RAK Studios facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
RAK Studios

Type	Private
Industry	Music
Founded	1976; 49 years ago (1976) in St John's Wood, London, UK
Founder	Mickie Most
Headquarters	42-48 Charlbert Street, London , England

RAK Studios is a famous place in London, England, where musicians go to record their songs. It's a special building with different rooms designed for making music. There are also places for the musicians to stay while they are working. The studio is located near Regent's Park in the center of London. A record producer named Mickie Most started RAK Studios in 1976.

A Look Back: RAK Studios' History

The building where RAK Studios is located has a long and interesting past! It's a very old Victorian building. Before it became a music studio, it was used as a school and even a church hall. Later, a company called ATV owned it and used it for practicing TV shows. Finally, in 1976, it became the amazing RAK Studios we know today.

Inside the Studios: Recording Rooms

RAK Studios has four main rooms where artists record their music. Each room is special and has different equipment:

• Studio 1 and 2: These studios have special mixing desks called API consoles. These are used to control and blend all the sounds together.
• Studio 3: This room has a very old and famous mixing desk called a Neve VRP Legend console. It used to be in another super famous studio, Abbey Road Studios!
• Studio 4: This is a very modern room. It's set up for amazing, immersive sound, like when sound comes from all around you. It's also great for mixing regular stereo music.

Famous Songs Recorded at RAK Studios

Many popular songs that you might know were recorded right here at RAK Studios! Here are just a few:

• "In a Big Country" – Big Country
• "Bigmouth Strikes Again" – The Smiths
• "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" – The Jam
• "Every 1's a Winner" – Hot Chocolate
• "Fairytale of New York" – The Pogues
• "Hold Me Now" – Thompson Twins
• "Kids in America" – Kim Wilde
• "Living Next Door to Alice" – Smokie
• "Shattered Dreams" – Johnny Hates Jazz
• "Some Girls" – Racey
• "Iron Deer Dream" – Fixers
• "Vienna" – Ultravox
• "When Love Breaks Down" – Prefab Sprout
• "Histórias e Bicicletas" – Oficina G3

RAK Mobile: A Studio on Wheels

Did you know RAK also had a recording studio that could move? It was called the RAK Mobile. This was a special truck built in 1973 by an engineer named Doug Hopkins. He called it the Trans European Audio Mobile, or TEAM.

Mickie Most, who founded RAK Studios, wanted to rent this mobile studio for some projects in France. But Doug Hopkins suggested that it would be better if Mickie just bought the truck! So, Mickie Most bought the mobile studio and renamed it the RAK Records Mobile. This happened two years before he even opened the main RAK Studios building. It was like having a recording studio that could travel anywhere!