Beatles’ fans worldwide breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when the British government granted Abbey Road studios a grade II listed status to save the site after reports surfaced that cash-strapped record label EMI was looking to sell the world’s most famous recording studio.
A grade II listing means that “care must be taken to ensure that any alterations with respect to its character and interest are fully considered,” Anita Singh wrote in Tuesday’s London’s Telegraph. Changes can be made to the interior but the studio could never be torn down to build residential apartments. The studio can be turned into a museum, though, giving fans a chance to see where music history was made.
Sources told the Financial Times last week that EMI was looking for a buyer to bail it out of its current financial problems, bringing in a possible $47 million for the beleaguered label.
Responding to the public outcry to keep the studio, the British government sped up an application to preserve the site, granting it a listed status “overwhelmingly on the historic merit of the studios,” which will most likely protect the building as a music venue.
Sir Paul McCartney, British DJ Chris Evans and others led a “Save Abbey Road” campaign to protest the sale of the studio the Beatles made famous on the cover of their Abbey Road album. The Beatles recorded almost all of their albums and singles from 1962 and 1969 at the elegant Georgian townhouse in Northwest London that holds the cavernous studio. Pink Floyd created Dark Side of the Moon here, and the scores for films like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (in US, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) were produced at Abbey Road. U2, Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Jeff Beck, Kanye West, Amy Winehouse, Oasis, Radiohead … you get the picture. This place is star-studded.
After much public protest, EMI backed away from plans to sell it over the weekend and said it was in discussions with potential investors about a “revitalization” of the studios.
“Music — of whichever genre — is the thread that follows us through all our lives and Abbey Road Studios have produced some of the very best music in the world,” said Britain’s culture minister, Margaret Hodge. “It is a testament to both the importance of music in people’s lives as well as the passion this kind of issue stirs up, that so much interest has been generated by the perceived threat to the future of Abbey Road.”
Photo by Beatles Maniac11 via Flickr.