Joan Armatrading

I've asked Joan a question on a Guardian newspaper webchat and she has just replied.
I'm almost famous now !


https://www.theguardian.com/music/live/ ... 3#comments

[WeeMann]

Nice one.

Thanks
So Don't Lose your Head was done at the Townhouse

As was most (though not all) of the 'Highlander' stuff. The Town House was sort of their home at the time, as Musicland had been for the previous five years or so.

[Kes]

I think half the album was co-produced by Mack, and the other half by David Richards, so that probably has a lot to do with which studios they used for which song.

All in all, IIRC, some bits of the album were done at Chiswick Townhouse, some at Mountain, Montreux, some at Musicland, Munich, and One Vision was done at Maison Rouge, Fulham, and Musicland, Munich.

Yes and no... it's not like Dave couldn't enter West Germany or Mack couldn't enter Switzerland. As far as it's been documented:

- One Vision: Started off in Munich, finished in London.
- A Kind of Magic: Demo in Munich, film version in London, album/single version (partly) in Montreux.
- One Year of Love & Pain Is So Close to Pleasure: London. Perhaps mixed in Munich, though.
- Friends Will Be Friends: Indeed, that one could've been anywhere. Judging by the piano sound, I'd guess Munich.
- Who Wants to Live Forever: London (Queen bits at The Town House, orchestra at EMI Studios on Abbey Road).
- Gimme the Prize: London.
- Don't Lose Your Head: London.
- Princes of the Universe: London... perhaps mixed in Munich as well, but mostly recorded in London.

[Kes]

I wasn't suggesting that any particular co-producer was imprisoned in any particular country, but it's likely relevant that one of them did live in Munich, and the other in Montreux. I think as regards which co-producer was used was possibly more an issue of when it was recorded, rather than where, as I believe that somewhere around that time there was a crossover from predominantly using one, as the lead engineer, and then changing over to the other. The three proper Queen studio albums released before AKOM, were co-produced by Mack, the three after, by David Richards, leading me to believe that AKOM was where they went from preferring one to the other. Might have just been because the person had links to a particular studio though, as they stopped using Musicland soon after AKOM.

I remember an interview with Mack where he stated that Freddie chose not to work with him in the later years because as a very close friend he didn’t want Mack to live with him seeing his illness and subsequent deterioration.

Dave'd been working with Rog (commuting between Munich and Montreux) since 1980, so it was a gradual progression. Mack did some stuff in Montreux in 1981. So yes, DR was chiefly affiliated with Mountain and RM with Musicland, but they'd occasionally switch and/or work together. And they'd both fly to London on a semi-regular basis.