Trident Studios in St Anne's Court, and the alley today
A basement studio down a narrow Soho alley, where Hey Jude, Life on Mars? and Queen's first albums took shape.
By Only Soho Editorial
Between Dean Street and Wardour Street, a kinked pedestrian alley leads to one of the great addresses in British recording. 17 St Anne's Court, Soho, W1F 0BQ, was home to Trident Studios from 1968 to 1981. Come for the plaque, stay for the walk.
How Trident began
The studio was built in 1967 by Norman Sheffield, drummer of the Hunters, and his brother Barry. Retro Recording says it was built in a basement. The Sheffields also ran tape duplication, an early business for the firm.
Trident's pull was technology. It was among the first UK studios to install an 8-track machine, at a time when Abbey Road still had 4-track, and it used Dolby noise reduction. Beatles in London notes that new kit went into use as soon as it was plugged in, where Abbey Road engineers tested equipment for months. Manfred Mann's "My Name is Jack", from March 1968, helped launch the reputation.
The studio was also known for its Bechstein piano, over 100 years old according to Free Tours by Foot.
The Beatles, Bowie and Queen
The Beatles. They began the "Hey Jude" sessions at Trident on 31 July 1968, one of the few times they recorded away from EMI's Abbey Road. Yahoo describes the studio as "down a narrow alleyway". Part of the White Album was cut here too: Free Tours by Foot lists "Dear Prudence", "Honey Pie", "Savoy Truffle", "Martha My Dear" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".
David Bowie. Hunky Dory was recorded at Trident between 8 June and 6 August 1971, with Ken Scott producing, and released on 17 December 1971. "Life on Mars?" was recorded there on 6 August 1971. Wikipedia's Trident entry also lists The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Rick Wakeman, the in-house session keyboardist, plays on "Life on Mars?" and "Changes". Bowie later returned to record vocals for Goldie's "Truth".
Queen. Trident's Neptune Productions signed Queen to a recording, publishing and management agreement on 1 November 1972. Their first sessions were off-peak, hours Roger Taylor later called "gold dust". Wikipedia lists Queen, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack (recorded 7 July to 22 October 1974, partly at Trident). For A Night at the Opera, Trident was used only for "God Save the Queen". "Bohemian Rhapsody" was not made here. The band split from Trident in 1975 after lengthy negotiations.
Who else came through
- Elton John, for his second album, Elton John, including "Your Song"
- Lou Reed, for Transformer
- Carly Simon, for No Secrets
- Genesis, Harry Nilsson and Peter Gabriel, listed by Retro Recording
The alley today
St Anne's Court is a pedestrian way of irregular plan. Survey of London says several original houses survive in the eastern range, mostly on the south side, while the western range has been rebuilt at various times. Parts date to the late 17th century. The pronounced kink midway is a legacy of the field boundaries between the farm estates on which Soho was built.
In 1864 to 1866, William Burges designed model lodgings here for Lackland Mackintosh Rate: thirty lodging rooms for artisans, since demolished. In the 1970s the alley housed the sci-fi bookshop Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed, and in the 1980s a basement was home to Shades Records, which specialised in extreme metal.
The marker to look for is the blue plaque outside 17 St Anne's Court, unveiled on 15 June 2017 as a BBC Music Day plaque from BBC Local Radio and the British Plaque Trust, honouring Bowie. It was unveiled by singer Billy Bragg and Bowie's lifelong friend George Underwood, the painter and designer who designed some of his album covers.
How to do it
Treat it as a street-level look. Enter from Dean Street or Wardour Street, find the plaque, and walk the kink in the alley. The nearest station is Tottenham Court Road, about 0.18 miles away. Go in the early evening, when the light is low and the alley is quiet, and play Hunky Dory on the way in: "Life on Mars?" is the track to have in your ears at the plaque.
Audio and walking tours cover the site too, including Voicemap's Rock 'n' Roll London tour and Free Tours by Foot's Rock N' Roll Tour of London.
Read more on the studio at Wikipedia's Trident Studios entry, the Beatles story at Beatles in London, the alley's layout in Survey of London, and the plaque at Music Week.
