Hitsville U.S.A.
The birthplace of the Motown sound in Detroit.
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via Wikipedia: Hitsville U.S.A. · see source
Hitsville U.S.A. is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house, formerly a photographers' studio, is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit near the New Center area.
Motown founder Berry Gordy bought the house in 1959 and converted it to use as the record label's administrative building and recording studio. After finding mainstream success from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, Gordy moved the label to Los Angeles and established the Hitsville West studio. Today, the property operates as the Motown Museum, which occupies the original house and an adjacent former residence.
Quick Facts
- Location
- 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan
- Year purchased
- 1959
- Original use
- Photographers' studio
- Current use
- Motown Museum
Facts from the source article.
West Grand Boulevard
In 1959, Berry Gordy formed his first label, Tamla Records, and bought the property that would become Hitsville U.S.A. The photography studio at the back was modified into a small recording studio that operated 22 hours a day, closing only from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. for maintenance. The Gordy family initially lived in the second-floor quarters. Within seven years, Motown expanded into seven additional neighboring houses. These included the Jobete Publishing office (1961), Berry Gordy Jr. Enterprises (1962), the finance department (1965), and artist personal development facilities (1966) with instructors such as Harvey Fuqua, Maxine Powell, Maurice King, and Cholly Atkins.
Two houses for administrative offices and an ITMI office were added in 1966. By the end of 1966, Motown employed over 450 people and had a gross income of $20 million. In 1967, Gordy bought the Motown mansion in Detroit's Boston-Edison Historic District. In 1968, he purchased the Donovan building and moved Motown's Detroit offices there, and also acquired Golden World Records, whose studio became Studio B.
Did You Know?
- On October 23, 1988, Michael Jackson donated a black fedora and studded white right-hand glove, along with $125,000 from his Bad World Tour, to the Motown Museum.
- Paul McCartney visited the Motown Museum in 2011 and later supported the restoration of the 1877 Steinway & Sons Model D grand piano, playing it with Berry Gordy in 2012.
More in Motown
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Hitsville U.S.A. (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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