9. THIN LIZZY

 

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!

LONDON (1982)

So, I’m booked to work on a Saturday in studio-2 at Marcus Music. I’m doing what we referred to as a “tape swap” with Thin Lizzy. Here’s some background info for those that may need it. There used to be a very popular TV show on BBC television called Top Of The Pops. The show was a big deal because it featured a selection of the latest bands playing their latest hits, Live in front of a teenage audience. Hosted by a cadre of top jocks from BBC Radio 1, it was massively popular. I remember going to a taping of the program once and was amused to watch the chaos as the same small group of teens was unceremoniously shuffled from stage to stage by the floor managers as the acts changed over. At any rate, the bands are supposed to be playing LIVE. The  great secret is, they very seldom were. They were performing to a backing track recorded earlier in front of an official from the British Musicians Union. Often the vocals were omitted, leaving the singers free to sing live on the broadcast, but for the most part the record was mimed. But that was cool with the Musician’s Union. The musicians had re-recorded their hit single in front of a Union inspector, and therefore that made it technically a live performance. But here’s where the rules and reality clash. Imagine the amount of effort and hours of work that went into creating and mixing that great hit record? In order to appear on TOTP, the band is expected to recreate that recording exactly, in about 4 hours, in front of a Union Inspector. -Not gonna happen! But everyone played the game, no one was any the wiser (at least for a time).

When Thin Lizzy appeared at Marcus Studios to record their backing track, the union inspector was already there waiting. The band arrived late, tired and clearly very hung over. I don’t know what they got up to the previous evening  but they could hardly speak. We did a cursory setup with everyone playing all together in the studio, and before long the track was completed. You can bet it bore little resemblance to the hit record they were promoting. (Don’t ask me what the song was, I don’t remember!) I did the mixdown and handed the finished mix to the inspector to take back to the BBC. This is where the tape swap occurs. I had already been given the “real” instrumental mix of the song, and put it into the Marcus Music box from the session we’d just completed. Off they all went. The TV show was to be taped later in the week, But the band was doing a sold-out gig at the Hammersmith Apollo that evening, and asked if I wanted to come along, see the show and go backstage. Of course, I jumped at the chance; this would be a fun night!

I turned up at the gig shortly before show time and checked in with the band backstage. “Where have you been, man? We’ve been trying to reach you”! It turned out the show was being recorded that night and the guy who was hired to engineer it fell ill. They were trying to find me to ask it I would be available to record the show, but the studio couldn’t locate me. They ended up getting someone else to do it. The look on my face must’ve been priceless.

After that news, my mind was so blown that I couldn’t handle the volume, crowds and general mayhem of the gig. My mate and I went across the street and spent the entire show in the pub. Much better. Got backstage after and joined in the victorious celebrations of the band for another great gig. For them.

 

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