David Goggin – författare

The inside story of Record Plant studios – the real ‘Hotel California’ – that reveals how the greatest music of the seventies was recorded and why the artists checked out but rarely left. Strap yourself in and take a helter-skelter ride through more than a decade’s worth of high drama, hedonism, high tech and musical genius as told by the insiders at the heart of Record Plant studios, one of the most prolific recording factories of all time, founded in 1968 by charismatic audio engineer Gary Kellgren and ace businessman Chris Stone. In the 1970s, Record Plant was everywhere there was music. In 1976 alone, the studios produced three No. 1 albums: Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key Of Life, The Eagles’ Hotel California and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. Based on the memoirs and archives of Chris Stone, as well as interviews with over 100 studio employees, music producers and recording artists, Buzz Me In tells the incredible story of Record Plant’s evolution and the making of more than a decade’s worth of Gold and Platinum albums, tape by tape. Illustrated throughout with behind-the-scenes images, archive photos of artists recording and performing live and album cover art, this revelatory and extensively researched book explores and celebrates the way the studios were designed to cater to every rock’n’roller’s fancy. From the living-room-style studio in New York, where Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland was recorded and where John Lennon later encamped, to the VIP clubhouse studio in Los Angeles where Stevie Wonder produced his classic hits, and the destination recording venue in Sausalito where Sly Stone, Bob Marley and Fleetwood Mac holed up, each studio location had its own inherent character – but all showcased the founders’ proven formula of combining state-of-the-art audio, fantasy bedrooms and group Jacuzzis with sex, drugs and celebrity jams. Was Record Plant ‘the real Hotel California’?

This book is the first real inside look at the business of professional audio recording, which fuels a multibillion dollar global music industry. Industry pioneer Chris Stone, founder of the legendary Record Plant, provides hard-earned business strategies, guidelines, and advice on every aspect of launching and managing a professional audio recording business. This book is for every audio profit center - from the project studio in the garage to the multi-room diversified recording facility. With 30 years of practical business experience, Mr. Stone reveals the secrets of profitable survival in the pro audio world of today and tomorrow.Why be a player in the professional audio recording industry? What is the attraction and potential payoff? How big an operation are you contemplating? To succeed, one must categorize the various types and sizes of pro audio facilities and their customer bases. It is also essential to understand creative management, marketing, promotion, and the modern economics of pro audio. The professional of tomorrow anticipates recording for new media and is prepared for diversification. All of these issues and more are addressed in this book.