EMI Plans to Revitalize, Not Sell, Abbey Road Studios

Last week Beatles fans got the unsettling news that EMI had plans to sell off Abbey Road Studios to raise money for its cash-strapped parent company, Terra Firma. After rockers and fans protested the decision, the label announced this weekend that it will instead focus on revitalizing the studio, Reuters reports. "EMI confirms that it is holding preliminary discussions for the revitalization of Abbey Road with interested and appropriate third parties," the company said in a statement. "We believe that Abbey Road should remain in EMI's ownership."

Artists including Paul McCartney lobbied against the sale of Abbey Road Studios, while Andrew Lloyd Webber, who recorded several of his musicals at the studio, showed interest in purchasing it. However, EMI revealed they're instead considering having the location listed by the preservation body English Heritage, which would make a sale of the studio difficult because of its historical significance. "When Terra Firma acquired EMI in 2007, it made the preservation of Abbey Road a priority," EMI said.

In addition to being the namesake studio of the Beatles' Abbey Road and a tourist Mecca for all Fab Four fans, albums like Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, Radiohead's Kid A, Oasis' Be Here Now and every Beatles LP have all been either recorded or mastered at the famed studios. Its crosswalk has also inspired many homage photos, including one memorable cover of Rolling Stone.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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