guitarist.

We had a caretaker named ERNIE CRIMMINS,who is a folk hero to all that worked at IBC. A good man who could cause havoc if you had upset him,especially when you were in dire need of toilet paper or a cup of tea. Was he the inspiration for WICKED UNCLE ERNIE?
I remember a time when Ernie told me "that drummer from that Ooo lot", lost the plot and smashed the long mirror in the gents toilets. Was this the inspiration of  SMASH THE MIRROR?
Perhaps not, but great songs and music were coming out of STUDIO A as THE WHO went stereo on a single with the release of their "PINBALL WIZARD" The album became a monster success and THE WHO went off around the world to spread their latest work of art.

I worked between the mono and stereo cutting rooms and the following year I had the pleasure of cutting one of my favourite WHO albums and possibly the best live album ever recorded, the rocking "LIVE AT LEEDS".
I spent the whole day with Pete and I was proud that I was involved in a little piece of rock and roll history I even ended up on the paperwork that came out with the album. Someone from a band called THE FACTORY had written a fictitious line up for a band called BRIAN CARROLL and THE PLAYBOYS, Pete used the other side to write the lyrics of a song and both ended up going out with the album.
Great times, great band, great songwriter.

THE SMALL FACES

Another great band that used the studios during their early days. The engineer on most of the tracks was JOHN PANTRY and I was cutting acetates of great records like “COME ON CHILDREN”, “E TO D”, “SHAKE” and “SHA LA LA LA LEE.    
I loved the band as they represented the mod culture that was an important part of my life at that time. In 1965 I was clubbing 4 or 5 times a week as I finished work went home to the suburbs got changed and returned to London’s West End to see the groups that would someday go on to greater things not realising that within a few months I would be working for/with them.
Tuesday night at the Marquee was THE WHO night and a sparse crowd use to sip their cokes and milk while watching TOWNSHED smash his guitar, DALTRY looking mean, ENTWHISTLE looking moody and MOON hitting the drums as if it was his worst enemy. Then one week we turned up and there was a QUEUE! That was it and we moved on to THE ACTION.

THE SMALL FACES joined THE WHO as the band of the mods and IBC was recording the songs that would be heard by the generation who had the knack of staying awake all night!!
I still think they were the tightest group around musically and they helped the organ to become an important part of rock music. They were young and fresh and I remember one day that we had THE WHO in studio A while THE SMALL FACES were in studio B. The banter between the two bands was fast and humorous, and they both represented the whole mod culture. They went on to bigger things but every now and again they returned to IBC either to lay down tracks or produce other artists.

The Small Faces at IBC Studio

JIMI HENDRIX


I mastered "HEY JOE" * "PURPLE HAZE" *"THE WIND CRIES MARY" *"THE BURNING OF THE MIDNIGHT LAMP" and the album "ARE YOU EXPERIENCED"

The day after he recorded Hey Joe he turn up at IBC with his producer,Chas Chandler. I was about 20 and a bit of a mod so when I saw this man dressed in his flowery gear I thought another would be pop star and dressing like one.

Then I put on the tape and after a few bars I turned to him and said "Is this you?" Yes he shyly replied. It was awesome and so different that I knew this man was going to be a star.
After that they just sent the tapes over and let me cut the master on my own although i wish he had turned up again but by the second single he was mega.

Chas was a down to earth man and I later went on to work for him when he bought the studio and renamed it Portland Studios. He once appologised to me for not mastering Jimi at IBC anymore. It seems that they could get a good stereo cut in New York and that's where ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER was mastered. After Hendrix Chas went on to manage SLADE. He died in 1996

BOB DYLAN

The 1966 tour of Britain by BOB DYLAN was THE event of the year, Crossing over from folk to rock had upset many of his fans and his tour around the country was controversial. Backed by THE BAND he eventually came to THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL in London which was to be attended by all the top people in music including THE STONES and THE BEATLES.

IBC had the job of recording the various concerts as a mobile unit with MIKE CLAYDON and DAMON LYON SHAW being the engineers.  I wanted to see the man and as I was allowed to help set up the equipment for the venue I found myself backstage.
I was taking to DAMON when we saw DYLAN walking down the corridor that led to the stage in between two minders. To say he was out of his brain was an understatement, emphasized even more when his entourage stopped and he turned and started talking to a fire extinguisher.
We both thought that there was no way this man was going to give a performance and there would be a riot when he either failed to appear or stumbled around the stage.
Suddenly a man in a suit led him to the bottom of the stairs that led to the stage and we watched in amazement as he walked up into the lights and gave one of the best performances of the tour. What a man!

THE BEE GEES

There was a typically English pastime that happened every day at IBC at 11am and 4pm. Everything stopped for tea! Ernie the caretaker would ring round all the engineers and just say "TEAS UP" and we use to head for the tea lobby for a chat and to wind down,usually taking our clients with us.
The tea was served in a big pot which was capable of holding enough to cater for everyone and which use to be filled up with hot water carried on a tea trolley. With sometimes up to forty musicians being in the studio at one time,Ernie was kept busy satisfying their needs. The tea break was a great way of meeting people and getting to know them.
One day I saw three young kids sitting in the tea lobby and as Ernie came out of the lift pushing the tea trolley they nudged each other. “How much is the tea?”  one of them asked. “Nothing” I replied and they swarmed round the tea trolley to get their free drink.
They were the BEE GEES and six months later they were driving around in Aston Martins! 

During their spell at IBC they recorded such classics as “NEW YORK MINING DISASTER”, “TO LOVE SOMEBODY”, “MASSACHUSETTS”, “WORLD”, “WORDS”, and “I GOTTA GET A MESSAGE TO YOU” as well as the albums “THE BEE GEES FIRST”, “HORIZONTAL”, “IDEA” and “ODESSA”.  I got on well with Maurice and Robin ( I cut his “SAVED BY THE BELL”) but years later I met Barry who said he could not remember those IBC years. Well that’s how it is for big stars who forget their roots while the rest of the world adores them.

ERIC CLAPTON/CREAM.

I only meet this guitar great once and only for one minute.
THE CREAM were at IBC in October 1968 to record  “WHITE ROOM”, (with GEORGE HARRISON on rhythm guitar) “WHAT A BRINGDOWN”, “DOING THAT SCRAPYARD THING” for the “GOODBYE” ALBUM. He was walking around near the front of the building with a guitar in one had and a small amplifier in the other.
“Do you know where STUDIO A is?” he asked. “Up the stairs” I replied and off he went without even offering me a pint for my trouble!! CREAM also record the basic tracks for “WHITE ROOM”, “BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN” and “SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD” for “THE WHEELS album at IBC in 1967 but it was that brief meeting with another of my heroes that sticks in the mind as one of my memories.     I like to think I helped on that album by sending him in the right direction!

DAMON LYON SHAW was the engineer on the "GOODBYE" sessions and he was becoming one of the most sought after engineers around. He was there before I arrived at IBC and through the years we became good friends. We even started producing and writing together and you can learn more about this by visiting the FACTORY,FIVE DAY RAIN and ONE WAY TICKET pages on this web site.(more about him later)

It was an unwritten law that you never bothered artist who came to the studios unless they wanted to know you. Over the years I never really made friends with many of them but I did with a talented singer named TONY RIVERS. When I was younger he had a band called TONY RIVERS AND THE CASTAWAYS who must have played every club and church hall in London. Their harmonies were terrific and they even drew the notice of BRIAN WILSON of THE BEACHBOYS.  TONY was at IBC during 1968/9 recording with his new band HARMONY GRASS on their hit single “MOVE IN A LITTLE CLOSER”.  He later went on to back CLIFF RICHARD and ELTON JOHN on record and on stage and there must be countless hit singles that he was a session singer on. He is still playing today and every time I bump into him he is the same happy person that he always was. A nice guy in a business full of two faced egotist. I hope he goes on forever.

 IBC has recorded many artists and hits over the years and here are a few of them.

In July 1964 THE KINKS came in to record “YOU REALLY GOT ME” while THE NASHVILLE TEENS made “TOBACCO ROAD”. A couple of years later recording was starting to get into stereo and three and four track recordings were becoming popular.


JEFF BECKS "BECKS BOLERO" which had the line up of JEFF BECK (Guitar), JIMMY PAGE (Guitar), JOHN PAUL JONES (Bass), NICKY HOPKINS (Piano) and KEITH MOON (Drums). Jimmy Page and Nicky Hopkins knew IBC well as,with CLEM CATTINI and "BIG JIM" SULLIVAN (see picture) they were part of an elite band of session musicians who must have played in every studio in town.

As mentioned before, DAMON was getting a name as the good engineer he was. In 1966 he recorded "FRIDAY ON MY MIND" with the Australian group THE EASYBEATS and,as well as his work with THE WHO, he also engineered "FIRE" by ARTHUR BROWN in 1968 and the classic "SOMETHING IN THE AIR" by THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN in 1969. In the same year DEEP PURPLE came in to record DEEP PURPLE IN ROCK.
There was "RESURRECTION SHUFFLE" (1970) by ASHTON, GARDNER and DYKE (What a lovely man TONY ASHTON was). Blues legend MUDDY WATERS came in to do an album and the American icon DUANE EDDY with "PLAY ME LIKE YOU PLAY YOUR GUITAR" (1975)

STATUS QUO

In the early 70's he started working with a band that would become a partnership for a number of years. STATUS QUO was the band and Damon worked with them on singles such as "MEAN GIRL" "CAROLINE" "BREAK THE RULES" "DOWN DOWN" "RAIN" and the albums "PILEDRIVER" "HELLO" "ON THE LEVEL" and "BLUE FOR YOU" as well as a couple of live recordings.

Unfortunately after years of working with some of the loudest bands in the world Damon suffered ear damage that made it impossible to continue doing the job he loved. For over a decade this engineer had worked with the best of them and his last days at the studio was a loss for IBC.

As well as cutting most of the records mentioned (the hardest was getting the words "TRACK RECORDS" on the lead out of "THE WHO SELLS OUT") I also cut some of the artists on ATLANTIC RECORDS such as OTIS REDDING, JOE TEX, BOOKER T, ARTHUR CONLEY, and WILSON PICKET.
The other group that I cut all the hits for was THE EQUALS, with the ever popular EDDIE GRANT and I still remember it all every time I hear "BABY COME BACK".

The further advancement of stereo came with the introduction of eight and sixteen track recorders. IBC was beginning to catch up on the Americans and the studio started to take on a different look.

The mixer was built by our technical team of DENIS KING and his assistants, PETER SMITH and DAVE ANGEL. If there was any trouble you just pressed button number 6 on the internal phone and they came out of their pit in the basement to fix whatever had gone wrong. The unsung heroes of the recording industry.

STUDIO A was situated on the second landing and this was the view looking up from the studio floor to the control room. Someone later decided to put the stairs on the opposite side of the wall to make it easier to enter the control room from the landing.  It had an ADAMS ceiling and fireplace adorned by cherubs, some time during a WHO session these cherubs had their manhood drawn on them! This room is now offices.

Studio  manager MIKE CLAYDON at the mixing desk in studio A. Mike was great at getting a good string sound, as shown on all the early BEE GEES tracks and he also recorded such icons as JOHNNY MATHIS and BOB DYLAN. He was the person who interviewed me for the position at IBC and I am grateful to him as are many of the "Tape ops" he made into engineers.

 This 8-track Ampex recorder made life easier for the engineer and the artist. Some of the greatest records to come out of  IBC were recorded on this machine.(including "TOMMY")

Now that IBC could compete with all the major studios they continued to get clients that made good records. We had two studios, STUDIO A which was the main one and could take over 40 musicians and STUDIO B which was mainly used for overdubs and vocals. There was also a dubbing suit and two disc cutting rooms,mono and stereo. We had a good bunch of young engineers coming through and the atmosphere among the staff was fantastic.
And here is some more pictures of IBC sent in by Pete Smith
                                                             
           Our Ampex MM 1000 16 Track on which many top bands recorded their classics

                      
Two more views of Studio A. That piano has been played by some of the greats and you can hear it today on some of the best songs to come out of London including "Something in the Air" and Early Bee Gee hits.

Here are a few of the lads who worked there when I did. Standing:DAMON LYON SHAW,ANDY KNIGHT, DENIS BLACKHAM. KEVIN BARRY      Sitting:TED SHARP, BRIAN CARROLL, JOHN      PANTRY

I wish I had photos of all the great girls that worked at IBC during my time there, like Pat, Pauline and Jill. They had to put up with all the tantrums of the engineers and artists and although we had many of them over the years, the two main stalwarts were ANGELA PEBERDY and LESLIE WARMISHAM.
Angela had been at the studio since the early days and ran the office with efficiency. Leslie was in charge of bookings and had the job of making sure everything ran smoothly.
With this team we carried on making the hits.

During the seventies things started to change at IBC. I had a young lad named DENIS BLACKHAM helping me and I taught him all he knows! (Only JOKING Denis). He now runs the successful COUNTRY MASTERS. DAMON, JOHN PANTRY and MIKE CLAYDON all moved on and in came new blood such as KEITH BESSY, HUGH JONES and the talented ANDY MILLER.

I was getting itchy feet and fancied something else and when the opportunity came to work for MELLOTRONICS,which was based in the same building, I took it. They were the makers of the MELLOTRON, an instrument made popular by it's use on "STRAWBERRY FIELDS" by THE BEATLES.

The Mellotron was basically a set of tapes that played when you hit a key. You could have strings,brass,choir or what ever you wanted and my job was to supply the bands or artists with that service.
The Mellotron started out as a bit of a joke among the engineers when I was at IBC. The connection with IBC was that George Clouston owned both organisations. In fact all the early recordings of the instruments for the Mellotron were recorded at IBC, using session musicians and conducted by the bandleader Eric Robinson.

It was a boring task playing one note at a time and very time consuming. When I joined IBC the Mellotron was a big bulk of a machine that was mainly marketed as an instrument for a cocktail lounge. This of course was before the MOODY BLUES took it into the charts and made it into an instrument that was to be on so many hit records. I remember the joy of the Mellotron staff when one was sold to PRINCESS MARGARET after being shown the instrument by PETER SELLERS.

A smaller version of the Mellotron was built and it was left in the studio for the use of musicians. Even the BEE GEES started using it on their early recordings when they could not afford a real string orchestra. When the BEATLES started experimenting with it the Mellotron got the seal of approval and no longer was it a novelty.
One of the first things I did was to get the tracks in tune as I had the advantage of an oscillator that was used to get the right pitch. This was also laborious but I finally completed it and added other sounds like the Moog Synthesizer.
Many artists use to come in to record their personal tracks, including JACK BRUCE laying down a cello, PAUL MACARTNEY doing "OOOOHS" and TANGERINE DREAM, with many weird recordings, including the sound of traffic recorded going by,through different sized tubes.

My boss was PETER NICHOLAS (now deceased) a great bloke who lived for the Mellotron. He did a lot to help the bands that were now using the Mellotron,not only for recording but also for touring. The main trouble was the instrument going out of tune when it was taken all over the country and we had a room set aside for repairs and installing new tapes. The Mellotron is still being used today by bands.

The only problem at IBC was that the management, who were of the older generation, never really understood the music that was the studios livelihood. Competition was getting tougher as new state of the art studios started opening in town. Many of the bands that use to use the studio now tried other places like THE MANOR or they had their own studios built in their homes.

Eventually the management decided to sell the studio and it was during that time that I received a call from Chas Chandler. I still bumped into him every now and again and he use to tell me the only reason that Hendrix was cutting elsewhere was that his tracks were now cut in stereo,which I did not do at the time. Plus it was becoming fashionable to master in the states. He had been using IBC for some of the acts he produced including SLADE and he wanted to know if it was worth buying.
It was a good ship that just needed a good captain and within weeks he was the new owner and he employed me to look after a new venture which included high speed cassette copying.

The stereo room was still in good working order and he made it even better by employing the legendary GEORGE (PORKY) PEKHAM, which insured that the place was full of laughter. Now it was called PORTLAND RECORDING STUDIO incorporating BARN RECORDS, which meant that SLADE now had their own studio.

It was about this time that I had reached the end of my time at number 35. Times had changed and all the old crew were no longer there.
Traveling into town on packed tube trains every day was no longer fun so I decided to try my luck at freelancing and other ventures. After six months from the change over I left and Chas gave me a lovely bonus that kept me going for a few months.
I would still pop in every time I was in town for a drink with George and the others at the DOVER CASTLE but the glory days were over for me and a new generation was coming through. I went on to work for PYE STUDIOS and Chas sold the studio to JET RECORDS which was owned by DON ARDEN,the manager of ELO and the father-in-law of OSSIE OSBORNE.

Recording techniques were changing and it became difficult to run the big building. Finally on the 9th of July 1985 the studio closed down and offices took it's place. Many of the old studios have gone, PYE STUDIOS is now a casino and only EMI (ABBEY ROAD) is still as popular as it was in the 60's.

Time moves on,but every time I hear a record that was recorded at IBC I remember what a great place it was and what a good time I had. I hope this brief history is of interest and although it is written through my eyes I would be grateful if anyone can supply memories through the CONTACT page.

A great album would be "THE SOUNDS OF IBC" and if there is anyone out there who thinks it is a good idea please get in touch and perhaps it would be a fitting tribute to a great studio.

Brian Carroll

INDEX

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