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Bonham's Polar kit and article


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  PolarStudios.jpg

I follow a Bonham drum enthusiast on YouTube. He posted a link to this pic of Boham's kit in the Polar Studios, with the following: 

"Most die-hard Led Zeppelin scholars have always concluded it shoes the Silver Sparkle Ludwig kit Bonham received in 1975 (and allegedly used on the album Presence), but leading Bonhamolgist Nigel Foreskin has determined it to be : THE STAINLESS STEEL BONHAM GIGGING KIT."

He also posted a link to a nice article on the closure of Polar studio with interesting stuff about Zep (I put the link to the full article at the bottom of the Zep content below):

We sit down in the control room and Lennart Östlund finally finds a working socket for a CD-player. Proudly I pull out the surprise out of my bag, Led Zeppelin's last album "In through the out door" in a brown paper cover. Lennart was here helping to record it in December 1978. He hasn't really listened to it since then.

-They were here for three weeks, they came on a Monday and left on a Friday. I remember that they weren't allowed to stayed at Grand (Hotel), because the drummer John Bonham had a bad reputation. But they were mellow. No one recognized them when we went out. The most important thing to them was that each week they'd have a cassette to bring home to their wives, as a proof that they had been working.

He sniffs at the fact that three songs are missing on the CD. Then once again John Bonham's powerful drums echo throughout the studio.

-He sat there, in the "stone room" in front of the cloud panel. With two sets of drums, Lennart Östlund remembers. But to get the right echo effect, we moved the speaker for the base drum out to the reception and put a microphone in front of it.

He shows me the wooden room, where the guitar player Jimmy Page stood, and the soft room, the extremely dry, where Robert Plant sang what we're listening to right now.

-Oh, he really sang false there, did you hear it? But it doesn't matter. These days you can correct things like that, but the music hasn't necessarily become any more fun because of that.

We listen to another track. The next song begins with a synthesizer sound which sounds familiar. ABBA? Lennart nods.

-Led Zeppelin liked ABBA. And that is really ABBA's synthesizer, the "Does your mother know"-synthesizer. I even think that Benny got the string sound from John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin's bass- and piano player).

I call Benny back to check with him.

-This is how it was, says Benny. I had the same synthesizer as Led Zeppelin, a so-called dream machine. It was there in the studio. So John Paul Jones just brought his own sounds with him and put them in. He has a fantastic string sound which he had made. "Oh", I said, "that sounds so good, can I have it?"

-Then later I received a package in the mail with four cassettes in it. That string sound appears in many ABBA songs. I still use it quite often.

http://www.saladrecords.com/PolarStudioClosesEN.htm

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Thank you for posting that article. The part about the cassette having to be presented to their wives as being proof of their work genuinely made me giggle.

It is also clear that Zep influenced the last studio LP by Abba. The Visitors track especially makes so much more sense knowing the bands crossed paths.

An interesting read.

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I heard today from from someone who'd seen my video that the original resolution pic is in the book that came with the official LZ ITTOD deluxe package. He was kind enough to send me a link to the photo. The link also has 2 other pics that show one of JPJ's keyboards as well as the board in the control room.

 

http://s44.photobucket.com/user/lcondo123/media/Polar%20Studios%201978%20Super%20Deluxe%20Box%20Set/In%20Through%20The%20Out%20Door%20Book%2005_zpsa3zdkt2a.png.html?sort=3&o=0

 

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On 3/24/2016 at 0:38 AM, Bonzoleum said:

I heard today from from someone who'd seen my video that the original resolution pic is in the book that came with the official LZ ITTOD deluxe package. He was kind enough to send me a link to the photo. The link also has 2 other pics that show one of JPJ's keyboards as well as the board in the control room.

 

http://s44.photobucket.com/user/lcondo123/media/Polar%20Studios%201978%20Super%20Deluxe%20Box%20Set/In%20Through%20The%20Out%20Door%20Book%2005_zpsa3zdkt2a.png.html?sort=3&o=0

 

Hiya Terry! That was me over on YouTube that sent you the link to the booklet (TheRover1977). Small world, huh? :lol:

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Just from listening to In Through the Out Door and hearing John's drums live in 1977 and 1979, the drums sound deeper and a bit metallic and sound like they're the same drums. Especially if you listen to All of My Love drum track that's out there on YouTube or something, those drums don't have the warm sound that the Green Sparkles have. They sound way more bombastic and louder to me.

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  • 4 years later...
10 hours ago, porgie66 said:

Does anyone have the photo from Polar that apparently showed the GX1 and a marimba? I recall seeing that but I cannot find it anywhere! Mandela Effect?? 🙃

Never mind , I found it. I always figured Jonesy must've handled the marimba duties on FITR. I doubt they hired a percussionist but if they did, they aren't credited.

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