The Great Stockport Bake-off - unearthing buried musical treasure - 10cc

[cyrano]

In December 2020, four intrepid 10cc fans set out to unearth buried treasure. They have in their possession three mysterious studio tapes by this great and underrated 1970s band.  This reflexive documentary tells the exciting story of how they restore these unique and rare tapes - by baking them in a food dehydrator! One tape in particular, purporting to be a TV advert for make-up giant Revlon, has never been heard outside Strawberry Studios in Stockport. The adventure ends in a vintage recording studio in Salford, near Manchester, where they'll attempt to play the tapes.  But will their first steps into the dark art of tape baking be a total disaster?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhjl6kibE_s

 

[TwentyTrees]

Awesome, thanks! Will watch this later. Right up my alley, my Dad worked out of Strawberry - though unfortunately some years after it had ceased being a recording studio.

 

[groselicain]

Thank you so much, I was unaware of this. Strawberry and 10cc are still so under-appreciated.

I just spent the better part of last week trying to track down information on the desk at Strawberry South. I know it was a Formula Sound, and a little similar to the Helios at the original Strawberry in that it was a custom job containing a lot of odds and ends. Other than some references to API and Helios, I've never come across much more. Despite being branded 5cc by many at the time, Deceptive Bends is such a seminal record for me and the sounds are hard to beat.

 

[cyrano]

I'm a bit of a 10CC fan, so it showed up on my YT list. And I like watching the gear, so thanks for the info that it was a Formula Sound. Never heard of those!

One of the reasons I'm a fan, is because 10CC recordings always sounded good, even on a mediocre Hifi system.

 

[groselicain]

I'm a bit of a 10CC fan, so it showed up on my YT list. And I like watching the gear, so thanks for the info that it was a Formula Sound. Never heard of those!

One of the reasons I'm a fan, is because 10CC recordings always sounded good, even on a mediocre Hifi system.

Talk about sounding good—when they start playing the isolated tracks toward the end for Kevin and Graham to hear, I was stunned. Just beautiful sounds.

And you're welcome for the bit about Formula Sound! As I said, there's not much in the way of information on Formula Sound—other than their current iteration that makes DJ equipment. In fact, if you visit their website you'll find only a quick mention of the gear they made in the 70s. However, I found this article over on the Strawberry North website that gives you a better idea of what they were doing.

Stockport Advertiser
26th February 1981

SOUNDING OFF FROM STOCKPORT

Whenever he is on a worldwide tour, Demis Roussos uses a mobile sound system specially designed and made for him on the top floor of a town-centre building in Stockport. Weighing four tonnes, it is the biggest of its kind built here and cost £70,000. The Syd Lawrence Orchestra, The Fivepenny Piece and 10cc own sound systems which also originated in Stockport.

The firm which produced it all is Formula Sound which is housed in the same building on Waterloo Road as the Strawberry Recording Studios - another of their customers.

It is just over nine years since Tony Cockell, a recording engineer, founded Formula Sound. He built his first system in his spare time in the garage of his home in Offerton. Tony, originally a TV and electronics engineer, who also plays the guitar, realised what was needed by artisties, groups, orchestras and DJs. He and a colleague, Ric Dixon of Bramhall, who is still a director of the company but who is now in artist-management, formed themselves into Formula Sound Limited.

Tony went into the business full time, designing and building professional sound systems for mobile use and permanent installations. He was joined by his wife, Sandra, also a director, who initially worked with other part-timers on the assembly benches, but is now engaged full time in administrative work.

What is being done, high up on the third floor of 3 Waterloo Road, is an eye-opener and in many ways unexpected. Here Formula Sound's light engineering department, run by Steve Crossley, does its own metal work on centre lathes and milling machines. The firm designs their own printed circuits and produces any specialised equipment to meet clients' requirements.

Local disco installations created here include those at Quaffers Country Club, Bredbury; the Pinewood Hotel, Handforth: Carriages, Droylsden; Sidings, Alderley; and Tramtracks, Royton. A complete sound system is being installed at present at Rockfords in Liverpool.

Apart from Strawberry Studios, others using Formula Sound equipment are the Revolution Studios, Cheadle Hulme; Bootlegs in Reddish; Pluto Studios, Manchester and Cargo in Rochdale.

Sound systems have been exported to Spain and Holland and their eyes are on the American market. Tony Cockell and his colleagues are now looking into the future. Apart from manufacturing their own unique half octave graphic equaliser-analyser which is very popular here and abroad, there will be in production soon a compact modular mixing system particularly aimed at the high-quality disco market, but verastile enough for many other users. They are now building a new demonstration lounge which will allow clients to see and hear the full range of Formula Sound products.

Keith (SSLtech) has posted in the past over at the old REP forums about Strawberry North and South, the Helios desks, and Formula Sound. I wish he'd chime in over here but I just noticed that he hasn't been on the forum since the middle of December.

 

[cyrano]

I sure hope Keith's OK and will drop in on occasion.

Thanks again for that 1981 article. There's a lot of interesting gear Google's never heard about. Even from known brands.

My favorites in music have always been determined by good sound. It's funny Demis Roussos comes up. I always liked his music, despite it being on the "no, please, NO" list of most of my friends back in the time

 

[TwentyTrees]

Thought of this thread when driving through Stockport today! Such an unassuming building from the front, but by god did they make some magic noises in there.

 

[Tubetec]

Speaking of Demis Roussos , its not that well known he and a few friends (including Vangelis) made a prog rock album in the early 70's ,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/666_(Aphrodite's_Child_album)well worth a listen .

 

[TwentyTrees]

Speaking of Demis Roussos , its not that well known he and a few friends (including Vangelis) made a prog rock album in the early 70's ,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/666_(Aphrodite's_Child_album)well worth a listen .

Thanks - my mate recommended that a couple of years ago but I forgot to write down the details. Now I know!

 

[Winston OBoogie]

I played on a few sessions at Strawberry in the 1980's. By then it wasn't the only game in town as far as good Manchester studios, but it was always cool to be recording there.

 

[TwentyTrees]

I played on a few sessions at Strawberry in the 1980's. By then it wasn't the only game in town as far as good Manchester studios, but it was always cool to be recording there.

Very cool! Can you point us to recordings?

 

[groselicain]

Very cool! Can you point us to recordings?

I second this! The more I find out about DJH, the more I'd love to sit down with him just to hear the stories.

 

[Winston OBoogie]

Haha, well I think the only things I did there were demo's. Granted some were pre-production recordings and a few things no doubt made it to vinyl.

Probably nobody you'd have heard of anyway, maybe Sad Cafe? Did a few tracks with 3 of the members... Other bits and bobs. I'd have to
look for and listen to any recordings to see.

I was doing sessions as a piano/keys player around Manchester from '83 and honestly don't remember half the crap I played on, most of it not my cup o' tea. By 1986 I was mostly working with just one band that had a decent deal with Atlantic so I stopped doing the other stuff.

I do remember that the desk at Strawberry then wasn't the red one now in Canada. I remember a black desk - might also have been Helios, thinking it was wraparound style? - but I also have a memory of going there one time a little later and it was an Amek or something like that.

 

[groselicain]

I do remember that the desk at Strawberry then wasn't the red one now in Canada. I remember a black desk - might also have been Helios, thinking it was wraparound style? - but I also have a memory of going there one time a little later and it was an Amek or something like that.

Any chance it was a Formula Sound? I know at least Strawberry North had one and it was black, but there may have been a second one.

 

[Winston OBoogie]

Any chance it was a Formula Sound? I know at least Strawberry North had one and it was black, but there may have been a second one.

Ha! Looks to be so yes.


This site: https://www.helios-electronics.org/console-project shows Helios job number 1228 as a 26:16 for Strawberry North but indicates that Helios had closed down by then so probably not delivered.

And this site: Strawberry North - ... shows the picture below.
This pic is def. Strawberry North in Stockport, I recognise that rock wall.