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Hitsville U.S.A.
"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 of the city. Motown founder Berry Gordy bought the house in 1959.
Gordy converted the house to use it 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 working in television and film production as well as music production.
Today, the "Hitsville U.S.A." property operates as the Motown Museum, which is dedicated to the legacy of the record label's artists and music. The museum occupies the original house and an adjacent former residence.
In 1959, Gordy formed his first label, Tamla Records, and purchased the property that would become Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio. The photography studio located in the back of the property was modified into a small recording studio, which was open 22 hours a day (closing from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. for maintenance), and the Gordys moved into the second-floor living quarters. Within seven years, Motown would occupy seven additional neighboring houses:
By the end of 1966, Motown had hired over 450 employees and had a gross income of $20 million.
In 1967, Berry Gordy purchased what is now known as the Motown mansion, in Detroit's Boston-Edison Historic District, as his home, leaving his previous home to his sister Anna and her then-husband, Marvin Gaye (photos for the cover of his album What's Going On were taken there). In 1968, Gordy purchased the Donovan building, on the corner of Woodward Avenue and Interstate 75, and moved Motown's Detroit offices there (the Donovan building was demolished in January 2006 to provide parking spaces for Super Bowl XL). In the same year Gordy purchased Golden World Records and its recording studio became Motown's Studio B.
In 1972, Gordy relocated the Motown Records headquarters to Los Angeles. The original Hitsville studios, which had produced a long string of worldwide hits, is now the Motown Museum. The next year, he reorganized the company; it became Motown Industries, an entertainment conglomerate which would include record, movie, television and publishing divisions. Many Motown fans believed the company's heart and soul were lost following the move and that its golden age of creativity ended after its 13 years in Detroit. Esther Gordy Edwards refused to move to California and was put in charge of what was left of Motown's Detroit office in the Hitsville building.
Edwards received several requests to visit the Hitsville building. She and her secretary put up posters and gold records. She also carefully preserved Studio A. Since 1985, the Hitsville U.S.A. building has been the site of the Motown Museum, dedicated to the legacy of the record label, its artists, and its music.
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Hitsville U.S.A.
"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 of the city. Motown founder Berry Gordy bought the house in 1959.
Gordy converted the house to use it 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 working in television and film production as well as music production.
Today, the "Hitsville U.S.A." property operates as the Motown Museum, which is dedicated to the legacy of the record label's artists and music. The museum occupies the original house and an adjacent former residence.
In 1959, Gordy formed his first label, Tamla Records, and purchased the property that would become Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio. The photography studio located in the back of the property was modified into a small recording studio, which was open 22 hours a day (closing from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. for maintenance), and the Gordys moved into the second-floor living quarters. Within seven years, Motown would occupy seven additional neighboring houses:
By the end of 1966, Motown had hired over 450 employees and had a gross income of $20 million.
In 1967, Berry Gordy purchased what is now known as the Motown mansion, in Detroit's Boston-Edison Historic District, as his home, leaving his previous home to his sister Anna and her then-husband, Marvin Gaye (photos for the cover of his album What's Going On were taken there). In 1968, Gordy purchased the Donovan building, on the corner of Woodward Avenue and Interstate 75, and moved Motown's Detroit offices there (the Donovan building was demolished in January 2006 to provide parking spaces for Super Bowl XL). In the same year Gordy purchased Golden World Records and its recording studio became Motown's Studio B.
In 1972, Gordy relocated the Motown Records headquarters to Los Angeles. The original Hitsville studios, which had produced a long string of worldwide hits, is now the Motown Museum. The next year, he reorganized the company; it became Motown Industries, an entertainment conglomerate which would include record, movie, television and publishing divisions. Many Motown fans believed the company's heart and soul were lost following the move and that its golden age of creativity ended after its 13 years in Detroit. Esther Gordy Edwards refused to move to California and was put in charge of what was left of Motown's Detroit office in the Hitsville building.
Edwards received several requests to visit the Hitsville building. She and her secretary put up posters and gold records. She also carefully preserved Studio A. Since 1985, the Hitsville U.S.A. building has been the site of the Motown Museum, dedicated to the legacy of the record label, its artists, and its music.
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