Ongoing History Daily: Cool apartments with a music history

Back in the day, one of the more famous recording studios in London was Wessex Studios in Highbury. The building was built in the late 1800s as a chapel but was later turned into a recording studio. It was especially popular with 70s punk bands, including The Clash and the Pretenders. And it was at Wessex Studios that the Sex Pistols recorded their one-and-only album, Never Mind the Bollocks. It was also where the stompy bits of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” were recorded.

But with London real estate being so expensive—and with the downturn in demand for recording studios—the owners realized that the smart thing to do was close down the studio and turn it into apartments. Today, those apartments are one of the places people visit on punk rock tours of London.

The name of the complex? The Recording Studio.

The last post was on the time The Beastie Boys toured with Madonna.