OT: For Sale: Abbey Road Studios

[DirtyMartini]

Anyone wanna buy a historical landmark?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010 ... s-sale-emi

[ltwoman]

My guess is it's going to cost a wee more that the Police Concert photos that are being auctioned off. Decisions, decisions...

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Wow. The lot value alone would be $$$. It's in St. Johns Wood - super posh real estate, as our UKers can tell you...

[njperry]

I would be willing to pay more if I got the orginal tapes of what was made there.

Lots of incredibel music made there. Note just most of the Beatles catalog but also much of classic Pink Floyd and others recorded there.

[vespapod]

I say we all contribute and by it under Nutter, Inc. maybe stewart could help (hint)...turn it into a monster music museum and a tourist attraction

[smudge]

In the interests of protecting the investment capital of Nutter Inc, you should be aware this property is not in the 'posh' bit of St John's Wood. That said, it may well go for 'redevelopment'.

I'm gutted. I don't think that music-related buildings should be preserved in aspic - better to tear it down than put a blue plaque on it and turn it into apartments - but that address says 'music' in countless languages around the world, and not just because of The Beatles. It should still be doing that 50 years from now.

Wealthy musicians, how about buying this and turning it into a resource for colleagues?

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Just read in the linked article they repaint the fence outside once a month to cover over all the Beatles graffiti left there.

Bummer, some of it was pretty neat when we went by back in September. We met fans from Yugoslavia & Japan in the first couple minutes as we left our regards...

A passerby told us the locality had been thinking about shutting down the Road itself for a couple hours a day in order to allow fans to take photos in the famous crosswalk without getting murdered. Might be a good idea; we had a close call!

(@smudge: neighborhood looked good to me! but then London in general is pretty fab...)

[zilboy]

What if one could contribute a modest amount, then become a co-owner? It could be like buying a chunk of the rainforest. I betcha EMI's debt could be wiped out.

[conroy]

I bought a Mega Millions ticket on my way home from work tonight of which I would gladly contribute a sum should I win the jackpot tonight.

[njperry]

Now EMI is saying Abbey Road isn't for sale.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/0 ... tml?hpt=T2

Just as well since I hadn't been able to secure the funds yet.

[The Pullet Surprise]

I don't think that music-related buildings should be preserved in aspic - better to tear it down than put a blue plaque on it and turn it into apartments - but that address says 'music' in countless languages around the world, and not just because of The Beatles. It should still be doing that 50 years from now.

You wouldn't want this...



...to happen to a genuine piece of music history. Stax is to American soul music what Abbey Road is to The Beatles.

(Stax has done a great job in reclaiming the lot and rebuilding in the same space. But what was allowed to happen to that building - and for some years, the label - was heart-breakingly criminal.)

[thedaner]

New developments this morning:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35538127/ns ... media_biz/

At least the building can't be altered w/o government permission.

I've been secretly hoping that Sir Paul would step in and buy the whole thing. He wouldn't own the Beatles music but he'd own the place where all of it was made...

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Hey, was listening to BeatlesRadio.com this morning (which is awesome - they have all kinds of weird rarities and covers and such) and noticed their website carries a live Abbey Road cam.

http://beatlesradio.com/AbbeyWebCam.aspx

You can see how busy that intersection is. I can't believe nobody's thought of closing it an hour or so a day and charging admission

[smudge]

When I lived near there that was one of my bus routes into town. The inevitable pause at the zebra crossing was always a fun part of the ride. Closing it to traffic for an hour would cause gridlock throughout north London. Personally, I think that's a good plan - do it every day and people won't get in their cars!