Strawberry Studios Forever by Peter Tattersall and Peter Wadsworth
Empire Publications
Out Now
Strawberry Studios Forever is an in-depth history of the famous Stockport Recording Studios by Peter Tattersall and Peter Wadsworth.
How did a major recording studio, which attracted some of the biggest names in music, end up being based in a humble town seven miles outside Manchester?
Strawberry Studios, 10cc & the Birth of Manchester Music (to give it its full title) is a 224-page paperback which tells exactly the tale, how the dream of one man, Peter Tattersall, made it happen, creating a studio – the name of which is still celebrated around the world.
It feels strange that it’s taken so long for a history of Strawberry to be written, more than 30 years since its doors closed, given its importance. However, there has been a volume focusing on the equipment used published previously, and Paul Hanley’s Leave The Capitol , which shines a spotlight on a number of seminal recordings made at the Waterloo Road studio.
My own ‘introduction’ to Strawberry, like many, would have been in the early 1980s, although initially I knew it as where Manchester United recorded their ‘Cup Final’ songs rather than bands such as Joy Division, New Order and The Smiths who’d drop the name into interviews. Despite the fact that the studio was less than 5 miles, a mere bus ride away from my home at the time, it seemed like a mysterious and mythical place, and never did it occur to me to venture into Stockport to check it out or hope to chance upon musicians recording.
The studio was in existence before it became Strawberry, though, being developed from Inter-City Studios, then the North’s only recording studio. The name, as you may suspect, is Beatles-influenced, not necessarily as a ‘reaction’ to Apple, but Strawberry being taken from visionaries Peter Tattersall and 10CC’s Eric Stewart’s favourite singles. The other members of the aforementioned band, Gouldman, Creme and Godley, all also contributed forewords to the book. As all point out, the idea of having a high-end recording studio outside of London was audacious, but as history shows, it was a stroke of genius which arguably helped change the face of music, in part by their willingness to reinvest royalties from their successes.
The crucial role in the development of Manchester music cannot be overstated and has long been acknowledged by the likes of the late Tony Wilson and the Factory artists recorded there with Sound Engineer Chris Nagle and Producer Martin Hannett.
As well as plenty of familiar, and many unfamiliar names and anecdotes, Strawberry Studios Forever is well illustrated throughout with many behind-the-scenes, previously unseen photos, trade adverts, tape boxes and ephemera. It’s a fascinating read, which, like Chris Connelly’s excellent recent volume on Cargo Studio’s charts, examines the development of the recording studio and technology over the decades.
A fascinating read and an essential addition to any music obsessive’s collection.
The official book launch takes place on 11th January at the studios itself. Details here
For more information on Strawberry Studio’s visit the Facebook group here
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All words by Iain Key. See his author profile here or find him via his LinkTree
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