Blackwing Studios was an English recording studio, most notable for early Depeche Mode and Yazoo recordings in the early 1980s.
Blackwing Studios was an English recording studio, most notable for early Depeche Mode and Yazoo recordings in the early 1980s.
The Blackwing Studios complex was housed inside a deconsecrated church in south-east London. All Hallows church was partly destroyed during The Blitz in 1941. After the war, Southwark Cathedral retained the north aisle and carried on using it as a temporary church. The destroyed south aisle was later turned into gardens and maintained by local residents from 1968. [1]
Blackwing Studios was started by Eric Radcliffe, who worked on most of the early Mute Records recordings alongside Daniel Miller. [2] Miller had discovered Blackwing when recording the Silicon Teens album. He required a studio with a big control room where he could set up all his synthesisers. [2] Daniel Miller carried on using Blackwing to record other Mute Records artists. At the rear of the church building was a bell tower that was used for storing master tapes. [3]
The first Depeche Mode album, Speak & Spell , was recorded at Blackwing using a TEAC eight-track recorder. The album was engineered by John Fryer. [4] Yazoo named one of their albums, Upstairs at Eric's , after the studio, due to the main Blackwing studio being above Splendid Studios. [2] : p.28 When Vince Clarke initially came to Blackwing to record with Yazoo, he found that the studio was fully booked; Depeche Mode were recording their new album. He had the choice of recording at 4am during studio downtime or building another studio, which is how Splendid Studios came about. It was a not-for-hire studio below Blackwing. [5]
After the break-up of Yazoo, Clarke decided he wanted to remain in the music industry. His initial enterprise after Yazoo was the formation of his own record label called Reset Records, a joint effort with Radcliffe, to sign and produce new acts recorded in Splendid Studios. The recordings were then licensed to RCA Records for release. [6]
Blackwing Studios closed down in September 2001 and the building has been empty ever since, but the church building and gardens are still there. However, this may soon not be the case as Southwark Council have been submitting plans since 2005 to redevelop the site with a four-storey development of private flats. [7]
When Eric Radcliffe opened Blackwing, he initially used an eight-track TEAC for recording artists; this was later replaced by a 16-track machine. A second recorder was acquired and locked together with the initial machine, giving Blackwing 32 tracks of recording. This system was used for many early recordings by Yazoo and Depeche Mode. The system was eventually rationalised when two 24-track machines were purchased: one for Blackwing and one for Splendid Studios downstairs. Blackwing used an Amek 2500 mixing desk modified to work with electronic instruments. All the equipment at Blackwing and Splendid Studios was designed to be patchable through patch bays; none of the effects units were hardwired. [5] Clarke installed a Fairlight CMI into Blackwing, which he had bought before the Yazoo tour, and used it on tracks such as "Never Never" by The Assembly.
Due to the low bandwidth that the Fairlight produced, Clarke began using the Synclavier, which used FM synthesis. This led, in 1984, to Clarke’s purchase of a Yamaha DX7 which was replaced by a Yamaha DX1 shortly afterwards because of better editability; he also updated the sound cards in the Fairlight to create a fuller sound. The Fairlight was used to sample sounds of Clarke smashing all sorts of wood, china and glass that were found when demolishing the lower part of the church to build Splendid Studios. [5] Blackwing used a range of quality reverberation, including an AMS RMX, Lexicon 224 and 224X and a Quantec Room Simulator. Recordings at Blackwing also used natural reverb from a long corridor that still retained the stonework from the original war-damaged church. Above the studio was a natural echo chamber that lay under the church roof. Radcliffe left the echo chamber when designing the studios, as it seemed a waste removing it. [5]
One of the first tracks Depeche Mode recorded at Blackwing was "Dreaming of Me", after being decided it would be the band's first single. [2] At the time, Clarke was unemployed, so he spent most of the daytime in the studio with Daniel Miller, who would advise Clarke on how to get sounds, use studio technology and arrange songs. Later in the afternoon, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher would arrive from their day jobs to record melody parts. [2] : p.30 After the recording of Speak & Spell , Clarke left the band but carried on recording at Blackwing. In late 1981, Depeche Mode returned to Blackwing and recorded the single "See You", [2] : p.43 the first Depeche Mode track to use a Roland MC-4 sequencer, which made the core sound to the track. [8] It was also the first Depeche Mode track recorded without Clarke.
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Yazoo were an English synth-pop duo from Basildon, Essex, consisting of former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke (keyboards) and Alison Moyet (vocals). The duo formed in late 1981 after Clarke responded to an advertisement Moyet placed in a British music magazine.
Vincent John Martin, known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously the main songwriter for several groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and the Assembly. In Erasure, he is known for his deadpan and low-key onstage demeanour, often remaining motionless over his keyboard, in sharp contrast to lead vocalist Andy Bell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics.
Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderman, Inspiral Carpets, Moby, New Order, Laibach, Nitzer Ebb, Yann Tiersen, Wire, Yeasayer, Fever Ray, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yazoo, and M83.
Speak & Spell is the debut studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was released on 5 October 1981, or possibly 29 October 1981, by Mute Records. It was the band's only album to feature Vince Clarke, and is much lighter in tone than their subsequent releases.
The Assembly were a British synth-pop project formed in 1983 in Basildon, England, by Vince Clarke and Eric Radcliffe.
Eric Charles Radcliffe is an English recording engineer and producer who worked with new wave and synthpop bands in the early 1980s in Basildon, England. He later became owner of Blackwing Studios.
Francis John Tovey, known also by his stage name Fad Gadget, was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both new wave and early industrial music, fusing pop-structured songs with mechanised experimentation.
Upstairs at Eric's is the debut studio album by English synth-pop duo Yazoo. It was released on 20 August 1982 by Mute Records. It was produced by the band and E.C. Radcliffe, with assistance from Mute label boss Daniel Miller on some of the tracks. Named after producer Radcliffe's Blackwing Studios where the album was recorded, Upstairs at Eric's was preceded by two UK top-three singles, the ballad "Only You" and the more uptempo "Don't Go". The album reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments in excess of 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
John Fryer is an English record producer. Best known for his production work, he has also performed as a musician, as one of the two constant members of This Mortal Coil, providing keyboards, strings and synthesizer sequencing for the band, and its offshoot, the Hope Blister.
"Get the Balance Right!" is the seventh single by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 31 January 1983. Recorded at Blackwing Studios in December 1982, it is the first Depeche Mode single with Alan Wilder as an official band member; Wilder also co-wrote the B-side track "The Great Outdoors!" with Martin Gore. It is also one of the first Depeche Mode songs to feature guitar; according to Andy Fletcher, the guitar was processed through a synth and phased out of time to make it sound more interesting.
Gareth Jones is an English music producer and engineer notable for working with Depeche Mode, Einstürzende Neubauten, Wire and Erasure.
You and Me Both is the second and final studio album by English synth-pop duo Yazoo, released on 4 July 1983 in the United Kingdom by Mute Records and in North America by Sire Records. The album's title was an ironic reference to the fact that the duo had grown estranged from each other and recorded much of the album separately; they announced their split a few weeks before the album's release.
Under the Flag is the third studio album released on September 1 1982, by experimental electronic artist Fad Gadget. It was recorded at Blackwing Studios, All Hallows Church, London. The album was produced by Fad Gadget and John Fryer.
Gag is the fourth and final studio album released by Fad Gadget on 1 February 1984 on Mute Records. The album was produced by Gareth Jones, who is known for working with acts such as Depeche Mode and Erasure, both being fellow Mute artists. It would also be the last album released under the name Fad Gadget, due to Frank Tovey wishing to release under his real name.
"Only You" is a song by English synth-pop duo Yazoo. It was written by member Vince Clarke, while he was still with Depeche Mode, but recorded in 1982 after he formed Yazoo with Alison Moyet. It was released as Yazoo's first single on 15 March 1982 in the United Kingdom, taken from their first album, Upstairs at Eric's (1982), and became an instant success on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number two on 16 May 1982. It would also reach the top 10 in neighbouring Ireland as well as Australia. In the US, "Only You" was released as the band's second single in November 1982 and charted at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also made the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
Robert Marlow was an English synth-pop singer, songwriter and musician.
Clan of Xymox is the debut studio album by Dutch dark wave band Clan of Xymox, released 1 July 1985 by 4AD.
Stephen John Pearce, commonly known as Stevo, is a British record producer and music industry executive, best known as the owner of indie record label Some Bizzare Records.
Daniel Otto Joachim Miller is a British music producer and founder of Mute Records.
Reset Records was a British record company founded in 1983 by Vince Clarke and Eric Radcliffe.
