"Our big problem is that we haven't got a very good name," confessed CBS' studio manager Rodger Bain to me quietly. Surely that can't be true of the studio favoured by King, Keef 'n' Mick 'n' the lads, and many other superstars, I asked.

"Oh no," he explained. "Our reputation is fine — it's our name that's not so great. You see, people see the CBS sign outside and immediately think it's an in-house operation for CBS artists only. Or they worry that the place will be full of spies from the record company... or they think they'll get treated badly because they're not on CBS. If only we had some other name on the wall outside we wouldn't have any of that."

So what exactly is the connection between the record company and the studio, Rodger?

"We're just owned by the same corporation. They're one arm of the company, we're another. And while we do have some connections — as you'd imagine, we give them a bit of discount — we're not by any means in each other's pockets. We have to make a profit and whether that comes from CBS bookings or anybody else is immaterial. We don't care who somebody's signed to, we just try and make them sound as good as we can."

I'm glad that's been cleared up. Now maybe we can talk about the musical bit. Because after all that's why discerning bands like the aforementioned Stones, Heaven 17, The Beach Boys and Wham! have been into CBS and emerged (some of them, like the Heavenly ones after a stay of many, many months) with a few reels of tape and a chuffed grin.

Let's start from the beginning. The studios (all three of them, plus a slew of ancillary facilities) were built in the early '70s. Purpose-built, mind you, not shoe-horned into the shell of a disused church, cinema, warehouse or house like so many others.

"If rates and rent had been then what they are now, there's no doubt the complex would never have even been considered," mused Rodger.

After all, it is right in the heart of London's officeland, just off Tottenham Court Road, an area where rates are measured more in pounds per square inch than square foot. Very handy for the amenities of the metropolis, but if CBS had had an inkling of the value of property in those delightful years of psychedelia and low rates, they definitely would have made the huge Studio One much smaller and probably squeezed the rest up a bit as well. However, as their foresight was less than 20/20 on this occasion, the place is very spacious and comfortable to work in.

Studio One, in fact, brings the word spacious into a whole new dimension (as an American might put it) with its capacity of 100 players (musicians, not cigarettes) in an awesome 65 by 45 foot room. It's also got a fair-sized control room which is full of a 56-channel MCI desk, automated of course, and the usual upmarket expensive extra-super-dooper gadgets like EMT echo plates, AMS processors, BBC Televisions... well, the last one's not strictly true but TV companies do pop in from time to time for theme music purposes — as you'd imagine the large studio area is just right for the orchestrated big-budget incidental stuff and there aren't many places in Central London you can use for a big herd of the men in penguin suits.

But don't get the impression that the CBS complex is one of those places who turn their noses up if you don't bow or blow your chosen instrument; I didn't tell you but Rodger B is a production veteran with such as Sabbaff on his logbook. And if you've dealt with Ozzy's 'orde...

Studio Two, therefore, is of a more comfortable Rock'n'Roll size. A healthy 30-odd feet square, and it's again equipped with an MCI console, automated of course. And studio Three is a little smaller again, albeit spacious compared to most, mixed via a Neve desk and, like all of the studios, equipped with MCI and Studer tape machines — and if you dig digital there's the possibility, again in all studios, of using Sony PCM 1610 systems. The CBS crew have decided it's the only way to go in the long run, and have therefore bought three of the smart little notes-to-numbers machines plus the relevant editing facilities.

The third studio is in fact more usually known as the Penthouse (cue smut) because, surprisingly, it's on the top of the building. This has vast benefits for bands who like to retire to play with their tapes in total privacy. Heaven 17 took it over for ages a little while ago, and on a long booking it can be used almost as your own facility. Ideal for the megastar who wants to keep away from the fans for his or her latest teenbeat opus, as well. In aid of this high-flying appeal, the studio is shortly to be refurbished and when it's finished it'll be utterly huge — a whole floor of the building, in fact, with an SSL desk and every other facility the modern-day Smash Hits cover story needs.

And talking of the facilities, there are masses of other bits, like disc cutting rooms (one incorporating the state-of-the-art Neumann VMS80 lathe), cassette mastering rooms, dubbing and editing rooms, maintenance workshops, and CBS's library of tapes which is jealously guarded because it contains such things as Wham! outtakes, Paul Young remixes... you name it.

Prices, as you would expect, aren't in the pocket-money class; but at less than £100 per hour even for the biggest room they're surprisingly reasonable. CBS, W1, £SD. OK?

CBS STUDIOS W1 (Contact Details)