The inside story of Record Plant studios--the real "Hotel California"--that reveals how the greatest music of the seventies was recorded and why the artists checked out but rarely left.

The inside story of Record Plant studios - the real 'Hotel California' - that reveals how the greatest music of the seventies was recorded and why the artists checked out but rarely left.

In the 1970s, Record Plant Studios was ground zero for the largest boom in record production in music history. With complexes in New York, Los Angeles and Sausalito, and a fleet of remote recording trucks, Record Plant was everywhere there was music. In 1976 alone, the studio produced three number-one albums: Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, the Eagles' Hotel California and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.

Written by two veteran music journalists, this engrossing book tells the incredible story of the evolution of Record Plant Studios tape by tape. Starting on the westside of New York in 1968 with the recording of Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, Record Plant expanded to LA, where Stevie Wonder produced his greatest hits, and then to Sausalito where Sly Stone, Bob Marley and Fleetwood Mac encamped; John Lennon made New York his post-Beatles home, and the Eagles conceived Hotel California while working in LA. Each location showcased the founders' proven formula of combining state-of-the-art audio, fantasy bedrooms and group jacuzzis, with sex, drugs and celebrity jams.

Largely based on the memoirs and archives of studio co-founder Chris Stone, and supplemented by interviews with over 100 studio employees, music producers and recording artists, this is the untold story, in all its brazen glory, of the recording of classic rock'n'roll as told by the insiders who gladly toiled behind the locked doors of the most prolific recording factory of all time.

Details

ISBN13: 9780500028698
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 384
Edition:
Publication Date: 17 Jun 2025
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 23.4(H)x15.3(L)1180
Weight (gm): 1180

Author Biography

Martin Porter is an author, journalist and publisher who began his career as a technology writer/reporter in the mid-1970s for Rolling Stone, GQ and Premiere magazines. As editor and publisher of Pro Sound News, EQ, Guitar Player and Surround magazines, he has been one of the leading chroniclers of this golden period in music and audio technology. David Goggin, aka Mr Bonzai, is an award-winning author, photographer and music journalist. Together the authors manage the popular Record Plant Diaries Facebook page.

Reviews

The full story of the famed studio [featuring] tales of inspired performances, visionary engineering, needlessly destroyed equipment, pranks, drugs, government surveillance, fights, romance, sex and drugs. Yes, drugs are listed twice... Meticulously put together by Porter and Goggin... Buzz Me In provides the full picture of all that happened within the walls of each of the Record Plant's studios.-- "Mix Magazine" (6/1/2025 12:00:00 AM)
Martin Porter and David Goggin have captured the unique and inimitable vibe of the Record Plant in all its manifestations, along with the spirit of the times in which Chris Stone and Gary Kellgren invented the modern recording studio. These groundbreaking studios and the madcap professionals within were indispensable to the creation of the soundtrack to our lives, and Buzz Me In beautifully translates the sounds of popular music's high-water mark into words. A remarkable story of music, musicians, and America.--Christopher Walsh (senior writer, "East Hampton Star"; musician)
The inside story of Record Plant Studios... In '76, three number one albums were produced there: Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, The Eagles' Hotel California, and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. The authors take us through it all, play-by-play.-- "Music Connection" (4/29/2025 12:00:00 AM)
Buzz Me In is a story about three studios where I've spent thousands of hours making dozens of hit records. They remain three of my very favorite "happy places" thanks to Gary Kellgren and Chris Stone's genius. A deep, and at times hilarious, read. (Check out [the section on] "Walk This Way.")--Bill Szymczyk, producer, the Eagles, Joe Walsh, J. Geils Band, B.B. King
Martin Porter and David Goggin's Buzz Me In: Inside the Record Plant Studios traces the extraordinary history of one of the music industry's most vaunted and influential institutions. During its heyday in the 1970s and beyond, the Record Plant served as the innovative hub for one landmark album after another. In this thoroughgoing and highly entertaining book, Porter and Goggin provide readers with a guided tour of the studios, along with unforgettable stories about the producers, engineers, and artists who made the Record Plant hum.--Kenneth Womack, author of "Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans"