Helios is the Unsung Story of the Sound of British Rock*
*Note all photographs are copyright of their respective holders, unless in public domain. They are being used on this page for educational purposes. If any copyright holder wishes that I remove a photo from this page, please email me at [email protected] and they will be taken down.
The advent of progressive pop and hard rock music at the end of the 1960s meant that the prior practice of being able to casually record an entire pop music record in one day were over. Musicians and recording engineers alike were looking for ways to capture what they were hearing in their heads, with a sonic clarity, yet musical sheen that would turn listeners' heads. Studios were busier than ever. Music was becoming aural fashion. It was the dawn of a golden age.
In London, the workhorse Olympic Studios needed recording equipment that would enable them to compete with Abbey Road Studios, made famous by the Beatles. They turned to their technical director, Dick Swettenham, a prior employee of Abbey Road, who told them he could personally build them a console that sounded more musical than anything yet heard, if only given the parts and budget to do so.
His suggestion was approved, and in short order a young American guitar player named Jimi Hendrix was one of the first to use the new, hand built console at the studio. Word of this revolutionary guitar player and the incredible studio sound he was getting spread like wildfire among the upper echelons of Britain's music community. The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin were both early users of the console and this new "British" sound of rock was well on its way to becoming legend. Talent helped of course - but there was something magical in the handmade sound of the Dick Swettenham recording console.
The advent of progressive pop and hard rock music at the end of the 1960s meant that the prior practice of being able to casually record an entire pop music record in one day were over. Musicians and recording engineers alike were looking for ways to capture what they were hearing in their heads, with a sonic clarity, yet musical sheen that would turn listeners' heads. Studios were busier than ever. Music was becoming aural fashion. It was the dawn of a golden age.
In London, the workhorse Olympic Studios needed recording equipment that would enable them to compete with Abbey Road Studios, made famous by the Beatles. They turned to their technical director, Dick Swettenham, a prior employee of Abbey Road, who told them he could personally build them a console that sounded more musical than anything yet heard, if only given the parts and budget to do so.
His suggestion was approved, and in short order a young American guitar player named Jimi Hendrix was one of the first to use the new, hand built console at the studio. Word of this revolutionary guitar player and the incredible studio sound he was getting spread like wildfire among the upper echelons of Britain's music community. The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin were both early users of the console and this new "British" sound of rock was well on its way to becoming legend. Talent helped of course - but there was something magical in the handmade sound of the Dick Swettenham recording console.
Elsewhere in London, Chris Blackwell of Island Studios, owner of Island Records, wanted a Dick Swettenham built console, but he could not legally breach Olympic's employer relationship with Swettenham. Blackwell decided the only way he would get consoles for his studios was to invest money and enable Swettenham to leave Olympic and launch his own independent company. Thus the Helios was born.
From 1969-1978, Helios, operated as a boutique company, building around 125 custom recording consoles, not only for commercial studios across Europe and the United States, but in many cases for the personal recording needs of the nobility of rock music, establishing project recording studios in top musicians' homes decades before the home computer recording revolution began, and long before anyone had ever heard the term "project studio."
Of the many consoles that were built, the then young entrepreneur Richard Branson of Virgin Records ordered three consoles for the studios he owned, including a mobile studio named the Manor Mobile. The Who built a studio around a Helios console. Eric Clapton ordered a small Helios console for his home. But one of the most successful and innovative uses of a Helios console was when the Rolling Stones decided to have a Helios built into a BMC commercial truck. Suddenly top music acts like Led Zeppelin could rent the Rolling Stones Mobile and roll it up to wherever they wanted to record and take their musical inspiration from a house in the country side outside the pressures of a commercial studio. Even recording live shows was now possible.
Of the many consoles that were built, the then young entrepreneur Richard Branson of Virgin Records ordered three consoles for the studios he owned, including a mobile studio named the Manor Mobile. The Who built a studio around a Helios console. Eric Clapton ordered a small Helios console for his home. But one of the most successful and innovative uses of a Helios console was when the Rolling Stones decided to have a Helios built into a BMC commercial truck. Suddenly top music acts like Led Zeppelin could rent the Rolling Stones Mobile and roll it up to wherever they wanted to record and take their musical inspiration from a house in the country side outside the pressures of a commercial studio. Even recording live shows was now possible.
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The most famous use of the Rolling Stones Mobile was when Deep Purple rented it to record their new album in Switzerland in 1971. They were attending the Montreaux Jazz Festival and watching Frank Zappa perform, when "Some stupid with a flare gun" "burned the place to the ground." As the festival promoter Claude Nobs ran "pulling kids out the ground," two of Deep Purple's roadies rushed to the Rolling Stones Mobile that was parked dangerously next to the Casino, which was quickly becoming an inferno. They had to smash a window in the cab and move the truck just in the nick of Swiss time.
As Deep Purple had planned to record their album at the now destroyed Casino, they "had to find another place." Rushed into a temporary location after newly penning the story of the conflagration, the mighty "Smoke on the Water" was recorded, amazingly, with the Swiss police banging on the door at the end of the final take. Finally they settled on the Grand Hotel on the "Lake Geneva shoreline." It was conveniently abandoned for the winter season. The Rolling Stones Mobile was parked next to the Hotel, and in the hallways and guest rooms of the Hotel, Deep Purple made history recording Machine Head- an album that would guarantee a thirty plus year career to follow. The recording lines were so long to the microphones and the weather so cold outside, that soon even a few beers could not warm up the band enough to travel into the truck and listen to playbacks on the speaker mains. They trusted the engineer, Martin Birch. The sound of the Helios was so compelling that Deep Purple would often return to use it no matter where the consoles were located. One of these studios was the famous Musicland Studios in Munich Germany.
The Rolling Stones truck was not the only mobile studio to use Helios. Aside from the Manor Mobile, another fine example was the Maison Rouge Mobile which was owned by Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson. In 1979, Ritchie Blackmore (now in Rainbow) rented the Château Pelly de Cornfeld. It was an old French castle located in the Rhone Alps, just south of Geneva, Switzerland, across the border. He rented the Maison Rouge, returning again to the Helios Sound. The resulting album, Rainbow's "Down to Earth" is one of my favorite recordings of all time, no doubt aided by the impressive sound stage yielded by the old stone and wood in the main dining room where they recorded.
The close of the 1970s saw the end of the Helios company. Times were changing and studios were looking for a higher fidelity sound to reflect the changing taste in music, and they were seduced by mass manufactured recording solutions that promised to be easier to maintain and carry less operating cost. American companies like MCI and Harrison proved initially competitive. By the 1980s, the clean sound of the British SSL and the polished, yet colored, British Neve sound were dominant in the industry. Bands would often track on a Neve and have it mixed on an SSL console. For a time it looked like Helios would be forgotten. Sadly, many of the consoles were abandoned, chopped up, or left in a poor state of repair. The Maison Rouge Mobile truck was reportedly stolen in 1983, never to be seen again.
In the decades since, after evaluating the immense legacy of music that were recorded with them, a new generation of studio owners, musicians and recording engineers began to buy the old consoles, often in horrible condition. They sought information on how to restore them to their working glory. These were not inexpensive adventures. In the early new days of the late 1990s, and early 2000s, restoring a Helios, or any other old analog console by yourself to working condition was like going down a rabbit hole.
One leading proponent of the Helios resurgence was an English gentleman by the name of Tony Arnold. He had purchased the last console Helios made in 1978, and then followed it up by purchasing three more, eventually including the Eric Clapton console. Dick Swettenham, by now, aging and unable to service the consoles, agreed that Mr. Arnold, with his knowledge of the units, should become officially endorsed to service the old beasts that were still in use. In time Mr. Swettenham entrusted the original schematics to Mr. Arnold. Upon Mr. Swettenham's death in 1997 it became clear that the Helios legacy would be left to Mr. Arnold to carry forward.
With the growth of interest from a new generation of musicians, engineers, and even the old musicians who wanted to have the Helios sound working again, a new company was formed by Mr. Arnold. The revolution of recording to hard disk, leading to the growth of project studios, meant that the demand was no longer for giant consoles, but rather the pre amp and eq modules they had once contained. After many tests, a copy of the circuit in the Eric Clapton console was made and the Helios was available again to purchase as modules (rather than entire consoles) in the USA circa 2005.
But several original Helios consoles still existed, thus the early purchasers grabbed them and brought them round the old equipment to compare them. Were they as good as the originals? Now with time, electronic components age, their values drift and their sound can change. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it's bad. On the internet and on forums like gearslutz.com, there waged a battle between those people who had used Helios in their original days and the users of the reissues. There were different revisions of the Helios in the 9 original years they were made, and like anything practically handmade, sometime parts were used from whatever stock of raw parts were available. One of the most important parts to any microphone preamplier or amplifier is the sourcing and type of the output transformer. After feedback from the new internet aged Helios recording community, Mr. Arnold was convinced to switch out the transformers he was using which were copies of what was in the Eric Clapton Helios to the Sowters patterned after the Lustraphones which were used in the famous "Silver" Helios console inside the Rolling Stones Mobile Truck and at Olympic.
In my opinion, there has never been a better recorded sound than the Helios in the Rolling Stones Mobile Truck. Just listen to Deep Purple's "Burn" from 1973/4 to hear it. Luckily the Rolling Stones truck survived and is now in a audio museum undergoing restoration in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The reissues at Château Roşu are of the latest Helios build, with the Sowter type transformers, powered at the proper 48 volts, unlike the 500 series lunchboxes that are popular today in project studios. We also have a line amp modded by Vintage King into the rack so the Helios can get the proper headroom it needs, without compression or limiting being used to boost it before it hits the DAW.
So here we are in the 21st century, able to record again in the same spirit that was used in a Hotel in Switzerland in 1971, or in a French Château in 1979. Using technology all but abandoned for 20 years by the industry until they realized the mistake they made- that digital never sounded better than Analog; mass produced was never better than hand made. Rock music is intimate music, even if it is blasting the doors off a castle.
It is our firm belief, that if you don't sound good singing through a Helios, you don't sound good. The Helios might even make you sound legendary.
In the decades since, after evaluating the immense legacy of music that were recorded with them, a new generation of studio owners, musicians and recording engineers began to buy the old consoles, often in horrible condition. They sought information on how to restore them to their working glory. These were not inexpensive adventures. In the early new days of the late 1990s, and early 2000s, restoring a Helios, or any other old analog console by yourself to working condition was like going down a rabbit hole.
One leading proponent of the Helios resurgence was an English gentleman by the name of Tony Arnold. He had purchased the last console Helios made in 1978, and then followed it up by purchasing three more, eventually including the Eric Clapton console. Dick Swettenham, by now, aging and unable to service the consoles, agreed that Mr. Arnold, with his knowledge of the units, should become officially endorsed to service the old beasts that were still in use. In time Mr. Swettenham entrusted the original schematics to Mr. Arnold. Upon Mr. Swettenham's death in 1997 it became clear that the Helios legacy would be left to Mr. Arnold to carry forward.
With the growth of interest from a new generation of musicians, engineers, and even the old musicians who wanted to have the Helios sound working again, a new company was formed by Mr. Arnold. The revolution of recording to hard disk, leading to the growth of project studios, meant that the demand was no longer for giant consoles, but rather the pre amp and eq modules they had once contained. After many tests, a copy of the circuit in the Eric Clapton console was made and the Helios was available again to purchase as modules (rather than entire consoles) in the USA circa 2005.
But several original Helios consoles still existed, thus the early purchasers grabbed them and brought them round the old equipment to compare them. Were they as good as the originals? Now with time, electronic components age, their values drift and their sound can change. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it's bad. On the internet and on forums like gearslutz.com, there waged a battle between those people who had used Helios in their original days and the users of the reissues. There were different revisions of the Helios in the 9 original years they were made, and like anything practically handmade, sometime parts were used from whatever stock of raw parts were available. One of the most important parts to any microphone preamplier or amplifier is the sourcing and type of the output transformer. After feedback from the new internet aged Helios recording community, Mr. Arnold was convinced to switch out the transformers he was using which were copies of what was in the Eric Clapton Helios to the Sowters patterned after the Lustraphones which were used in the famous "Silver" Helios console inside the Rolling Stones Mobile Truck and at Olympic.
In my opinion, there has never been a better recorded sound than the Helios in the Rolling Stones Mobile Truck. Just listen to Deep Purple's "Burn" from 1973/4 to hear it. Luckily the Rolling Stones truck survived and is now in a audio museum undergoing restoration in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The reissues at Château Roşu are of the latest Helios build, with the Sowter type transformers, powered at the proper 48 volts, unlike the 500 series lunchboxes that are popular today in project studios. We also have a line amp modded by Vintage King into the rack so the Helios can get the proper headroom it needs, without compression or limiting being used to boost it before it hits the DAW.
So here we are in the 21st century, able to record again in the same spirit that was used in a Hotel in Switzerland in 1971, or in a French Château in 1979. Using technology all but abandoned for 20 years by the industry until they realized the mistake they made- that digital never sounded better than Analog; mass produced was never better than hand made. Rock music is intimate music, even if it is blasting the doors off a castle.
It is our firm belief, that if you don't sound good singing through a Helios, you don't sound good. The Helios might even make you sound legendary.
The following data of just 3 UK studio recordings as listed at Philsbook.com.
Not all may be Helios, but most were! Musicland, Germany at the bottom.
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Albums Recorded at Olympic Studios, London.
999 "999" ALAN PRICE "OH LUCKY MAN" ALAN PRICE “BETWEEN TODAY AND YESTERDAY” ALAN PRICE "METROPOLITAN MAN" ALAN TEW ORCHESTRA "THE MAGNIFICENT WESTERNS" ALBION DANCE BAND "THE PROSPECT BEFORE US" ALBION DANCE BAND "RISE UP LIKE THE SUN" ALEXIS KORNER'S ALL STARS "BLUES INCORPORATED" AL HAIG TRIO "INVITATION" ANDREW LLOYD-WEBBER AND TIM RICE "EVITA" ANDY FAIRWEATHER-LOW "BE BOP 'N' HOLLA" ANITA HARRIS "JUST LOVING YOU" ANITA HARRIS "LOVE TO SING" ANJA GARBAREK "BALLOON MOOD" ANTHONY PHILLIPS "THE GEESE AND THE GHOST" ARCADE FIRE "NEON BIBLE" ARMAGEDDON “ARMAGEDDON” ARCTIC MONKEYS "WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM, THAT'S WHAT I'M NOT" ASOBI SEKSU "REWOLF" AUDIENCE "FRIEND'S FRIEND'S FRIEND" AUTOMATIC MAN "AUTOMATIC MAN" AVA CHERRY AND ASTRONETTES "PEOPLE FROM BAD HOMES" BABYSHAMBLES "SHOTTER'S NATION" BAD COMPANY “BAD COMPANY” BADFINGER "BADFINGER" BADFINGER "ASS" BADLY DRAWN BOY "BORN AGAIN" BARBARA STREISAND "YENTL SOUNDTRACK" BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST "EVERYONE IS EVERYBODY ELSE" BB KING "IN LONDON" BEATLES BECKETT "BECKETT" BETHNAL "CRASH LANDING" BETH ORTON "CENTRAL RESERVATION" BILL JUSTIS "THE ETERNAL SEA" BILL TARMEY "AFTER HOURS" BLIND FAITH "BLIND FAITH" BLOC PARTY "A WEEKEND IN THE CITY" BLODWYN PIG "GETTING TO THIS" BONES "BONES" BOZ SCAGGS "BOZ SCAGGS AND BAND" BRINSLEY SCHWARZ "DESPITE IT ALL" BRINSLEY SCHWARZ "SILVER PISTOL" BRYAN FERRY "MAMOUNA" BRYN HAWORTH "GRAND ARRIVAL" BUFFY SAINT-MARIE "SHE USED TO BE A BALLERINA" BUSH "GOLDEN STATE" BUZZCOCKS "ANOTHER MUSIC IN A DIFFERENT KITCHEN" BUZZCOCKS “LOVE BITES” CAST "MOTHER NATURE CALLS" CHAPMAN-WHITNEY "STREETWALKERS" CHICKENSHACK "UNLUCKY BOY" CHICKENSHACK "IMAGINATION LADY" CHIEFTAINS "THE CHIEFTAINS 7" CRAIG ARMSTRONG "THE SPACE BETWEEN US" CRANBERRIES "BURY THE HATCHET" CRAZY CAVAN AND THE RHYTHM ROCKERS "ROCKABILITY" CURE "WISH" CURE "THE CURE" DADA "DADA" DARTS "DARTS" DARTS "EVERYONE PLAYS DARTS" DAVID BOWIE "DIAMOND DOGS" DAVID BRYNE "THE CATHERINE WHEEL" DEFUNKT "THERMONUCLEAR SWEAT" (CHELSEA) DEKE LEONARD "ICEBERG" DEKE LEONARD "KAMIKAZE" DENNY GERRARD "SINISTER MORNING" dEUS "THE IDEAL CRASH" DIESEL PARK WEST "SHAKESPEARE ALABAMA" DEEP PURPLE "FIREBALL" DEPECHE MODE "SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION" DONOVAN "BARABAJAGAL" DR FEELGOOD "MALPRACTICE" EAGLES “THE EAGLES” EAGLES "ON THE BORDER" EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND "OORA" EDITORS "AN END HAS A START" ELECTRIC SUN "EARTHQUAKE" ELECTRIC SUN "FIRE WIND" ELLA FITZGERALD "STAR COLLECTION" ELLIS "WHY NOT?" ELP “BRAIN SALAD SURGERY” ELVIS COSTELLO “BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE” EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER "BRAIN SALAD SURGERY" ENO "HERE COME THE WARM JETS" ERIC CLAPTON "SLOWHAND" ERIC CLAPTON "BACKLESS" ERIC CLAPTON "FROM THE CRADLE" ERIC CLAPTON "PILGRIM" EUROPE "OUT OF THIS WORLD" FACES “NODS AS GOOD AS A WINK” FACES "OH LA LA" FAIRPORT CONVENTION "RISING FOR THE MOON" FAIRWEATHER "BEGINNING FROM AN END" FAMILY “ANYWAY” FAMILY “BANDSTAND” FAMILY “FEARLESS” FAMILY “IT’S ONLY A MOVIE” FAMILY “MUSIC IN A DOLL’S HOUSE” FAMILY “A SONG FOR ME’ FANTASTICS "THE FANTASTICS" FAT MATTRESS "FAT MATTRESS" FAT MATTRESS "FAT MATTRESS II" FEELING "TWELVE STOPS AND HOME" FISH "VIGIL IN A WILDERNESS OF MIRRORS" FOCUS “FOCUS 3” FOCUS “HAMBURGER CONCERTO” FOREVER MORE "YOURS FOREVER MORE" FRIPP AND ENO "EVENING STAR" FUNKADELIC "AMERICA EATS IT'S YOUNG" FUZZY DUCK "FUZZY DUCK" GINGER BAKER'S AIRFORCE "AIR FORCE 2" GIRL “SHEER GREED” GLENCOE "GLENCOE" GOLDEN EARRING "EIGHT MILES HIGH" GONG "SHAMAL" GOODIES "THE NEW GOODIES L.P." GRACE SLICK "MAMHOLE" GRAHAM BOND "SOLID BOND" GRAVY TRAIN "GRAVY TRAIN" GRAVY TRAIN "(A BALLAD OF) A PEACEFUL MAN" GREASE BAND "AMAZING GREASE" GYPSY "GYPSY" HAWKWIND "IN SEARCH OF SPACE" HAWKWIND "HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL" HAWKWIND "WARRIOR ON THE EDGE OF TIME" HEAVY METAL KIDS "HEAVY METAL KIDS" HELP YOURSELF "STRANGE AFFAIR" HENRY SCHIFTER "OUT OF NOWHERE" HERON "DIAMOND OF DREAMS" HIGH TIDE "SEA SHANTIES" HOCKEY "MIND CHAOS" HOWLIN' WOLF "THE LONDON HOWLIN' WOLF SESSIONS" HUMBLE PIE "SMOKIN'" HUMBLE PIE "ROCK ON" IAN CAMPBELL FOLK GROUP "THIS IS THE.." IAN HUNTER "OVERNIGHT ANGELS" ISIAH PACKARD "SCAN THE HORIZON" JAMES "SEVEN" JAMIE T "PANIC PREVENTION" JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR "ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK" JETHRO TULL "STAND UP" JIMI HENDRIX "AXIS : BOLD AS LOVE" JIMI HENDRIX "ARE YOU EXPERIENCED" JIMI HENDRIX “ELECTRIC LADYLAND” JIMMY DAWKINS "TRANSATLANTIC 770" JIMMY JEWELL AND EARS "I'M AMAZED" JOAN ARMATRADING "JOAN ARMATRADING" JOAN ARMATRADING "SHOW SOME EMOTION" JOAN ARMATRADING "TO THE LIMIT" JOAN ARMATRADING "THE SHOUTING STAGE" JOHN CALE "FEAR" JOHN CAMERON "KES SOUNDTRACK" JOHN GREGORY AND HIS ORCHESTRA "A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS" JOHN (SPEEDY) KEEN "PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS" JOHN PHILLIPS "PAY PACK AND FOLLOW" JOHN WILLIAMS "CHANGES" JOHN WILLIAMS "CAVATINA" JONATHAN KELLY "TWO DAYS IN WINTER" JUDAS PRIEST "ROCKA ROLLA" KAISER CHIEFS "EMPLOYMENT" KENNY WHEELER "SONG FOR SOMEONE" KEVIN COYNE "HEARTBURN" KHAN “SPACE SHANTY” KILLERS "DAY AND AGE" KING CRIMSON "RED" KING CRIMSON "USA" KIRSTY MacCOLL "KITE" KURSAAL FLYERS "CHOCS AWAY" LARRY CORYELL AND PHILIP CATHERINE"TWIN HOUSE" LED ZEPPELIN “LED ZEPPELIN” LED ZEPPELIN "LED ZEPPELIN II" LED ZEPPELIN "LED ZEPPELIN III" LED ZEPPELIN “HOUSES OF THE HOLY” LED ZEPPELIN “PHYSICAL GRAFFITI” LEO SAYER "SILVERBIRD" LEON RUSSELL "LEON RUSSELL" LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III "I'M ALRIGHT" (CHELSEA) LOUIS STEWART "I THOUGHT ABOUT YOU" MADONNA "MUSIC" MADONNA "AMERICAN LIFE" MAGICAL RING "MORE AND MORE" MAGIC NUMBERS "THOSE THE BROKES" MAN "MAN" MAN "DO YOU LIKE IT HERE NOW? ARE YOU SETTLING IN?" MAN "BACK INTO THE FUTURE" MAN "SLOW MOTION" MAN “THE WELSH CONNECTION” MAN "ALL'S WELL THAT END'S WELL" MANIC STREET PREACHERS "GOLD AGAINST THE SOUL" MANHATTAN TRANSFER "LIVE" MASSIVE ATTACK "MEZZANINE" MATTHEW FISHER "I'LL BE THERE" McGUINNESS FLINT "McGUINNESS FLINT" McGUINNESS FLINT "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUTHY BABY" MEMPHIS SLIM "BLUE MEMPHIS" MICHAEL NYMAN "THE DRAUGHTMAN'S CONTRACT" MICHEL LEGRAND "THE CONCERT LEGRAND" MIKE WESTBROOK ORCHESTRA "LOVE/DREAM AND VARIATIONS" MOCK TURTLES "TWO SIDES" MOODY BLUES "KEYS OF THE KINGDOM" MOONRIDER "MOONRIDER" MOTORHEAD "MOTORHEAD" MOTORHEAD “BOMBER” MOTORS "APPROVED BY THE MOTORS" MOTT THE HOOPLE “MAD SHADOWS” MOTT THE HOOPLE "WILDLIFE" MOTT THE HOOPLE "ALL THE YOUNG DUDES" NEUTRONS "BLACK HOLE STAR" NEUTRONS "TALES FROM THE BLUE COCOONS" NEW DEPARTURES QUARTET "THE NEW DEPARTURES QUARTET" NICE "THOUGHTS OF EMERLIST DAVJACK" NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS "NOCTURAMA" NO DICE "NO DICE" OASIS "HEATHEN CHEMISTRY" O BAND "WITHIN REACH" OPEN ROAD "WINDY DAZE" OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS “OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS” PALADIN "PALADIN" PAUL KENNERLY "WHITE MANSIONS" PAUL KORDA "A PASSING STRANGER" PEDDLERS "FREEWHEELERS" PENDULUM "IN SILICO" PEOPLE BAND "1968" PEOPLE BAND "THE PEOPLE BAND" PETE TOWNSHEND "WHO CAME FIRST" PETER FRAMPTON "WIND OF CHANGE" PETER FRAMPTON "SOMETHING'S HAPPENING" PETER FRAMPTON "FRAMPTON" PETER GABRIEL "PETER GABRIEL 1" PETER SARSTEDT "AS THOUGH IT WAS A MOVIE" PFM "COOK" PLACEBO "BLACK MARKET MUSIC" PRESUNTOS IMPLICADOS "SER DE AGUA" PRETTY THINGS "SILK TORPEDO" PRETTY THINGS "SAVAGE EYE" PULP "THIS IS HARDCORE" QUEEN “A NIGHT AT THE OPERA” QUEEN "THE MIRACLE" QUINTESSENCE "SELF" RACING CARS “WEEKEND RENDEZVOUS’ RAIN TREE CROW "RAIN TREE CROW" RAKES "CAPTURE/RELEASE" REG KING "REG KING" RENAISSANCE "RENAISSANCE" REVEREND AND THE MAKERS "THE STATE OF THINGS" RICHARD AND LINDA THOMPSON "SHOOT OUT THE LIGHTS" (CHELSEA) RICHARD ASHCROFT "ALONE WITH EVERYBODY" RICHARD SARSTEDT "ANOTHER DAY PASSES BY" RICK WAKEMAN "LISZTOMANIA" RICK WAKEMAN "G'OLE!" RIGHT SAID FRED "SEX AND TRAVEL" ROBERT CALVERT "CAPTAIN LOCKHEED AND THE STARFIGHTERS" ROBERT PLANT "MANIC NIRVANA" ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW "ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK" ROD McKUEN "LONESOME CITIES" ROD STEWART "AN OLD RAINCOAT WON'T EVER LET YOU DOWN" ROGER RUSKIN SPEAR "ELECTRIC SHOCKS" ROGER RUSKIN SPEAR "UNUSUAL" ROLLING STONES “SATANIC MAJESTIES” ROLLING STONES "BEGGARS BANQUET" ROLLING STONES "LET IT BLEED" ROLLING STONES "GOATS HEAD SOUP" ROLLING STONES "STICKY FINGERS" ROLLING STONES "IT'S ONLY ROCK AND ROLL" ROLLING STONES "STEEL WHEELS" RONNIE LANE “HOW COME” ROOM "IN EVIL HOUR" RORY GALLAGHER "TOP PRIORITY" RORY GALLAGHER "DEFENDER" ROUGH DIAMOND "ROUGH DIAMOND" SAN SEBASTIAN STRINGS "THE EARTH" SAN SEBASTIAN STRINGS "THE SKY" SAVOY BROWN "STREET CORNER TALKING" SCOTT WALKER "SCOTT 4" SEEKERS "SEEKERS SEEN IN GREEN" SHAKIN' STREET "VAMPIRE ROCK" SHONA LAING "NEW ON EARTH" SHOWADDYWADDY "RED STAR" SIRKEL AND CO "WITH MICK TAYLOR" SLADE "PLAY IT LOUD" SLADE "SLADE ALIVE" SLADE "OLD NEW BORROWED AND BLUE" SLADE "IN FLAME" SLEEPY JOHN ESTES "SLEEPY JOHN ESTES IN EUROPE" SMALL FACES “OGDENS NUT GONE FLAKE” SNAFU "SNAFU" SNOW PATROL "A HUNDRED MILLION SUNS" SOFT MACHINE "VOLUME TWO" SOFT MACHINE "FOURTH" SPICE GIRLS "SPICEWORLD" SPICE GIRLS "SPICE" SPIRITUALIZED "LET IT COME DOWN" SPONTANEOUS MUSIC ENSEMBLE "KARYOBIN" SPOOKY TOOTH "IT'S ALL ABOUT" SPOOKY TOOTH "WITNESS" SPOOKY TOOTH "YOU BROKE MY HEART, SO I BUSTED YOUR JAW" SQUEEZE "COOL FOR CATS" SQUEEZE "ARGYBARGY" (CHELSEA) STEVE ASHLEY "STROLL ON" STEVE MILLER BAND "YOUR SAVING GRACE" STIFF LITTLE FINGERS "NOBODY'S HEROES" (+CHELSEA) STIFF LITTLE FINGERS "GO FOR IT" STIFF LITTLE FINGERS "HANX!" STOMU YAMASHTA "ONE BY ONE" STONE THE CROWS "TEENAGE LICKS" STORIES "ABOUT US" STRANGLERS “RATTUS NORVEGICUS” STRANGLERS "NO MORE HEROES" STRAY "SUICIDE" STRAY "MUDANZAS" STRIFE "RUSH" SUNSHINE "SUNSHINE" SUPERTRAMP “INDELIBLY STAMPED” TEN YEARS AFTER "A SPACE IN TIME" TEN YEARS AFTER "ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC TO THE WORLD" TEN YEARS AFTER "WATT" TEN YEARS AFTER "CRICKLEWOOD GREEN" TEN YEARS AFTER "A SPACE IN TIME" TEN YEARS AFTER "ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC TO THE WORLD" TEN YEARS AFTER "RECORDED LIVE" THE WHO “LOADSA STUFF” THE WHO “WHO’S NEXT” THIN LIZZY "FIGHTING" THIRD WORLD WAR "THIRD WORLD WAR II" THOMAS F. BROWNE "WEDNESDAY'S CHILD" TINY DANCERS "FREE SCHOOL MILK" TOURISTS "REALITY EFFECT" TOWNSEND &LANE “ROUGH MIX” TRAFFIC "TRAFFIC" TRAFFIC "JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE" TRAFFIC “MR FANTASY” TRANQUILITY "TRANQUILITY" TURIN BRAKES "DARK ON FIRE" UNICORN "BLUE PINE TREES" UPP "UPP" VICTORIA BECKHAM "VICTORIA BECKHAM" VINEGAR JOE "ROCK'N ROLL GYPSIES" WIDOWMAKER “TOO LATE TO CRY” WILD TURKEY "BATTLE HYMN" WINKIES "THE WINKIES" WISHBONE ASH "WISHBONE FOUR" WONDERSTUFF "CONSTRUCTION FOR THE MODERN IDIOT" ZUTONS "TIRED OF HANGING AROUND" Pertinent Helios console- Albums recorded at Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany.
Deep Purple, Stormbringer 1974 Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow 1975 Deep Purple Come Taste the Band 1975 Rainbow, Rising 1976, Musicland's Helios was replaced by a Harrison 3224 console midway through the ELO New World Record sessions in July of 1976. Blackmore moved to the Chateau d'Herouville for the recording of the third Rainbow album, "Long Live Rock and Roll." It was recorded on an MCI 500 series. Blackmore returned to the Helios again for "Down to Earth" in 1979. |
Albums Recorded with the Rolling Stones Mobile Truck* The list is reported to be much larger, but it's inside the truck!
AL JARREAU - “IN LONDON” ANGELIC UPSTARTS - “LIVE” ARTURO SANDOVAL - “NO PROBLEM” BAD COMPANY - “RUNNING WITH THE PACK” BAD COMPANY - “STRAIGHT SHOOTER” BE-BOP DELUXE - “DRASTIC PLASTIC” BE-BOP DELUXE - “LIVE IN THE AIR AGE” BLACKFOOT - “HIGHWAY SONG LIVE” BOB MARLEY - “LIVE AT THE LYCEUM” BRINSLEY SCHWARTZ CAMEL - “PRESSURE POINTS-LIVE IN CONCERT” DEEP PURPLE - “BURN” DEEP PURPLE - “MACHINE HEAD” DEEP PURPLE - “MADE IN EUROPE’ DEEP PURPLE - “MADE IN EUROPE” DEEP PURPLE - “WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE” DIRE STRAITS - “ALCHEMY” FAMILY - “IT’S ONLY A MOVIE” FLEETWOOD MAC - “MYSTERY TO ME” FRANK ZAPPA - “200 MOTELS” FRANK ZAPPA - “TINSELTOWN REBELLION” GANG GREEN - “CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT” GARY MOORE - “OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY” GARY MOORE - “WILD FRONTIER” GREGORY ISAACS - “AT THE ACADEMY” HORSLIPS - “LIVE” IAN DURY AND THE BLOCKHEADS - ”LIVE! WARTS AND AUDIENCE” IRON MAIDEN - “LIVE AFTER DEATH” IRON MAIDEN - “NO PRAYER FOR THE DYING” LED ZEPPELIN - “PHYSICAL GRAFFITI” LEVEL 42 - “A PHYSICAL PRESENCE” LOU REED - “LIVE IN ITALY” MANHATTAN TRANSFER - “LIVE” MOVING HEARTS - “LIVE HEARTS” NAZARETH - “RAMPANT” NO DICE - “2 FACED” ONSLAUGHT - “LET THERE BE ROCK” OSIBISA - “BLACK MAGIC NIGHT” QUEEN - “LIVE MAGIC” RAINBOW - “ONSTAGE” ROLLING STONES - “EMOTIONAL RESCUE” ROLLING STONES - “EXILE ON MAIN STREET” ROLLING STONES - “SOME GIRLS” ROLLING STONES - “STICKY FINGERS” SIMPLE MINDS - “EMPIRE AND DANCE” TEN YEARS AFTER - “RECORDED LIVE” TEN YEARS AFTER - “ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC TO THE WORLD” THE ANIMALS - “BEFORE WE WERE SO RUDELY INTERRUPTED” THE DAMNED - “MINDLESS DIRECTIONLESS ENERGY” THE FACES - “LONG PLAYER” TOYAH - “TOYAH! TOYAH! TOYAH!” TUCKY BUZZARD - “ALL RIGHT ON THE NIGHT” WHITESNAKE - “LOVE HUNTER |
Albums Recorded at Maison Rouge; Mobile indicated.
ADORABLE "FAKE" ANGE "MOTEUR" ASIA "ARIA" BABYBIRD "THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON" BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST "LIVE TAPES" MOBILE BASHUNG "PIZZA" BIG COUNTRY "THE SEER" BLISS "A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER" BLUR "LEISURE" BLUR "MODERN LIFE IS RUBBISH" BLUR "PARKLIFE" BLUR "THE GREAT ESCAPE" BLUR “PARKLIFE” BOB GELDOF "THE VEGETARIANS OF LOVE" BOMB THE BASS "CLEAR" BOYS DON'T CRY "BOYS DON'T CRY" BURLESQUE "BURLESQUE" CATATONIA "WAY BEYOND BLUE" CIRCUS ALL STAR BAND "LIVE" MOBILE COLOURBOX "COLOURBOX" CRANBERRIES "EVERYBODY ELSE IS DOING IT, SO WHY CAN'T WE?" CROSS "SHOVE IT" DARLING BUDS "CRAWDADDY" DARRYL WAY "CONCERTO FOR ELECTRIC VIOLIN" DAVE EDMUNDS “INFORMATION" DAVE GRANEY AND THE CORAL SNAKES "THE DEVIL DRIVES" DAVID KNOFPLER "SMALL MERCIES" DIANE DUFRESNE "OLYMPIA '78" MOBILE DIED PRETTY "DOUGHBOY HOLLOW" DIRTY THREE "HORSE STORIES" DO RE MI "DOMESTIC HARMONY DUANE EDDY "DUANE EDDY" DURAN DURAN "WILD BOYS" SINGLE DURAN DURAN "A VIEW TO A KILL" SINGLE DIVINE COMEDY "NOEL COWARD" EMERSON LAKE AND POWELL "EMERSON LAKE AND POWELL" ESCAPE CLUB "WILD WILD WEST" FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS "TUFF ENUFF" GANGWAY "THAT'S LIFE" GENESIS "DUKE" GENTLE GIANT "GIANT FOR A DAY" GENTLE GIANT "PLAYING THE FOOL" MOBILE HEAVEN 17 "PENTHOUSE AND PAVEMENT" HERWIG MITTEREGGER "JEDESMAL" JETHRO TULL "A" JETHRO TULL "BROADSWORD AND THE BEAST" JETHRO TULL "BURSTING OUT" JETHRO TULL "MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY" MOBILE JETHRO TULL "SONGS FROM THE WOOD" JETHRO TULL "STORMWATCH" JETHRO TULL "TOO OLD TO R'N'R TOO YOUNG TO DIE" JETHRO TULL “HEAVY HORSES” JOHNNY THUNDERS "D.T.K.-LIVE AT THE SPEAKEASY" MOBILE JUDIE TZUKE "THE CAT IS OUT" K.D. LAING "ANGEL WITH A LARIAT" KULA SHAKER "K" LEVEL 42 "THE PURSUIT OF ACCIDENTS" LEVEL 42 "RUNNING IN THE FAMILY" LEVEL 42 "WORLD MACHINE" LONGPIGS "MOBILE HOME" LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH "THE METHOD TO OUR MADNESS" LOVE AND MONEY "DOGS IN THE TRAFFIC" LYDIA CANAAN "THE SOUND OF LOVE" MADDY PRIOR "WOMAN IN THE WINGS" MALLARD "MALLARD" MOBILE MARC ALMOND "OPEN ALL NIGHT" MARILLION "FUGAZI" MELANIE HARROLD "BLUE ANGEL" MEZZOFORTE "OBSERVATIONS" MICA PARIS "SO GOOD" MIKE RUTHERFORD "SMALLCREEPS DAY" MUD "AS YOU LIKE IT" MURRAY HEAD "RESTLESS" NAZARETH "NO MEAN CITY" MOBILE NEW FAST AUTOMATIC DAFFODILS "LOVE IT ALL" OPAL FRUITS "FARLINGTON ROAD" PASSIONS "SANCTUARY" PETER MURPHY "HOLY SMOKE" PEZBAND "LAUGHING IN THE DARK" PIL “THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT” POWER STATION “THE POWER STATION" PROPELLERHEADS "DECKSANDDRUMSANDROCKANDROLL" RAINBOW "DOWN TO EARTH" MOBILE RENAISSANCE "AZURE D'OR" RIBLJA CORBA "MRTVA PRIRODA" RIBLJA CORBA "BUVLJA PIJACA" RICHARD DIGANCE "COMMERCIAL ROAD" MOBILE ROBBIE WILLIAMS "LIFE THRU A LENS" RORY GALLAGHER “STAGE STRUCK" MOBILE RORY GALLAGHER "FRESH EVIDENCE" ROY WOOD "STARTING UP" SAD CAFE "THE POLITICS OF EXISTING" SAD CAFE "WHATEVER IT TAKES" SANNE SALOMONSEN "INGEN ENGEL" SCHEER "INFLICTION" SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND "ROCK DRILL" MOBILE SHAKATAK "MR MANIC AND SISTER COOL" SHAM 69 "VOLUNTEER" SHRIEKBACK "JAM SCIENCE" STATUS QUO "STATUS QUO" STEELEYE SPAN "LIVE AT LAST" MOBILE STEVE HILLAGE "LIVE HERALD" MOBILE STRANGLERS "COUP DE GRACE" STRAY CATS "RANT AND RAVE" SWINGLE SINGERS "SWINGLE SKYLINER" TASMIN ARCHER "GREAT EXPECTATIONS" TERRAPLANE "BLACK AND WHITE" THIN LIZZY "LIVE AND DANGEROUS" MOBILE THOMPSON TWINS "BIG TRASH" TITANIC "RETURN OF DRAKKAR" MOBILE TONY BANKS "A CURIOUS FEELING" TWISTED SISTER "UNDER THE BLADE" UFO "MECHANIX" UFO "MAKING CONTACT" WATERBOYS "A PAGAN PLACE" WELL RED "MOTION" WHAM! “FANTASTIC" WILDHEARTS "EARTH VERSUS" WILL TURA "20 JAAR : 1957-1977" MOBILE |
