News

EMI yesterday denied reports it’s looking to sell its iconic Abbey Road recording facility, where loads of renowned bands, including Pink Floyd, have recorded over the years.

Terra Firma, which has owned EMI since 2007, said in a release that it’s “holding preliminary discussions for the revitalization of Abbey Road with interested and appropriate third parties.”

However, it added, selling the studios to a third party is not its goal.

When news broke last week it caused a flurry of protests, including the formation of an organization calling itself Save Abbey Road Studios. The group, comprised of studio employees, musicians, and fans, put online a petition to build support to save the facility from redevelopment.

The petition is still online.

(Pictured: Floyd drummer Nick Mason and Rolling Stone Bill Wyman playing at Abbey Road Studios for the “All You Need Is Love” charity single last autumn. Read more about the single.)

A couple days ago, we reported the planned sale of EMI‘s legendary recording facilities on Abbey Road, London, to raise much-needed cash for the label’s parent company.

That same day a group of studio employees, musicians and fans formed Save Abbey Road Studios! to try and keep the property a working recording facility. The group’s fear: The facility will be converted into a museum of some sort, or, worse, luxury housing.

The group’s put a petition on its Web site that’s, so far, gathered 249 electronic signatures in support of its mission.

You can lend your support and sign the petition here.

Despite notoriety for once wearing a home-made T-shirt that read “I hate Pink Floyd,” Sex Pistol Johnny Lydon said in an interview published today he’d like to re-do the Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”

The Stool Pigeon interview, teased today at sister publication Web site The Quietus, quotes Lydon as saying, “You’d have to be daft as a brush to say you didn’t like Pink Floyd. They’ve done great stuff. They’ve done rubbish too. ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ I love.”

He goes on to say an invite was on the table for him to join Floyd — we presume he means Roger Waters — on stage at a 2008 Los Angeles gig.

Read the full excerpt at The Quietus.

The London studio where Pink Floyd recorded extensively — including sessions for “Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here” and many others — is up for sale.

The sale is expected to raise tens of thousand of pounds for Terra Firma, the investment firm that in 2007 bought the financially-troubled EMI record label, which owns the property.

Loads of bands have recorded at the facility, including, most famously, The Beatles, who named their 1969 album after the St. John’s Wood street where the studios are located.

By the way, be careful crossing the street. It’s busy.