507:. According to Armstrong, industry professionals such as EMI house producer David Mackay and Festival house producer Pat Aulton greatly preferred to use the Armstrong facilities over their company's own studios in Sydney, and regularly travelled to Melbourne to record there. Interviewed in 2013, Armstrong also recalled that young Melbourne singer Johnny Farnham was often hired to record vocals for the many commercial jingles recorded at Armstrong's, and it was there that he was discovered by producer David Mackay, who subsequently signed the singer to a recording contract with EMI, and produced his breakthrough hit single "Sadie The Cleaning Lady". Farnham returned the favour many years later when he returned to Armstrong's to record his hugely successful 'comeback' album
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in
Melbourne, where he recorded radio commercials and soundtracks for television advertisements. From 1961-65 he was manager of Telefil Sound Recording and Film Studios, which was at the time the largest commercial recording studio in Melbourne. Housed in a converted Melbourne cinema, it was equipped
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Armstrong's studios soon overtook two other major studios in
Australia at the time - the EMI and Festival Records facilities in Sydney - to become the most sought-after recording venue in the country, and the "engine room" of Australian pop and rock recording. Many of the most popular and successful
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In the meantime
Edensound Mastering had taken residence in the famed 180 Bank Street building and directors Martin Pullan and David Drew took the opportunity to take over the lease and return the studio to its original Armstrong name. Doug Brady returned as a partner in the business having recorded
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In 1972 the company bought a former butter factory in Bank St, South
Melbourne, and converted it into a five-studio complex, making Armstrong the largest commercial studio in the southern hemisphere. At this time Armstrong was responsible for 80% of the locally recorded hit records for major labels
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Over the next few years it expanded into six adjoining properties, including four studios equipped with 4-track machines. In 1968 Armstrong installed one of the first 8-track recorders in
Australia, followed by 16 and then 24-track machines, together with state-of-the-art mixing desks in the early
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In the 1990s the audio operations of AAV were acquired by a staff consortium headed by producer-engineer Ern Rose and the company's name was changed to
Metropolis Audio. A controlling share was later acquired by another audio-visual company, Celtex, but this company eventually got into financial
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Armstrong's also quickly became the leading studio for recording national advertising commercials, and a team of music jingle writers occupied offices in the facility, including John and Anne Hawker, Peter Best,
315:. Armstrong established the W&G disc-cutting room and in 1957 built their recording studio in West Melbourne. That year he also supervised the sound system for Phillips Bell at the Main Stadium at the
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from 1954–56, where his work included disc cutting of radio shows and live-to-air orchestral music broadcasts. From 1956-60 he was the manager of a recently founded independent label,
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numerous giant albums and recording projects as a freelance including the music for the Sydney
Olympic Games in 2000. After a massive revamp including the installation of a vintage
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including EMI, RCA, Mushroom and Fable. In 1974 the studios were sold to the Age
Newspaper Group and the name of the company was changed to Armstrong Audio Video (AAV).
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In 1965, Armstrong opened his own studio in a small terrace house in Albert Rd, South
Melbourne. One of the first pop recordings made there was the backing track for
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joined the staff and started his career at AAV by recording and mixing
Australia's highest selling record of all time: John Farnham's
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was also added to the roster. He went on to work with Julian Menndelson & Trevor Horn, multi-platinum Queensrÿche and won a
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console, Armstrong Studios today continues to be one of the foremost recording facilities in the southern hemisphere.
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joined the team and later Alan Pay resigned. Then Graham Owens and Ernie Rose joined as engineers. The EMI producers
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Australian recordings from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s were made there, including hit albums and singles by
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and many others. Many famous overseas artists also recorded there while visiting Australia, including
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recorders, and its clients included the local divisions of the EMI, CBS and RCA labels.
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difficulties and Metropolis was abruptly closed down by the building's owners in 2006.
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From 1960-61 Armstrong was the manager of the Custom Recording Department at
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The studio's success continued into the 1980s. Young engineer
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he started his career as an engineer at radio station
643:, ABC Radio National, first broadcast 25 August 2013
628:, ABC Radio National, first broadcast 25 August 2013
613:, ABC Radio National, first broadcast 25 August 2013
100:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
295:in 1929. After studying electrical engineering at
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609:Bill Armstrong, interview with Jordie Kilby,
198:opinionated comments, promotional language.
63:Learn how and when to remove these messages
239:Learn how and when to remove this message
221:Learn how and when to remove this message
160:Learn how and when to remove this message
355:, Allan Pay and Philip Webster. In 1968
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18:Armstrong's Studios
409:The Masters Apprentices
256:Bill Armstrong's Studio
681:37.83361°S 144.96167°E
311:discovered and signed
264:Armstrong Audio Video
686:-37.83361; 144.96167
537:James "JIMBO" Barton
203:improve this article
192:to meet Knowledge's
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503:, Peter Jones and
109:"Armstrong Studios"
317:1956 Olympic Games
258:and later renamed
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541:Grammy Award
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457:John Farnham
449:Hans Poulsen
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389:Johnny Young
369:Howard Gable
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672:144°57′42″E
505:John Farrar
401:Ian Meldrum
313:The Seekers
283:The founder
205:if you can.
699:Categories
596:References
527:Doug Brady
481:Cleo Laine
477:Earl Hines
469:The Sports
441:Daddy Cool
437:Brian Cadd
429:The Aztecs
417:The Groove
393:Pat Aulton
377:Ted Albert
120:newspapers
49:improve it
669:37°50′1″S
565:Split Enz
561:Bob Dylan
517:Expansion
421:The Groop
381:Ron Tudor
309:Ron Tudor
293:Melbourne
272:Melbourne
55:talk page
461:Skyhooks
453:Spectrum
287:Founder
211:May 2013
187:require
557:Madonna
278:History
189:cleanup
134:scholar
487:, and
473:Models
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329:Ampex
141:JSTOR
127:books
590:Neve
571:and
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425:Zoot
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113:news
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324:3DB
301:3UZ
260:AAV
96:by
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