COVENTRY Music Museum curator Pete Chambers BEM writes for the Observer.
Cabin Studios gets a plaque
Cabin Studios was based on the London Road and through the 1980s and the 90s was a hive of musical activity.
Musician Cary Lord and daughter of the studio owner Jon Lord has commissioned her own ‘blue plaque’ and this is now on the outside of what used to be Cabin Studio.
Paul Sampson was the in-house producer there, working with the likes of Sonic Boom, The Primitives, Catatonia, Attrition even Black Sabbath axe-man Tony Iommi has recorded here. It was also where the studio’s own record label Sonar Records was based.
Working out of Cov’s famous Cabin Studios, Sonar Records’ rationale barked up the same tree as Stiff records. That was to deliver to those sharp enough to listen, a broad spectrum of music – be it the rock of Gdansk or Armalite, the velvet-Indie of The Furious Apples or the just plain off-the-wall gems from the Courtiers Of Fashion and Crokodile Tears.
Sonar was the brainchild of Cabin Studio guru Jon Lord and his daughter Cary.
They and the likes of producer Paul Sampson and chief ‘Crok’ Christopher Sidwell helped make the label a reality and gave many a fledgling band the vision of the rock ‘n’ roll dream, in the shape of their very own seven-inch vinyl singles.
Cary said of the plaque: “A lot has changed since we closed Cabin in 2010 and the building has now been redeveloped.
“I thought this was a nice way to remember the good times.”
It was a place I regularly visited as a fledgling music journalist, eager to find out who the latest band was to record there.
Indeed, my own band (that I managed) Terminal Tears recorded there too.
So, it’s wonderful to see that this place of so much musical history has now gained a plaque.
More local studios should have their own plaques.
King Of The Alps – Time Goes So Slow
King Of The Alps have been punctuating the local music scene with their high calibre music for a number of years now.
It’s always a joy to hear a new offering from this very creative unit, and their latest song ‘Time Goes So Slow’ doesn’t disappoint being so delicate and beautiful.
The vocals blend perfectly, laid over a melancholy guitar and the sweet rumblings of the upright double bass.
Scrapyard Wilson
It was great to welcome rising local star Scrapyard Wilson to the Coventry Music Museum last Friday along with his mentor Dutch Van Spall of Big Help Music.
Scrapyard’s new single ‘The Irishman’, tells the tale of the said Irishman and his arrival in Coventry and his consequent life story.
It’s a refreshing change to the ubiquitous mainstream pop and rock ballads that often fill our ears.
He said of the new single: “The Irishman is doing well and creating lots of interest among the right people, we’re very happy with its progress.”
It’s safe to say Mr Wilson definitely has his own unique vocal style.
Head over to Spotify and search for Scrapyard Wilson to find out what all the fuss is about.
