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BBC Radio 2 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Light Programme.

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Amazing music. Played by an amazing line up.

Radio 2: Amazing music. Played by an amazing line-up. The home of great music, entertainment and documentaries

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Delve deeper into the stories behind your favourite artists.

Delve deeper into the stories behind your favourite artists, genres and moments in music history.

Delve deeper into the stories behind your favourite artists, genres and moments in music history, as we celebrate the names, places and movements that have shaped our lives.

Ardent Studios Story

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6 Music Stories: Ardent Studios Story

BBC Radio 6 Music - 6 Music Stories, Ardent Studios Story

A lost tale of rock'n'roll - behind the scenes at the legendary Memphis studio and label.

A lost tale of rock'n'roll -  the legendary Memphis studio and label where acts like Big Star, ZZ Top, Isaac Hayes, Primal Scream and The Cramps made some of their greatest records.

Everybody has heard of the great Memphis studios and labels - the likes of Sun and Stax  - but sometimes some places fly just under the radar. Like Ardent  which over its 50-year history has been the mystery train in the history of Memphis music.

Founded in the early 60s by teenage radio enthusiast John Fry, Ardent quickly gained a substantial word of mouth reputation as the studio with the best technical specs in town and the artists came flooding in.

Never a genre based operation like Sun or Stax, Ardent took on a lot of the overflow work from those studios (Isaac Hayes made all of his groundbreaking solo albums there) but also became a magnet for all sorts of musicians, from jingle creators to Bob Dylan. 

Their client list is like a who's who of classic rock, soul and blues: in addition to those mentioned above, Ardent was also home to Led Zeppelin, Sam and Dave, James Taylor, R.E.M., the Allman Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Walsh, Leon Russell, the Staples Singers and the White Stripes.

That alone would be enough to keep John Fry and Ardent in the upper echelon of rock legend, but the studio also ran a record label. And the label had Big Star.

Big Star - the brainstorm of wunderkind Alex Chilton, then of The Box Tops - are routinely referred to as the greatest band never to sell a record in their lifetime. All three of their early 1970s albums are named in Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 Of All Time, and their influence on the rock music of the last four decades is incalculable. Above all, though, the story of Ardent is the story of John Fry. He died in December 2014, only a few weeks after completing the interviews for this programme and only six days after Ardent engineer John Hampton (the Cramps, White Stripes, Raconteurs) who also features.

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Classic concerts & sessions from the BBC's vast music store. It's your musical heritage.

BBC 6 Music brings together the cutting edge music of today, the iconic and groundbreaking music of the past 40 years and unlimited access

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