496:. 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,
304:. 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
632:, ABC Radio National, first broadcast 25 August 2013
617:, ABC Radio National, first broadcast 25 August 2013
602:, ABC Radio National, first broadcast 25 August 2013
89:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
284:in 1929. After studying electrical engineering at
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598:Bill Armstrong, interview with Jordie Kilby,
187:opinionated comments, promotional language.
52:Learn how and when to remove these messages
228:Learn how and when to remove this message
210:Learn how and when to remove this message
149:Learn how and when to remove this message
344:, Allan Pay and Philip Webster. In 1968
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87:adding citations to reliable sources
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185:. The specific problem is:
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398:The Masters Apprentices
245:Bill Armstrong's Studio
670:37.83361°S 144.96167°E
300:discovered and signed
253:Armstrong Audio Video
675:-37.83361; 144.96167
526:James "JIMBO" Barton
192:improve this article
181:to meet Knowledge's
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98:"Armstrong Studios"
306:1956 Olympic Games
247:and later renamed
478:Stephane Grapelli
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438:Hans Poulsen
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378:Johnny Young
358:Howard Gable
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342:Roger Savage
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139:January 2018
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76:verification
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661:144°57′42″E
494:John Farrar
390:Ian Meldrum
302:The Seekers
272:The founder
194:if you can.
688:Categories
585:References
516:Doug Brady
470:Cleo Laine
466:Earl Hines
458:The Sports
430:Daddy Cool
426:Brian Cadd
418:The Aztecs
406:The Groove
382:Pat Aulton
366:Ted Albert
109:newspapers
38:improve it
658:37°50′1″S
554:Split Enz
550:Bob Dylan
506:Expansion
410:The Groop
370:Ron Tudor
298:Ron Tudor
282:Melbourne
261:Melbourne
44:talk page
450:Skyhooks
442:Spectrum
276:Founder
200:May 2013
176:require
546:Madonna
267:History
178:cleanup
123:scholar
476:, and
462:Models
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318:Ampex
130:JSTOR
116:books
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560:and
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414:Zoot
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102:news
372:of
313:3DB
290:3UZ
249:AAV
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