The Manor Studio

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The Manor Studio (aka The Manor) was a recording studio in the manor house at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. It was the first residential recording studio in the UK.

The manor house was owned by Richard Branson and used as a recording studio for Virgin Records, although artists signed to other labels also used the studios.

Albums recorded here include, perhaps most famously, Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield during 1972–73 when Oldfield was given a week to record the album at the studio. The Bonzo Dog Band were recording there immediately afterwards, hence the inclusion of vocals by Viv Stanshall, the lead singer of that band^[1].

In April 1995, after the takeover of Virgin Records by EMI, The Manor Studio was closed as a recording studio by EMI.

[edit] Studio facilities

The facilities were advertised as follows, as of 1973^[2]:

16/8/4 track studio 60 minutes from London 100 acre grounds Resident engineers Resident cooks Room for producers, wives, girl friends, roadies Day and Night recording Free food and beds Good rates etc

16 Track Ampex 20 Channel desk Equalization Dolby noise reduction Quadrophonic monitoring Phasing facilities Echo facilities: tapes/plates/springs/drums Grand piano Room for 40 musicians etc

[edit] Partial list of albums recorded at The Manor

• Let's Make Up and Be Friendly (1971-1972) - The Bonzo Dog Band - known as the first band to enter the finished studio in November 1971.
• The Academy in Peril (1972) - John Cale
• Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh (1972 - 1973) - Magma
• Tubular Bells (September 1972 - March 1973) — Mike Oldfield
• Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead (1973) - Vivian Stanshall
• Flying Teapot (1973) - Gong
• Double Diamond (1973) — If
• Leg End (May 1973) — Henry Cow
• Faust IV (June 1973) — Faust
• Spring Suite (July 1973) — McKendree Spring
• October (1973) — Claire Hamill
• You (1974) - Gong
• Unrest (February – March 1974) — Henry Cow
• Ghosts (July-September 1974) Strawbs
• Slapp Happy (1974) — Slapp Happy
• Local Lads Make Good (1975) - Supercharge
• Deepcuts (spring/summer 1976) Strawbs
• White Music (October 1977) - XTC
• Gene Simmons (April 1978) - Gene Simmons
• Frenzy (November – December 1978) — Split Enz
• Metro Music (August 1979) - Martha and the Muffins
• Flowers of Romance (October 1980) - Public Image Ltd.
• The Nature of the Beast (1981) - April Wine
• English Settlement (October – November 1981) - XTC
• All Fall Down (March 1982) — The Sound
• Mummer (September - December 1982) - XTC
• Head First (1983) - Uriah Heep
• Born Again (1983) — Black Sabbath
• The Swing (1984) - INXS
• Power Windows (1985) - Rush
• Electric (1986) — The Cult
• Wild in the Streets (1987) - Helix
• Hold Your Fire (1987) - Rush
• Trash the Planet (1989) - Spy vs Spy
• Wish (1992) - The Cure
• The Ethereal Mirror (1993) - Cathederal
• Grand Prix (September-October 1994) - Teenage Fanclub
• The Bends (1995) - Radiohead
• "All Change" (1995) - Cast -The last band to record at the studio

[edit] References

1. ^ Tubular Bells information
2. ^ Notes in 25th Anniversary Edition of Tubular Bells, 1998

Coordinates: 51°50′37.66″N, 1°18′26.09″W