Maida Vale to be made into executive flats?

[ken garner]

I can reassure friends that what I write in my concluding chapter 
about this plan will hardly be touching, except perhaps in the sense 
of 'baseball bat' and 'nuts'. They have tried to do this before, but 
as soon as someone - normally a network controller - points out or 
asks 'where exactly am I supposed to get my live music done?', the 
plan has collapsed. On the one hand, technology  and access to 
recording has changed, and Radio 1 (and 2) do not need to do 7 or 8 
12 hour pre-rec sessions every week to fulfil their obligations to 
new musicians and musical activities; and while there is a clear case 
for MV1 (where else is the BBC Symphony Orchestra going to find a big 
enough space it can just use all year? How much would it cost to new 
build such a space elsewhere?), 3 (jazz, natural acoustic, sense of 
occasion, etc) and 4 (nuff said), it is a bit harder to justify the 
other studios; and the pricing / real costing of MV out to the 
networks since the Birt era of producer choice and the internal 
market has caused some ghastly internal problems requiring innovative 
solutions - from 2000 onwards, R1 simply block booked MV4 for an 
entire year, and subcontracted some days to other networks, and this 
was the only way they could afford it!

But on the other hand Rob's point is well made, the excuse given is 
clearly nonsense, Maida Vale is quite capable of coping with almost 
anything, thanks to its size and the creativity of BBC engineers. 
Aside from the economics, there is course the cultural, historical 
and public service issue: the BBC has a legacy it is politically 
obliged to honour. Would they remove the eric gill statue from above 
the entrance to broadcasting house? Of course not. But it's ok to 
smash up the place where the BBC has helped make British musical 
history for 70 years. I  happen to know that the vast new extension 
being built in the big hole next to BH includes NO MUSIC STUDIOS OF 
ANY KIND - which is currently of some concern to Radio 3 and Radio 2. 
I think we have not heard the last of this story...


it was a roller skating rink, built in 1909, by the way

ken

ps. Rob, I'm sure you've told me before, but remind me who you did a 
session with, sorry!

--- In peel@yahoogroups.com, RobF <robfleay@...> wrote:
>
> > Interesting how a building now considered "not suitable 
> > for the demands of the 21st-century digital age" has been 
> > perfectly able to host so many magic Peel recordings by 
> > electronic artists, both live and recorded.
> 
> I'm sure anyone who has ever been to Maida Vale knows what they are 
REALLY saying.
> 
> The place is huge and has multiple studios - from the enormous MV1 
where the BBC Symphony Orchestra were rehearsing while we were 
recording a session in MV4 - a much smaller, cosier arrangement.
> 
> It was never built as a recording studio complex - I think it was 
originally an ice rink or something, and the BBC bought it and 
converted it to studios.
> 
> Essentially they are saying is that it's way too big and in far too 
much of a desirable area for it to NOT be worth selling the land.
> 
> They can sell the land for a fortune and purpose-build some new 
studios in a cheaper out of town location. And of course it will be 
utterly characterless.
> 
> It's interesting that the news comes out now - just in time for Ken 
to write a touching epilogue to his Peel Sessions book!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It wou
> 
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