AIR Studios, Montserrat

Air Studios was based in Montserrat, West Indies (Caribbean sea). It was opened by George Martin in 1979, granting tax loopholes for recording artists, but closed after a tropical hurricane in 1989 destroying 90% of its structures (wiping out the local tourist economy of the island). The building and its equipment were irreparably damaged. The property itself is also known as Olveston House. Known engineers include Steve Orchard, Steve Jackson (2)... For more than a decade, AIR Montserrat played host to recording sessions by a who’s who of rock and pop. More than 70 albums were recorded there in ten years, including Hot Hot Hot by Arrow, Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms, Ghost in the Machine and Synchronicity by The Police, Elton John’s Too Low for Zero and Steel Wheels by the Rolling Stones. Duran Duran, Ultravox, Lou Reed, Black Sabbath and Eric Clapton all passed through the idyllic Montserrat studio.