The "seventh floor" is studio 7B on the seventh floor at Broadcasting House, where the famous Peel Sessions were recorded.
Thanks to regulations forced on the BBC by EMI back in the 1940s, DJs were severely restricted from putting a song into rotation unless it was an official single on a major label. John Peel found a clever end-run to this: he'd hire the band members as "session musicians" to come in and record a "cover" of their own song, which then counted as BBC content, so he could play it as often as he liked. By 1982, the Peel Sessions were a cultural institution, which Peel had used to break hundreds of bands, in a dozen new genres from psychedelic to punk.
Echo & the Bunnymen were particular faves of Peel's, and they were appreciative. In 1979, their demos had been rejected by all of the labels, but after their first Peel Session, Warner not only signed them, but created a new imprint (Korova) to sign similar bands. And Peel kept bringing them back—in the middle of recording Porcupine, they did their 4th session in 3 years, which got "Back of Love" heavy airplay before it was released as a single.
The "seventh floor" is studio 7B on the seventh floor at Broadcasting House, where the famous Peel Sessions were recorded.
Thanks to regulations forced on the BBC by EMI back in the 1940s, DJs were severely restricted from putting a song into rotation unless it was an official single on a major label. John Peel found a clever end-run to this: he'd hire the band members as "session musicians" to come in and record a "cover" of their own song, which then counted as BBC content, so he could play it as often as he liked. By 1982, the Peel Sessions were a cultural institution, which Peel had used to break hundreds of bands, in a dozen new genres from psychedelic to punk.
Echo & the Bunnymen were particular faves of Peel's, and they were appreciative. In 1979, their demos had been rejected by all of the labels, but after their first Peel Session, Warner not only signed them, but created a new imprint (Korova) to sign similar bands. And Peel kept bringing them back—in the middle of recording Porcupine, they did their 4th session in 3 years, which got "Back of Love" heavy airplay before it was released as a single.