Strawberry Studios: Exhibition marks Stockport's music recording legacy

Set up in 1967, Strawberry Studios became a hub for recording in the North

The legacy of a recording studio where 10cc, The Smiths and Joy Division created their iconic Manchester sound is being celebrated in an exhibition.

Set up 50 years ago, Strawberry Studios in Stockport was one of the few UK recording spaces outside London.

Big names including The Stone Roses, Paul McCartney and The Buzzcocks all recorded there before it shut in 1993.

On Friday, memorabilia from the studio which was co-owned by 10cc, will be on display at Stockport Museum.

Music historian Peter Wadsworth said the exhibition would help people "understand the role Strawberry played in the Manchester music narrative", something he said "has been missing for too long".

Eric Stewart's guitar from his years with 10cc is on show

Joy Division became one of the most influential and revered bands in British rock

Set up in 1967 in a 20ft square room above a record store in the town centre, it was initially called Inter-City Studios.

But after Peter Tattersall bought it for about £500 and Eric Stewart, then a member of the Mindbenders, became a partner, it was renamed Strawberry Recording Studios.

The Bay City Rollers recorded at the studios

A mural to artists who recorded at the studios is on display

They moved it to a building in nearby Waterloo Road and began to offer technical facilities that were previously unavailable in the north of England.

Backing from 10cc's Graham Gouldman and artist-management firm Kennedy Street Enterprises then turned it into a hub of northern recording until it shut in 1993.

Factory Records producer Martin Hannett later used Strawberry as his studio of choice, paving the way for a new generation of post-punk Manchester music.

Notable names who recorded at Strawberry include The Smiths, New Order, Simply Red and the Happy Mondays

"The vision of people like Peter Tattersall and 10cc, who challenged the London dominance of the recording studio industry from their studio in Stockport, deserves to be recognised and remembered," Dr Wadsworth, from the University of Manchester, said.

Strawberry Studios: I Am in Love opens on Friday and will run for a year.