10. LOCOMOTIV GT 1983

 

Confessions of a Studio Rat

One mans journey through a world of recording studios and musicians in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s – without a net!

BUDAPEST (1983?): I got a call one
day from a producer friend of mine named Pete with whom I was doing a fair bit of work. Pete had been asked by EMI Records if he would be interested in travelling out to Budapest, Hungary to record one of the country’s most famous bands, called Locomotiv GT. He asked me if I’d like to join him for the project. Of course, I jumped at the chance- what an adventure!

The band were hugely popular behind the Iron Curtain, (they were described to me as “Eastern Europe’s Led Zeppelin!”). It would be the band’s 10^th album, so it was considered a special one, justifying bringing in an English production team.

Remember, this was 1983, before the Berlin Wall came down. Budapest is architecturally a beautiful city, but the economy was clearly not strong, and poverty was evident everywhere. Things were pretty austere over there. People were driving what looked to my western eyes as jalopies, which I was told had to be ordered and would take several years to be delivered. In fact, the leader of the band drove around Budapest in a Volvo station wagon- several years old. Because it was so rare, the only one of it’s type, he was recognized everywhere he drove. Shouts of greeting and waves from the public; it was as if John Lennon’s yellow Rolls Royce was rolling through town.

The studio was, to us, a whole ‘nother trip. I got the impression that this was the recording Mothership. Remember, the business was State-owned, run entirely be the government and very strictly controlled.  There was 100 per cent employment. It was mandatory to have a job, so I discovered on day one that instead of having the usual one assistant engineer, I had ten! I was expected to not touch any of the microphones or studio gear. I would issue orders to the designated crew member for that function: One guy to put up a chair, another to move a mic stand, etc. It was madness, and very uncomfortable to have this line of ten guys all with matching long beards standing at attention at the back of the control room, awaiting my orders.

Fortunately for us, the band’s manager was quite a well known figure in the Hungarian music business, and he was on-site with us right from the beginning. Because this project was such a “big deal” for the government-run industry we were allowed certain leeway to bend some of the rules. The first rule we insisted upon was the concept of “Closed Sessions”. No persons not directly involved on the project were allow into the studio. That put an end to the rubber-necking we were getting from the rest of the employees in the  building. Next, I selected one of my erstwhile assistants to remain, and told the others (through a translator of course) that they were not needed for the project. They were all reassigned and the control room suddenly became a lot less crowded.

(There was a price to pay for that manoeuvre. Not long after I had downsized the workforce, we were working away recording a vocal track. Suddenly the door burst open, and a man in a suit with a microphone entered, followed by a camera crew, numerous assistants and of course, a translator. After exchanging pleasantries, the microphone was thrust into my face and the question was asked “Why don’t you like the Hungarian workers” Why did you ask them to leave the room?” Instant international incident, I’m thinking. I’d love to see the video of that interview, as Pete and I must’ve done the tap dance of the century!)

There was a commissary downstairs where employees would go on their breaks to have a coffee from great big Russian samovars lined up on the counter. It was forbidden to drink coffee anywhere in the building except in this commissary. Pete and I were classic caffeine junkies and we realized instantly this would not work for us. After what I can only presume were intense negotiations between the bands manager and the head of the record label, a samovar of coffee took up residence in the control room.

Let me talk about the control room (Finally, you say…). I suppose the decision was made at the highest levels that Hungary needed to have a state-of-the art recording facility to rival the industry standard of the time. The head of the recording facility was sent to Criteria Recording Studios in Florida to see what they had going on, and basically made a shopping list. This resulted in a big MCI console and two Ampex ATR-100 24 track machines. I can’t say much about the acoustics or the décor, I guess they locals figured they could handle that part by themselves. Serviceable is the word that springs to mind. What was missing, and really was a wrinkle for us was razor blades for editing, 2” white leader tape, and of all things, something to write on the console with, like a grease pencil or masking tape and markers! I couldn’t believe how something so small and insignificant could become such a pain. In the end, someone from EMI Records in London was dispatched to Budapest to bring us the required supplies! I’m not making this up!