London Studio Where Radiohead, Depeche Mode Recorded May Become Apartments
Church Studios, a London recording studio that has seen such acts as Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan hold sessions may soon become apartments, the BBC is reporting.
The owner of the studio, musician David Gray, has filed papers with the local council to convert the studio into five apartments with some room left over for office space. “These facilities are now obsolete and do not offer a viable future for the building,” Gray’s architect wrote in his application.
The building in the Crouch End section of North London began its life in 1855 as Park Chapel. Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics purchased the building in 1984 and converted it into a studio. They recorded many of their hits inside its walls, including ‘Sweet Dreams.’ Gray, best known for his 1998 hit, ‘Babylon,’ bought the studio in 2003.
Although members of the local artistic community are protesting the decision, Stewart bittersweetly sympathizes with Gray’s plight. “It has so many memories for me,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “Not just recording sessions. I would host evening soirees with poets, philosophers, musicians, etc. Dylan would turn up with his band and hold court or Joni Mitchell would play drums! Things have changed now. Music scene is not the same, I understand him [David Gray] having to sell.”
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