"TTG" stood for "tilhas teezee gescheften", an Israeli slang expression made of Arabic and Yiddish words, meaning 'kiss my A-- business" The studio was at 1441 North McCadden Place near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue, in Hollywood section of Los Angeles. The building was built in 1927, an active period in Hollywood. The Grauman Chinese Theater, the Roosevelt Hotel and the Hollywood Athletic Club are all nearby and date from the same period. 1441 North McCadden was originally the home of the Hollywood Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization affiliated with the Catholic church. The Knights were foreclosed during the depression of the 1930s. The next owner was Radio Recorders, which converted the ground floorbilliards room and half the lounge into a state of the art recording studio. In turn it housed the Blue Network and other entertainment related companies. In the mid 1960s the building was leased by TTG and they converted the second story main hall into a mega studio that could accommodate up to 100 musicians. TTG was notable as the first to be equipped with a 16-track tape recorder, devised by co-owner Hidley, at a time when 4 or 8-track recording was still the norm. Meticulously and innovatively built by partner Hidley, with a high decibel level threshold, their studio became popular with the up-and-coming rock musicians of that time, including The Monkees, Eric Burdon, Frank Zappa with The Mothers of Invention, and Alice Cooper. Burdon introduced Jimi Hendrix to the studio and Hendrix "raved" about the studio's sound. TTG went out of business in 1985, and the owner sold the building to Yoram and Peggy Kahana, owners and directors of Shooting Star International, a photo agency. It took them three years to retrofit the cinder block structure, restore the main hall and third floor balcony to their original state, and adapt it to the needs of the agency that moved in December 1990. However the Kahanas kept the ground floor recording studio and upgraded it. It is now occupied by their tenant WAX LTD, the multi-platinum production and songwriting record label of Wally Gagel and Xandy Barry. Other tenants are Fame, a talent agency, and WICK Studios, a photo and video rental space.
Tom Hidley
TTG Studios' co-founder was Tom Hidley. He was born May 27, 1931 in Los Angeles, California. As a teen, he spent long hours playing the saxophone, clarinet, and flute, until ordered to cease by his physician after a physical breakdown. He then turned to non-performance aspects of music, and spent nights recording at clubs and days working at loudspeaker and tape-machine companies. In 1959, "Madman Muntz" hired Hidley to assist in the development of the first car stereo. Among the first to own a Muntz car stereo was Frank Sinatra, the famous singer and actor. Through Sinatra's purchase, Hidley became known to a Sinatra associate Val Valentin, who invited Hildley to assist in the building of a new recording studio in New York. In 1962, they built the MGM/Verve studio. In 1964, Phil Ramone hired Hidley to work at his A&R studio as the audio technical manager. Also employed at that time by A&R was Ami Hadani. Hidley went on to found Westlake Recording Studios in the 1970s, a facility which was highly influential in standardizing acoustic design in the recording industry and which has been used by a large number of prominent vocal artists.
Ami Hadani
TTG co-founder Amnon "Ami" Hadani was born August 19, 1929. He was credited as Omi Hadan on some records. Hadani's association with MGM/Verve artists preceded TTG and his work with rock groups. He engineered albums by jazzmen Ray Brown and Milt Jackson, actress Lainie Kazan, and location recording for standup comicShelley Berman. According to Bruce Botnick, Hadani was a General in the Israeli Air Force, and had to leave for weeks at a time when Israel was at war. Ami Hadani was married to actress/screenwriter Ellen Weston and they had one child, Jonathan Hadani. They were divorced when their son was six years old. Ami remarried Christine Ermacoff, a studio cellist. Ami Hadani died on September 22, 2014 in Los Angeles.
