Hitsville U.S.A. facts for kids
Hitsville U.S.A. is the special name given to the first main building and recording studio for Motown Records. This famous house is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit. Berry Gordy, who started Motown, bought the house in 1959.
Gordy changed the house to be the main office and recording studio for his record company. Motown became very successful from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. Because of this success, Gordy moved the company to Los Angeles. There, he created the Hitsville West studio, which worked on TV shows, movies, and music.
Today, the original "Hitsville U.S.A." building is the Motown Museum. This museum celebrates the history of the record company, its amazing artists, and its music. The museum uses the first house and another house next to it.
Contents
The Start of Hitsville U.S.A.
In 1959, Berry Gordy started his first record label, called Tamla Records. He bought the house that would become Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio. The house used to be a photography studio. Gordy changed the back part of the property into a small recording studio. This studio was open almost all day, every day, closing only for a couple of hours for cleaning. The Gordy family lived on the second floor of the house.
Motown grew very quickly. Within seven years, the company bought seven more houses nearby! These houses were used for different parts of the business:
- Hitsville U.S.A. (1959): This was the main building. The first floor had offices, a tape library, and Studio A, where many famous songs were recorded. The top floor was where the Gordy family lived at first. Later, it became offices for artists and their music.
- Jobete Publishing office (1961): This office handled sales, billing, and public relations for Motown's music.
- Berry Gordy Jr. Enterprises (1962): These were offices for Berry Gordy and his sister, Esther Gordy Edwards.
- Finance department (1965): This office managed money, like paying artists and employees.
- Artist personal development (1966): This was a special place where Motown artists learned how to be stars. They had teachers like Maxine Powell who taught them how to look and act on stage. They also had vocal coaches and choreographers like Cholly Atkins for dancing.
- Two more administrative offices (1966): These houses were used for sales, marketing, and managing travel for artists.
- ITMI (International Talent Management Inc.) office (1966): This office handled the management of the artists.
By the end of 1966, Motown had more than 450 employees. The company was making a lot of money, showing how successful it had become.
Moving and Growing
In 1967, Berry Gordy bought a new home for himself in Detroit. He then moved Motown's main offices in Detroit to a larger building called the Donovan building in 1968. In the same year, Gordy bought another record company called Golden World Records. Its recording studio became Motown's Studio B, giving them more space to record music.
In 1972, Berry Gordy decided to move Motown Records' main office to Los Angeles. Many fans felt that the company lost some of its special spirit after leaving Detroit. The original Hitsville studios, which had created so many worldwide hits, became the Motown Museum. Esther Gordy Edwards, Berry's sister, stayed in Detroit. She took care of what was left of Motown's Detroit office in the Hitsville building.
The Motown Museum Today
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Esther Gordy Edwards often received requests from people who wanted to visit the Hitsville building. She started putting up posters and gold records to show off Motown's history. She also carefully kept Studio A just as it was. Since 1985, the Hitsville U.S.A. building has been the Motown Museum. It celebrates the amazing history of the record label, its artists, and their music.
Many famous people have supported the museum. On October 23, 1988, Michael Jackson gave a black fedora hat and a special white glove to the museum. He also donated $125,000 from one of his concerts to help the museum. Esther Edwards's granddaughter, Robin Terry, is now in charge of the museum.
The Motown Museum uses three of the original houses. Hitsville U.S.A. and the Jobete office are connected. They have exhibits with costumes, photos, and records from Motown's most successful years. You can also see Motown's Studio A and Berry Gordy's apartment upstairs, which are decorated to look like they did in the 1960s. The street, West Grand Boulevard, has even been renamed "Berry Gordy, Jr. Boulevard" in the area where the museum is. The Motown Museum is one of Detroit's most popular places for tourists to visit.
In 2016, the museum announced a big plan to expand. They want to add more interactive exhibits and recording studios. Many groups have donated money to help with this expansion and with community programs.
Motown's Special Piano
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The Motown piano is a very old and famous piano. It's an 1877 Steinway & Sons Model D grand piano. Many famous musicians, including the Funk Brothers studio band, used this piano at Hitsville U.S.A. Studio B from 1967 to 1972.
On July 24, 2011, Paul McCartney (from The Beatles!) visited the Motown Museum. He was in Detroit for a concert. While he was touring Studio A, he wanted to play the Motown piano. But it wasn't working! With help from Paul McCartney, the piano was fixed in 2012. Later that year, both Paul McCartney and Berry Gordy played the piano together at a special event.
Motown got this piano when it bought Golden World Records in 1967. The Golden World studio then became Motown's Studio B. Today, you can see this historic piano on display in Studio A at the Motown Museum.
See also
- List of music museums
- Berry Gordy
- Esther Gordy Edwards
- Motown
- Music of Detroit
- The Funk Brothers
