Stories of stars in the Studio at the Palms

By John Katsilometes

Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 | 10:20 a.m.

It was 3:30 a.m., and Zoe Thrall got the call.

An assistant working for the multiplatinum country band Alabama had a need: Time. As in, several hours.

And as always, Thrall held the keys.

“This was when the (Academy of) Country Music Awards were in town, and Alabama had called me a few days in advance to work in the studio, so we did that,” says Thrall, director of Studio at the Palms. “But at about 3:30 in the morning, I got the call saying that they had quite a bit of work to do, and asking if they were still authorized to use the studio.”

Thrall gave the OK, and Alabama’s recording session was wrapped a few hours later. Well, 24 hours later, actually. The entire session covered 36 hours, which is a long time in, and for, Alabama.

“There are many calls like that,” Thrall says.

The event marks the latest chapter of Studio at the Palms lore. The ultraslick recording space envisioned by hotel founder George Maloof turned six years old this month. Making this birthday, we offer Six Great Moments in Studio at the Palms History:

• Michael Jackson used the studio to record during two-week stretches in the fall of 2008 and in early 2009. He also used the studio to review a SoBe soft drink commercial that debuted during Super Bowl XLII in 2008, which featured animated lizards dancing the moves to “Thriller.” During the session, Jackson showed the animators how to make the lizards’ necks move more precisely, to closer match the famous video.

• In one remarkable session in 2007, The-Dream was using Studio Y at the same time Celine Dion was singing in Studio X. Dion overheard the song Dream was working on, and decided to record it for her own album. The song: “Skies of L.A.”

• In 2006, Maroon 5 sought to book Studio X, the larger space commonly used by bands, but the studio was already in use. So the band moved to the smaller Studio Y, which is usually reserved for isolated instruments, to record “Makes Me Wonder.” The song won a Grammy and topped the Billboard Music Charts, shooting from No. 64 to No. 1 in one week. Since then, the band has superstitiously requested Studio Y for all of its recordings in Vegas.

• The Killers recorded their ode-to-Las Vegas album “Sam’s Town” at the studio. During those sessions, the delivered meals never had enough hot sauce to appease the band. Drummer Ronnie Vannucci called the hotel’s room service department claiming to be Maloof and asked for more hot sauce to be delivered to the studio. Vannucci was swiftly sent a gallon of hot sauce, in a container engraved with his name. (Vannucci actually looks a lot like Maloof, too.)

• During sessions for his Grammy-nominated “Intuition” at the Studio, representatives of Jamie Foxx unexpectedly asked to book the studio at 4 a.m., as Foxx was in a particularly creative mood.

• Studio X was once used by Usher and photographer Annie Leibovitz for the “Got Milk” advertising campaign. The lead shot shows the R&B star leaning against a piano, grinning while wearing a thin, milk mustache.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.