# Abbey Road studios for sale?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486 "2010-02-18T17:07:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/1 "2010-02-18T17:07:14Z")
A friend just sent me this: > [@](#): > > LONDON – Britain’s National Trust may intervene to protect the Abbey Road studios where the Beatles recorded most of their hits. > The London studios are being put up for sale by the cash-strapped record company EMI. > > The possibility that the studios might fall into private hands and be demolished has sparked a national outcry spurred by former Beatle Paul McCartney and prominent disk jockey Chris Evans. > The National Trust said Thursday that public input is being sought before making any decision to buy the studios. > A spokesman says the National Trust has already received an astonishing amount of support for the idea. > > The value of the studios in the upscale St. John’s Wood neighborhood is estimated at more than 10 million pounds ($16 million.) Please tell me I am being whooshed. I can’t think of a better candidate for historical preservation - or, better yet, still being used for recording but not radically re-built or altered… ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/2 "2010-02-18T17:11:45Z")
I can’t really see myself worrying about this. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/3 "2010-02-18T17:13:17Z")
Yeah, I heard it on NPR a few days ago. It’s true. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/4 "2010-02-18T17:13:47Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > I can’t really see myself worrying about this. Philistine! 😃 Okay - maybe just for us music/Beatles/Pink Floyd/etc. obsessives but some of the most historic music of the rock era has been recorded there. And few studios have the cross-over awareness that Abbey Road has - e.g., Sun, Electric Ladyland, The Power Station, etc… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/5 "2010-02-18T17:15:32Z")
Pail McCartney has money. If he’s “concerned”, he can buy the place. Problem… solved! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/6 "2010-02-18T17:26:49Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Pail McCartney has money. If he’s “concerned”, he can buy the place. That was my first thought, too. Although I guess the studio could always be sold to someone else if it’s on the open market. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/7 "2010-02-18T17:33:08Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Pail McCartney has money. If he’s “concerned”, he can buy the place. > > Problem… solved! You could say something akin to that re: Badfinger, too, but we all know how that turned out. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/8 "2010-02-18T17:39:15Z")
> [@](#): > > The National Trust said Thursday that public input is being sought before making any decision to buy the studios. Surely the Chief Executive of EMI should _donate_ the studios to the National Trust, along with a soap impression of his wife. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/9 "2010-02-18T17:45:48Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > You could say something akin to that re: Badfinger, too, but we all know how that turned out. Let’s assume that not all of us know how that turned out. Care to explain to the rest of us? As for this situation, I agree with **JohnT**. Certainly Paul McCartney (and Ringo, along with George Harrison and John Lennon’s families, if they wish) could certainly afford to bankroll the preservation of this. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/10 "2010-02-18T18:02:40Z")
Sorry. Badfinger was signed to Apple, were friendly with the Beatles, had hit songs…but a lot of financial mismanagement by unscrupulous folks. The guys were having real difficulties, and it eventually led to Pete Ham’s suicide. Not the Beatles or Apples fault, really, but still…could’ve thrown them a bone at that point. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/11 "2010-02-18T18:07:56Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > Sorry. Badfinger was signed to Apple, were friendly with the Beatles, had hit songs…but a lot of financial mismanagement by unscrupulous folks. The guys were having real difficulties, and it eventually led to Pete Ham’s suicide. Not the Beatles or Apples fault, really, but still…could’ve thrown them a bone at that point. …and, ultimately the suicide of another member, Tom Evans. [Wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badfinger) If you haven’t heard their song \*\*Apple of My Eye \*\*- which plays like a song about a love that has passed but which is really about Badfinger’s relationship with Apple - you really should. Given what played out, it could not be more poignant and heart-wrenching… ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/12 "2010-02-18T18:30:32Z")
I wonder if they could turn Abbey Road into some kind of museum? People flock there just to stand outside and take pictures of themselves crossing the street. I know I wouldn’t have blinked to pay $20 or so to actually go inside. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbey-road-studios-for-sale/529486/13 "2010-02-19T19:24:25Z")
Before Abbey Road studio turns to dust you should read Geoff Emerick’s Here, There and Everywhere (which I coincidentally just finished) about his years at Abbey Road studies engineering albums for The Beatles (and other artists). It was a fascinating read.