IBC Studios

IBC Studios

Coordinates: 51°31′12.53″N 0°8′43.7″W / 51.5201472°N 0.145472°W / 51.5201472; -0.145472 The IBC Recording Studios (IBC: International Broadcasting Company) were recording studios located at 35 Portland Place, London, England. After the Second World War it was the address of the leading independent studio in London and the British Isles. In the 1960/70s the studios become internationally famous after being used by some of the biggest recording artists in the world.

In the late 1970s, Chas Chandler bought the studios and renamed them Portland Recording Studios. The address was also home to George Peckham's cutting rooms (Porky Prime Cuts) and Radiotracks Studios, a company specialising in recording and producing radio commercials. It was later bought by Don Arden and was run by his son David Arden.

In its long history, and especially in its heyday as IBC, the studios manufactured much of their own equipment under the direction of Denis King. The Quadrophonic remix desk designed in the early 70s was still in use in the late 80s by Radiotracks, though in a different building. The desk had been built to take advantage of the Quadrophonic technology that had been pioneered for music, though this never became popular and the desk was never used for that purpose in its music days. Ironically, the quadrophonic system on the desk was put to good use for mixing soundtracks for large events at the end of its life, including a massive celebration of 800 years of the Lord Mayor's of London at the Guildhall. Although all the large desks have been dismantled, one smaller desk, a nine-into-three desk used for locations recording still exists and is in private hands. The small, fully transistorised desk, built around 1958, was used to record "My Old Man's a Dustman" by Lonnie Donegan in 1960.

The Bee Gees also recorded their albums in IBC Studios, the albums were Bee Gees' 1st, Horizontal, Idea, Odessa, Cucumber Castle, 2 Years On, Trafalgar, To Whom It May Concern and Mr. Natural (other songs)