Foo Fighters's Sonic Highway & BFC

I've been watching the excellent Sonic Highways. TV series. This is an 8 episode documentary by Dave Grohl where he shows how 8 cities and their musical character inspired each song on the latest Foo. Fighters Album. Each episode culminates in the recording of a track in one of the cities iconic studios.

This weeks episode is Seattle, where Nirvana and Alice in Chains recorded at Robert Lang Studios.

Robert Lang himself is wearing a Barnsley FC shirt during the interviews. Legend.

 

http://www.foofighterslive.com/2014...re-about-to-be-born-even-if-he-didnt-know-it/

 

I like some of their songs, don't own a record of theirs, but gotta say it's an amazing doc

You need to be a fan of band as they are hardly in it, just a music fan with a love of US and musical heritage

Awesome

 

Sorry don't need to be a fan

 

Yeah the series is great. Couldn't believe seeing the super reds logo in there

 

Fascinating! I had no idea a reds fan was involved! Can't wait to see the episode now! Big fan of the foos and have really enjoyed the series so far. Also read Ben Gibbard from Death cab for Cutie; another band I really like, was involved in the seattle episode

 

how come he's a barnsley fan?

 

Glory supporter.

 

I'm not a fan of the Foo Fighters' music, but I do like Dave Grohl. Seems like such a genuine, nice bloke. I was once flicking through the channels and stopped at Grohl being interviewed. I ended up watching a whole documentary on the band and found it really enjoyable, even though I don't care for the music. I've seen a couple of these Sonic Highways shows and they really are very good. Recommended even if, like me, you're not bothered about the Foo Fighters.

 

Finally watched the episode, and wanted to find out more about the Barnsley connection.

So I asked on Facebook, and received the following reply:

'Robert's mother was from Barnsley, and his relatives still live there! His cousin John brought him the shirt last year while his SH interview was being filmed!'

So there we go!

 

Awesome. I have followed the series closely but haven't seen the last 2 episodes yet. I will watch out for this now. I may have to consider wearing my Reds shirt for their Wembley gig now!

 

Could this also be the connection


Highway To Highway To Hell

“Hitting some of those notes was a real challenge,” says Tony Platt who engineered Back In Black alongside producer Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange after having mixed Highway To Hell and overdubbed a Scott vocal. “There was a massive amount of pressure on Brian’s shoulders, but everyone was very sympathetic and supportive of him. We were all completely in awe of what he was doing and there were lots of positive vibes. So, whenever he had a moment of ‘I’m not sure I can do this,’ there were plenty of people around to tell him quite clearly that he could.

“Recording a band like AC/DC, the main thing I had to do was avoid screwing up. They were constantly providing the goods and I therefore had to be there to catch them at the right moment. Well, that was even more important with regard to Brian, because if I didn’t capture some of his performances the first time around it would have been a really steep climb for him to get back to that same place. Those vocals were absolutely incredible and what he achieved was quite extraordinary. He and Bon were totally different types of singer. Whereas Bon’s voice was extremely quirky, Brian’s was sheer power.”

The producer and/or engineer of anyone from Bob Marley, Toots & the Maytals, Aswad and Jazz Jamaica All Stars to Free, Iron Maiden, Motörhead, the Cult, Cheap Trick and Buddy Guy, Tony Platt moved from the Yorkshire town of Barnsley to the Oxfordshire town of Henley–on–Thames when he was seven–years–old and secured his first job as a tea boy and makeshift tape machine operator at Central London’s independent Trident Studios in 1969. Six months later, he then became a fully fledged tape op at Basing Street Studios, owned by Island Reco

 

Mut Lang from tarn never knew that

 

From Zambia according to Wiki.

 

Different bloke.

 

A good friend of mine went to the gig in DC they did for the series.
He said it was the best live gig he has been to and hes been to a lot.

 

Thanks to all who’ve posted on here. I only noticed this thread yesterday and haven't posted on here before.

I’m the John, Bob’s cousin, mentioned in an earlier post from Thrappo Tyke. It was me who took Bob the shirt in October 2013 (a year before the programme was broadcast), fortuitously so as it so happened that Dave Grohl was due there just a few days later to make a film about Seattle music. Grohl was going to interview Bob at the studio. Nirvana did their last studio recording there and Foo Fighters their first so Grohl has a history with the place. He lived close by in the early 90s. They recorded there again last year for the Sonic Highways LP. If you can believe it I saw Nirvana live in 92, and both bought the first FF LP and saw the accompanying tour back in 95 without realising the connection between Grohl and my cousin Bob.

Bob’s mum, Nora Lang (nee Brook), was born in Sackville Street in the 20s. She was my mum’s sister. Nora joined the army towards the end of the war and did support work after the Normandy invasion. While serving in Belgium she met an American GI, Chuck Lang, and after the war became a GI bride in Seattle. They had two kids, Bob and Karen, and didn’t come back to England till 1970 by which time my aunt Nora had a broad American accent. Bob was with them then and came back in 1978 when he honeymooned in England.

Nora and Chuck were on the front page of the Chronicle back in 1970 saying they planned to retire to Barnsley and about 10 years later they did. Nora though had cancer and wanted to die over here, where she had been born and brought up. They actually lived next door to Jack Charlton at Rockley Old Hall in Worsborough when he managed Wednesday. Nora died in the 80s and was cremated at Ardsley. Chuck moved back to Seattle. He died last year.

Bob started the studio in 1974 and is still running and developing it. Essentially he had a small home on a large rock overlooking the Puget Sound and he developed the studio by digging down and down. He’s still digging and will soon pass the Earth’s core to install a new mixing desk. I think Nirvana called it Bob’s Bunker. It used to have a street level door that artists signed. Kurt Cobain signed it and the door is now on display in the Hard Rock café in central Seattle.

I decided to try and meet up with Bob about two years ago as apart from a brief occasion at Gatwick in 1970 we’d never met. I wanted to take him something Barnsley-related and plumped for a Barnsley FC shirt that I bought after the Middlesbrough game in October 2013, the one when Paddy McCourt scored THAT goal.

I flew out a couple of days later and stayed in a motel near the studio in Shoreline. I then just knocked on the door to the studio having checked with neighbours that this was indeed the right place (there’s no sign). As luck had it Bob was home and in the room where I happened to knock. I introduced myself and gave him the shirt as a present from Barnsley. I ended up staying a week and was there when Dave Grohl turned up to interview Bob. On the day itself Bob decided to wear the shirt for the interview and to emphasise his Barnsley roots. That took place on a balcony outside the home and studio. I was on the other side of the wall, my job being to look after the dog. Well you have to start somewhere in such a competitive business.

I’ve had a season ticket in the Upper East Stand for most of the last few years but due to work can’t get there much at the moment. I live in Sheffield. My mum’s still alive and has had a lot of season tickets too in the Lower East Stand but is now in a care home in Barnsley aged 84 and can’t get too often. We got to the Swindon game in the Disabled Stand and aim to get to the Rochdale game. So if you see someone pushing his mum in a wheelchair by the Ponty that day that’ll be me. My mum also has a brick in the Ponty wall dedicated to her by staff at Barnsley General. Other cousins and aunts also have season tickets.

I’m going to try and get back to Seattle this autumn and get Bob back over here. The dog needs walking if nothing else. I’m also going to try to get some studio memorabilia for the local Barnsley museum in the Town Hall. Bob’s also developing a studio in Mexico and as a deal I’ll take him to Oakwell and he can take me to Mexico. Well you can try.

All the best to Reds’ fans and if I don’t see you at the Rochdale game I’ll see you all at Wembley.

PS. Any rumours that Eddie Vedder is a Wednesday fan are not to be believed.

 

Seattle_Red, thanks for the detailed history. What a fantastic story and one fitting of the Sonic Highway series itself. Thank you.

 

Thank you for sharing!

 

The funny thing is I haven't seen the documentary yet or even bought Sonic Highways. I want to get the vinyl version with the Seattle sleeve (there are 8 different sleeves) but you can't pick a sleeve online and I've not seen it in a shop yet. I listened to some of the interview live on headphones but the dog wanted to go walkies instead.