Apostolic Studios

State-of-the-art recording studio that was founded by John Townley (2) on Tenth Street, New York City, in the Fall of 1966. It was a loft building in The Village, near Broadway, with a hand-operated freight elevator as its primary access. With the skills of technician Lou Lindauer, Townley's concept moved from the 8-track system he'd left behind at Columbia and on to 12-track Scully. Hence the then 'brand-new' concept of '12' being rather spiritual and 'Apostolic' - giving birth to the company title. This equipment also hooked into the engineering skills of Tony Bongiovi, nephew of (later-famous) Jon Bon Jovi. By the time the business launched in '67 the studio was fully booked, despite negative waves from the industry. Bands as diverse as Kenny Rogers, The Fugs and Grateful Dead took up the 12-track opportunity. Most especially Frank Zappa, who almost made it his 'recording home' for a long period, with the likes of Dick Kunc, John Kilgore and members of The Mothers. The concept of Apostolic Studios, together with its 'free and easy' ambience, was a powerful influence on other leading engineers of the time. Some 6 months after opening, in downtown New York, the studio had competition from Gary Kellgren who created Record Plant - followed by the construction of Electric Lady Studios by Jimi Hendrix just a few blocks away. Townley's wife, Gilma "Gilly" Townley, aka Gilly Townley became part of the vocal proceedings on Lumpy Gravy and Civilization Phaze III, as did other occupants of Apostolic.