CHEMISTRY EQUIPMENT AND USES

From the early 50's until a fire in the 80's this was the site of Goldstar Studios, then the center of rock music recording on the West Coast. Located on Santa Monica Boulevard near Vine Street (about a mile south of Hollywood & Vine), it is near Paramount Studios (incorporating the former RKO/Desilu Studios) and the Hollywood Forever Cemetary where numerous famous stars are buried.

As one of the first independent recording studios it was not constrained by the "old line" policies of the majors and developed its own unique commercially succesful sound. Using custom-built recording equipment and its "best ever" echo chamber, it was home to Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound", an unmatched "house band", and source of hundreds of hit records.

A very abbreviated list of top artists that were associated with Goldstar:

Hal Blaine - the world's most recorded drummer

Tommy Tedesco - the world's most recorded guitarist

Jack Nitzsche - arranger. Co-wrote "Up Where We Belong"

Sonny Bono - percussion. Brought his girlfriend Cher to Goldstar. The backing on his defiantly patriotic "Revolution Kind" is a great example of the Goldstar sound.

Cher - graduated from backing singer to superstar. Recorded "Bang Bang" and "You Better Sit Down Kids" at Goldstar

Ronnettes - recorded "Be My Baby" at Goldstar -- favorite song of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. The elaborate intro to their "Do I Love You?" clearly highlights the elements of the Goldstar sound.

Beach Boys - recorded "Don't Worry Baby" at Goldstar - a tribute to "Be My Baby" with same Hal Blaine drum intro

Paul Revere & the Raiders - recorded "Kicks" and "Hungry" at Goldstar with Hal Blaine on drums

Buffalo Springfield - recorded "Expecting to Fly" at Goldstar with Jack Nitzsche as arranger

Righteous Brothers - recorded "Ebb Tide", "Unchained Melody", "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" (the most played song ever on US radio), and many others at Goldstar

Ike & Tina Turner - recorded "River Deep-Mountain High" and "I'll Never Need More Than This" at Goldstar - Tina was never hotter and no one ever did a better job of soaring over the Wall of Sound

Darlene Love - recorded the best rock Christmas song ever at Goldstar: "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"

Crystals - recorded "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", and the quickly withdrawn "He Hit Me and It Felt Like a Kiss" at Goldstar. Group often included Darlene Love.

Glen Campbell - started as session guitarist at Goldstar

Leon Russell - played keyboards at Goldstar early in his career

Later recordings that paid tribute to the Goldstar sound include:

Bruce Springsteen - "Born to Run"

The Tubes - "Don't Touch Me There"

Eddie Money - "Take Me Home Tonight" which featured Ronnie of the Ronnettes reprisng the chorus from "Be My Baby"

(These are the one's that instantly come to mind -- there are hundreds more).

Too tired for a face-shot. Why?
Because, after being out late Friday night at the TechBytes Geek Gathering, I got up early, did a load of laundry and scooted over to the Joe McNally seminar. There, I tried to absorb 20+ years worth of information in about 6.5 hours, then went right to church. From church, I went to dinner, then to work to reboot a server then home to do another load of laundry. So, I'm a little tired.

Anyway, this is a list of new flash equipment that I NEED to have. It's actually less expensive than what I thought I'd decided I was going to need, though I expect that to grow in Sunday's class.
Fantastic!