Stockholm, Sweden, May 3, 2024 — The First of May marked the twentieth anniversary of the closing of the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm after 26 years of operation. The studio, opened on May 18, 1978, by members of ABBA and the band’s manager, famously featured a Harrison 32 Series analog mixing console — the world’s first 32-bus, inline desk.
The 4032 console — a 40-channel, 32 Series desk — was given serial number 045 and was delivered to Polar Studios in January 1978. The input channel modules were modified by Harrison to allow headphones to be fed from buses 25 through 32. The studio later added a 16-channel input extender as a sidecar.
Gary Thielman, President of Harrison Audio, comments “The 32 Series at Polar really contributed to the soundtrack of an era. I recall a conversation with Dave (Harrison), with me going crazy about all this amazing music being made on our consoles…he was so focused on perfecting designs that he simply viewed it as ‘doing his job’.”
ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, together with the band’s manager, Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, owner of the Polar Music recording label, opened Polar Studios in a disused former movie theater in the center of Stockholm. Having recorded previous ABBA albums and singles at a variety of studios in Sweden the intention was to create a modern production studio where the band could work at their own pace and to provide facilities for other Polar label artists. Anderson founded the label in 1963.
ABBA recorded their final three albums — Voulez-Vous, Super Trouper and The Visitors — and two non-LP singles, “The Day Before You Came” and “Under Attack,” at Polar. The very first song recorded at the studio was the global hit “Chiquitita,” the lead single from Voulez-Vous, which was released in January 1979. The Visitors became one of mainstream pop’s first digital releases in 1981 when it was recorded to Polar’s new 3M digital tape machine. All four ABBA members recorded solo projects at the studio after the band split up in 1982.
Most major Swedish artists recorded at Polar, as did a very long list of international artists, including the Rolling Stones, Backstreet Boys, Chic, the Ramones, Roxy Music and Celine Dion. Led Zeppelin recorded their 1979 album In Through the Out Door at Polar and Genesis recorded Duke in 1980, with the band’s lead vocalist and drummer Phil Collins going on to produce, with Hugh Padgham, ABBA singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad’s solo album, Something’s Going On, at the studio.
Anderson bought out partners Ulvaeus and Andersson in 1984 before selling the facility to a business partnership comprising his daughter, son-in-law and Lennart Östlund, Polar’s chief engineer since 1978. The building was later sold to a Swedish insurance company and the building became a private housing cooperative, which raised the rent. With the business no longer economically viable, Polar Studios closed.
Note: The console is now housed in the ABBA museum, Stockholm Sweden.
About Harrison
Harrison has been designing, manufacturing, and marketing audio mixing consoles in Nashville, Tennessee (Music City, USA) since 1975. Our products serve the markets of music recording/mixing, international film and television sound production, audio post production, broadcast sound, and live sound reinforcement. Over 1,500 Harrison consoles have been installed worldwide, constituting a significant share of the overall world market for high-end audio consoles. Harrison’s dominance of the high-end market demonstrates that customers who require solutions to complex problems invariably turn to Harrison to provide the answer.
