VOX POPULI: Abbey Road Studios must be preserved for all

Forty years have passed since The Beatles disbanded.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr started pursuing individual career paths in earnest from 1968.

In the summer of 1969, the four members, anticipating dissolution, recorded their last album, "Abbey Road," to round off their career as a band.

Talking about the masterpiece, George Martin, the album's producer, said that side one turned out as Lennon had wanted and side two as McCartney and he had hoped, according to a book by the group's press officer. The remark overlaps with the band's history, which is said to have started with Lennon and ended with McCartney.

It was recently reported that Abbey Road Studios in northern London, where the album was recorded, had been put up for sale.

But in response to protests, the EMI group, which owns the studios, reportedly dropped its plans to sell the property.

Ninety percent of The Beatles songs were recorded at the studios.

The famous photo on the Abbey Road album jacket featuring the four members leaving the studios and walking single file across a pedestrian crossing stirred controversy because it implied that the band was breaking up.

The neighborhood remains a tourist attraction frequented by fans to this day.

While EMI, facing financial difficulties, looked to the value of the Abbey Road brand name, it is clearly difficult to sell such a "historic landmark."

Versatile song ideas conceived by the rare talents were given shape at the studios and transformed into a timeless "musical world heritage," to be shared and enjoyed by all humankind.

The four members functioned as a group for about seven years.

The studios, which bore witness to their talents, friendship and discord, still stand there after all these years.

The Beatles' legend weighs heavily on Abbey Road, where the band members worked together.

I feel nostalgia as a member of "the Beatles generation" who made it in time for the band's last single.

I want to believe the words of a person close to EMI who reportedly said the studios' importance had been brought home. Let it be.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 24

* * *

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.