Having lived in London nearly all my life and considering myself an avid music fan, as happy in the mud of Reading Festival or Glastonbury as I am in the upper balconies of the Royal Opera house weeping as the fat lady sings, I naturally jumped on an opportunity to step inside the iconic Abbey Road Studios for the first time.

As part of the London landmark’s 80th anniversary the general public was treated to a rare chance to peak inside its revered walls. Stepping past the heavily graffitied wall (tributes to the Dark Side of The Moon and declarations of love to the individual members of The Beatles) feels like trespassing and when I overheard the man in the queue in front on me nonchalantly mention that he had arrived from Maine earlier in the day to make the series – I began to realise how special this would be.

The lobby is adorned with images of legends, from the golden age of Peter Sellers or Cilla Black to some modern favourites Sting, The Killers, Alanis. Guests were shuffled along the corridor and down to Studio 2 where the talk would be taking place.

The room itself is more disregarded school gym than high-tech equipment and padded walls – but these walls, peeling paint and all, speak. Set up around the room is recording equipment so old it’s no longer obsolete, but now antique. For those who really know there stuff, there was a Struder JS7, BTR-2 and BTR- 3 tape recorders and a mixing desk which apparently still works. For those less techy (like me), there was a collection of beautiful pianos, including the one used to record The White Album.

After plenty of time to stare at and photograph the artefacts the lecture began. A whirlwind 90 minute talk to take you from the opening of the studio doors in 1931 through its prolific history to what still makes it unique today. It was expertly delivered by Brian Kehew and Kevin Ryan, authors of Recording the Beatles, a likeable duo and one gets the impression they are a walking Wikipedia on all things the Fabulous Four. Once the history of recording itself was briefly glossed over, with the founding of His Master’s Voice and the obedient looking Nipper perched next to the gramophone – thankfully skipping the ‘and here’s the science bit’, we moved onto the founding of Abbey Road Studios itself – or as it was know then the HMV recording studios. I was delighted to discover that the first ever recording was the majestic Pomp and Circumstance, conducted by Elgar himself. The recording was filmed and it’s somewhat amusing to see the entire orchestra fighting for a spot near the single hanging microphone, back before the sound could easily be picked up by all in the room. That recording took place in Studio 1 which was across the way from us and is around twice the size. This studio now tends to be the home for orchestral recordings of film scores and the movie posters flashing on the screen to represent this included every box-office smash from the last 30 years I could name.

Moving onto more modern times, we were shown how the space evolved and grew over the years; encroaching on neighbours’ gardens, updating constantly to keep up with changes in recording and regularly receiving noise complaints despite best efforts to the contrary. Unseen footage from studio employees meant rare glimpses of some of the stars in their natural habitat. Cilla Black was a joy to work with and men flocked in their droves to see the handsome Peter Sellers when he was recording with Sophia Loren, apparently.

Though keen to push the point that the studios’ history is far more than The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Hollies and pop, it was with grateful anticipation that the crowd received the news that we’d reached the rock and roll era of the fifties and sixties.

No recording equipment was allowed (rather ironically) so the fact-fiend that I am was constantly scribbling in my notebook. It was genuinely fascinating to discover what a key part in the history of music Abbey Road has played, particularly in this most famous time.

I had, perhaps rather naively, assumed that while Abbey road was part of history, it hadn’t contributed independently, more incidentally. In truth The Beatles may well have not been The Beatles if they’d recorded elsewhere. There were a number of factors added by the studio staff, ethos and bricks and mortar. Firstly, due to its age, heritage and size there was always a broad array of musical instrument and other paraphernalia hanging around, which could be whipped out at a moments notice and made being creative that little bit easier. Experimenting with sound was especially encouraged and the echo chamber off studio two was regularly used by The Beatles as the sound that the advanced recording equipment took was ‘too clean’. The popular night-time recording sessions, that many other studios didn’t humour also meant that artists could practically hole themselves up for days and let the creative juices flow unencumbered.

Pink Floyd’s engineer for their most famous recording was Alan Parsons (later of the Alan Parsons Project) and is credited with many of the sonic effects which led to the albums unusual flavour and unbelievable commercial success. If they’d recorded elsewhere the Dark Side of the Moon may have never reached those heights.

I wouldn’t want to give away too many of the studio’s secrets as it is still the world’s most respected (used by the likes of Lady Gaga)– but if the doors open again any time soon I would highly recommend jumping on a plane from wherever you are and grabbling a slice of pop history. It will be well worth it. Unless of course you’re lucky enough to be invited to record there yourself.

Check the Abbey Road Studios website for information on future talks and events.