Yeah, the more I think about, the more the tour feels like a Prince tour should: enigmatic, a bit reclusive, and even a little cold. You really did feel his presence throughout the facility. It was actually a little spooky at times, but I appreciated that they didn't change it up too much. There is a little eating area off of the atrium, complete with couch and a TV that was playing a loop of a Minnesota Lynx WNBA game. The tour guide was great. He pointed out a lot of cool details. In Studio C, for instance, he mentioned that Prince used this room to shoot hoops.matedog wrote: ↑09 Aug 2021, 11:05amThat actually sounds pretty cool.WestwayKid wrote: ↑09 Aug 2021, 10:37amWe visited Paisley Park the other day. It's in a nondescript light industrial park and the building itself looks like it should belong to a small manufacturing company. We opted for the basic tour package ($45) as it felt the higher tier tours didn't offer enough to merit paying more. They continue to honor Prince's no photography rule, so cell phones are turned off and locked inside of small bags for the majority of the tour.
The tour starts out in the atrium, and it is apparently just as Prince left it (for the most part). There are a few side rooms devoted to individual albums, so for instance, there is a Controversy room, with a few pieces of period memorabilia. The coolest part was visiting Prince's personal office. It also looks largely untouched and there were a lot of cool details to take in (a stack of CD-R's on the desk and a roller suitcase parked against the wall, for instance).
Next, you visit Studio A, where you get to see a few of his instruments, including his famous LinnDrum drum machine and his Oberheim OB-X synth.
Then it is on to Studio C, which has been turned in the Purple Rain room. One of the things on display was the purple Yamaha electric piano that he used in the movie, complete with scuff marks from his boots.
The next thing was something they called the Beautiful Collection, which was a room with something like 300 of his custom shoes on display. The overarching theme was his interesting (and influence) on fashion. It was sort of interesting, but you can only look at so many shoes.
Then it was on to the Emancipation room, where they briefly touched on his battle with Warner Bros. One of his tour buses was still parked out back (would be cool if they added that to the tour). This room highlighted what was wrong with the entire tour: they presented a piece of his history, but didn't provide enough context to help you understand how it all came together to make him who he was.
We then entered the soundstage, which was breathtaking. He had a high school gym sized room where he could hold concerts, shoot videos, and so on. It was a really big space and they showed us a video highlighting some of his best performances. They let us have our phones back at this point, so I was able to grab a few photos.
The final stop was his nightclub. It was a very cool space. He would open it to the public and on certain nights he would come on down and hang out, often getting up on stage and playing. The tour guide said he wouldn't come down until 2 or 3 in the morning, at which point many people had already gone home, but for those lucky few who stuck it out they got to hang with the man himself.
It wasn't a bad tour. You did get a sense of his creative process. Everything was displayed well, but as I mentioned earlier, the story was disjointed and lacked context. I guess like the man, the tour was guarded in regards to how much was revealed about his life. There was nothing about his background or his influences. I did pick up bits and pieces, but not enough. That said, I'm glad we went. It had been on my list for years.
The Famous Recording Studios Thread
- WestwayKid
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Re: The Famous Recording Studios Thread
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble
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Guest1
Re: The Famous Recording Studios Thread
Not actually famous, but there's a hip hop recording studio in the basement of an asian massage parlor nearby my house. The place gets busted by cops every year or so for sexual trafficking but they just keep changing management. That's Quincy for ya.
- WestwayKid
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Re: The Famous Recording Studios Thread
Also, I’d be grateful to anyone who can tell me why my photos are always wonky when I post from my phone.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble
- Heston
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Re: The Famous Recording Studios Thread
I was in London a few weeks back and had to go and see this place when I was in Whitechapel. Would you believe this was the poky little building where the mighty Complete Control was recorded? This used to be Sarm East, and the vocals for Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody were also recorded here.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board
- Flex
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Re: The Famous Recording Studios Thread
Is that someone peeing on the door? Punk rock.Heston wrote: ↑29 Mar 2022, 12:29amI was in London a few weeks back and had to go and see this place when I was in Whitechapel. Would you believe this was the poky little building where the mighty Complete Control was recorded? This used to be Sarm East, and the vocals for Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody were also recorded here.
sarm east.jpg
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead
Pex Lives!
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead
Pex Lives!
- Heston
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Re: The Famous Recording Studios Thread
No, he was furtively entering the premises and probably thought I was the drug squad taking a pic.Flex wrote: ↑29 Mar 2022, 12:32amIs that someone peeing on the door? Punk rock.Heston wrote: ↑29 Mar 2022, 12:29amI was in London a few weeks back and had to go and see this place when I was in Whitechapel. Would you believe this was the poky little building where the mighty Complete Control was recorded? This used to be Sarm East, and the vocals for Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody were also recorded here.
sarm east.jpg
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board
- WestwayKid
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Re: The Famous Recording Studios Thread
I added Stax to my list this past week. Long been a fan of their music, which was a grittier, more soulful counterpoint to Motown. The original studio, which had been built in a converted movie theater, had been torn down at some point. The label itself went under in the mid-1970's. A replica was eventually rebuilt, combined with a museum (the Stax Museum of American Soul). The museum was great - just enough without being too much. There was a recreation of the original studio, complete with vintage instruments from Booker T. and the MG's (who were the Stax house band). Great gift shop. I bought way too much.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble
Re: The Famous Recording Studios Thread
That's interesting, I'd heard of Sarm East but had forgotten about it. I've been around that area near Brick Lane countless times, must have walked past it often.Heston wrote: ↑29 Mar 2022, 12:29amI was in London a few weeks back and had to go and see this place when I was in Whitechapel. Would you believe this was the poky little building where the mighty Complete Control was recorded? This used to be Sarm East, and the vocals for Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody were also recorded here.
sarm east.jpg
Sarm Studios (aka Sarm West, when both places were going) is much more well known, off Portobello Road - previously Basing Street studios, where Give em Enough Rope was recorded (also used by Bob Marley etc etc)
Ignore Alien Hors d'oeuvres
Re: The Famous Recording Studios Thread
If you didn't know, you'd never have guessed it. Just goes to show you really can't judge a book by the cover.Heston wrote: ↑29 Mar 2022, 12:29amI was in London a few weeks back and had to go and see this place when I was in Whitechapel. Would you believe this was the poky little building where the mighty Complete Control was recorded? This used to be Sarm East, and the vocals for Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody were also recorded here.
God, what a mess, on the ladder of success
Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung
Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung