Zomba Group era (1980–2001) Originally established in the early 1970s as Morgan Studio 3 and 4, the studios were purchased in 1980 by
Zomba Group and re-named Battery Studios, initially catering to Jive and Zomba artists, but later also open to outside projects. Battery Studios in London featured a 32-track
Mitsubishi recorder and
Fairlight CMI sampling synthesizer workstations, The new owners hired a team of "in-house producers" which included
Robert John "Mutt" Lange,
Martin Birch,
Tony Platt,
Chris Tsangarides and Nigel Green. Birch recorded such albums as
Iron Maiden's
Killers (1981), and
The Number of the Beast (1982), as well as portions of
Whitesnake's
Saints & Sinners (1982) at the studio. and
The Stone Roses'
debut studio album In 1984,
Billy Ocean and recorded his international breakthrough album
Suddenly at Battery for Zomba subsidiary
Jive Records. Ocean would return to the studios to record "
When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" hit song from
The Jewel of the Nile Soundtrack,
Love Zone (1986), and
Tear Down These Walls (1988). In 2001, Zomba Group announced withdrawal from the recording business in the U.K., citing the growth of project studios and decreased demand from record labels for commercial studio services.
Assault & Battery (2005–2020) In 2005,
Flood and
Alan Moulder purchased the former Morgan Studio 4, which they re-named Assault & Battery 1, outfitting it with a 72-channel
Solid State Logic SL 4000 G+ acquired from
Trent Reznor that had previously been in use at his New Orleans recording studio. This studio was remodeled and outfitted with a 60-channel
Neve VR60 mixing console. In 2012,
Foals recorded
Holy Fire at the studio with Flood, Moulder, and engineer
Catherine Marks. In 2019, Studio 2 was refurbished and equipped with the
Cadac recording console used by
Radiohead to record
OK Computer.
Return to Battery Studios (2021–present) In 2021,
Miloco entered a joint partnership with Flood and Alan Moulder to manage the studios going forward, and returned the facilities to the original Battery Studios name. In April 2026, a petition circulated to prevent the studio from demolition to make room for flats. ==References==