Swindon Music

Hottest subject of conversation in my office today is the possible acquisition of Abbey Road studios. Apparently possibly to be paid for by Macca, then given to the National Trust as a gift.

What do you reckon should be done with it?

It's a very important piece of musical heritage and Macca probably wipes his arse with £50 notes so yeah he should do the decent thing and buy it as a gift for the National Trust, they can then exploit tourists by charging them obscene amounts of money to stand in the room where The Fabs and others recorded their legendary music.

In my day, musicians were wild outcasts, heading for hell weirdos, rebels and general wasters, separated from normal society. Honest, to be (or want to be) a musician marked you out as different - a bit of a freak, it really did.

Now we have a legion of 'music dads' (like football dads but into strats not stats), encouraging their kids, offering them every opportunity to play music. They might well also take them to the odd NT property every now and then, so it is a logical fit. Shouldn't moan mind you. I'm one of these myself now and know plenty of other chaps who are just the same.

But really. Abbey Road .... in National Trust hands? Whatever next? Iggy Pop advertising car insurance? Dave Franklin writing for the Adver?

No doubt at all in my mind now. Rock and Roll has indeed been tamed by the establishment.

EMI aren't selling it

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8527095.stm

With those kind of loses, selling Abbey Road for £30 million won't help a single bit and end up costing them more as EMI find themselves having to pay to send their acts to other studios and no income from bands and orchestras recording at their studio, or mixing/mastering there.