Adrian Kerridge
Adrian Kerridge (1938 – 28 September 2016) was a sound engineer, one of the earliest employees of the Lansdowne Studios in 1958. He helped establish the distinctive sound of the Dave Clark Five.[1]
Kerridge grew up in Northolt, West London. Following a short period working in a music shop he began his recording career in the early 1950s as a trainee at IBC Studios, a period interrupted by his national service, during which time he worked at the British Forces Broadcasting Service. When Joe Meek and Denis Preston left IBC in 1958 to form the Lansdowne Studios - London's first independent music recording studios - Kerridge was asked to joined them. He started at Lansdowne on 1 January 1959. A year later Meek left after a row with Preston, and Kerridge took over his position as senior engineer.[2]
At Lansdowne Kerridge recorded the Dave Clark Five. Using close miking, and by pioneering then experimental techniques such as direct injection he produced a modern upfront that made his recordings unique in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was sometimes termed "The Tottenham Sound". At Lansdown he was also the engineer for many other artists, including Acker Bilk (Stranger on the Shore), Adam Faith (What Do You Want?), Gene Pitney (24 Hours From Tulsa), Millie Small (My Boy Lollipop) and Spencer Davis Group (Keep on Running). Broadcasting clients included the Black and White Minstrel Show for the BBC and The Beiderbeck Affair for Yorkshire Television.[3]
From the late 1960s and into the 1970s he was responsible for the sound of all the KPM 1000 Series of library music issues, and worked with other music libraries, often recording material in Germany and Belgium.[1] With Clive Green he was the co-founder of the sound mixing console maker Cadac Electronics in 1968.
In 1987, with his business partner Johnny Pearson, he acquired CTS Studios in Wembley, running the business in parallel with Lansdowne Recording Studios.[4] The four studio Wembley facility closed in 2000, and the building was demolished as part of the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium in 2004.[5] CTS relocated to the Colosseum (previously the Town Hall) in Watford.[4]
In November 1998 Kerridge received a lifetime achievement award from the Association of Professional Recording Services alongside Sir George Martin. He retired as chairman of the Lansdowne Group in May 2010.[2]
Kerridge was married to Mary Edmunds for forty five years. There were four children. He died in September 2016, survived by his wife.[6] Kerridge wrote an account of the earlier part of his recording life in 2013, but it was only published in 2016, a month after his death. A promised second volume never appeared.[3]
References
- ^ a b Oliver Lomax. The Mood Modern, Vocalion Books (2018), pp. 92-93
- ^ a b 'Adrian Kerridge RIP', Institute of Professional Sound
- ^ a b Tape's Rolling, Take One": The Recording life of Adrian Kerridge (2016)
- ^ a b 'The History of CTS Studios', at CTS Lansdowne
- ^ Scoring Stages: CTS Studios
- ^ 'Recording industry mourns Adrian Kerridge', in Sound on Sound, 11 October, 2016
External links
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