VIA PRESS RELEASE | Manchester University Press is delighted to announce the forthcoming release of Studio Electrophonique by writer and filmmaker Jamie Taylor. Scheduled for publication in April 2025, this is the amazing story of the home studio in Sheffield that helped launch some of Britain’s most beloved bands.
The Sheffield space age began in 1961, when local mechanic Ken Patten won a tape-recording competition by recreating the sound of a rocket launch using a pencil and a bicycle pump. In the decades that followed, the makeshift home studio he constructed became the launch pad for a group of young musicians who would shape the futuristic sound of 1980s pop. The Human League, Heaven 17, Pulp, ABC and others made their early recordings with Ken, whose DIY ethic was the perfect fit for a city facing industrial decline but teeming with ideas.
Studio Electrophonique tells the story of a generation seeking new frontiers in music, using everything they could lay their hands on—from science fiction novels to glam rock, Dada art and cheap electronics—to get there. Drawing on original interviews with Jarvis Cocker, Martyn Ware, Mark White and others, it brings to light a world of humour, charm, creativity, and unfounded yet undaunted self-belief.
Jamie Taylor is a writer and filmmaker from Sheffield. He is the director of The Campaigners and A Film about Studio Electrophonique. Studio Electrophonique is the second book in MUP’s exciting new British Pop Archive series, edited by industry luminaries including Jon Savage, John Robb, Adelle Stripe, and BBC Radio 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins. Drawing on a rich variety of sources, the series aims to entertain, inform, and uncover untold stories from the realm of music, popular culture, and counterculture.
Manchester University Press is one of the leading academic publishers in the UK and has been publishing groundbreaking research since 1904. With a commitment to quality scholarship and innovative publishing, MUP continues to advance knowledge and inspire new discoveries across various disciplines.
