Hitsville U.S.A.

So there's a video, and I gotta think, I wanna say it's Motown something.

It's called Motown Hitsville or something like that.

So at the end of the video, they show how Marvin Gaye created What's Going On.

And this is the wildest shit ever.

Now, there was a plan to go there, but it never went through.

They had other ideas of also recording at Atlantic Records Studios in New York and Motown's Hitsville studio in Detroit, but those also didn't go through.

They ended up recording the album at Abbey Road Studios.

And then in March of 1966, journalist Maureen Cleave of the Evening Standard interviewed John Lennon.

Now, the Temptations are not originally from Detroit.

And some artists aren't because, you know, they went to, you know, what was it called? Hitsville to record.

Wasn't that? Yeah.

Right.

The book is called It's No Wonder, The Life and Times of Motown's legendary songwriter Sylvia Moy.

It's a fascinating backstory about what was really going on inside Hitsville, USA.

And I am pleased to welcome Margina Christian to this program.

Margina, it's been too long.

He just did not put that in his memoir unless he wrote another one that I'm not aware

of.

I love these fascinating backstories about what was really happening inside Hitsville, USA.

He hadn't had a hit for a while.

They had j- they'd ar- they...

Hitsville, um, was still rec- the recording studio, but my meeting was set up at the Woodward Building.

They had recently moved to, um, the Woodward Building.

I was very nervous.

All right, for the afternoon, I would say that you can choose one of two things.

If you are here after spring, summer of 2027, I would highly recommend going and spending the afternoon in the Motown Museum.

Unfortunately, right now, the Motown Museum is closed for renovation.

You can still go there and you can still get your picture out front with Hitsville, USA, but there's a lot of construction going on and you can't do the tour through the recording studio.

The website said that they're reopening in spring 2027, but I would say anytime spring, summer, I would verify that it's actually open before you come if that is something that you really want to see.

It's just a really good experience.

I don't know exactly what it's going to be like after they get done with all of the renovations, but I highly recommend going and hearing about the history of Motown there.

As an alternative, if you're here when the Motown Museum is still closed or if diving into the automotive industry is more of your interest, you can head on over to Dearborn, Michigan, which is where Ford is headquartered.

And now you get a whole different roster of people from around the country that could come here for an entirely different reason.

And it's not just Hitsville anymore.

No.

Or it's not just, you know, for a big event.

I know Gamble Huff and Tom Bell and all those groups are celebrated.

But like, you know, when you go to Motown, there's the Motown Museum.

You know, they really preserve that.

Yeah.

And by the Motown subsidy label, Tamla Records on LP.

Because what happened, Motown moved from Hitsville, USA to the Golden Studios in Detroit.

And Marvin Gaye caused a bit of disruption there, as he always did.

Jack, here's your request for you.