United Sound Systems is a recording studio and locally designated historic district in Detroit, Michigan, United States.[1] Many popular music artists over the last seventy years have recorded at the facility, including blues musicians like John Lee Hooker (he recorded "Boogie Chillen'" there in 1948), and funk bands like Funkadelic. The studio was also the site of the first recording for Berry Gordy's Tamla label in 1959, starting what would become Motown Records. The building is threatened by a planned highway service drive expansion by the Michigan Department of Transportation.[2] The studio ownership changed in 2009 and eventually reopened in 2014.[3] It was designated a local historic district by the City of Detroit in 2015.[4]
Others who have recorded at the studio include Aretha Franklin, Johnnie Ray, Dizzy Gillespie, Bob Seger, Jackie Wilson, Dan Schafer and Alberta Adams.[5]
- ^ Walker, Marlon A. "I-94 expansion threatens recording studio where Motown sound got its start," Detroit Free Press, July 3, 2013.
- ^ Michigan Department of Transportation, "Final Environmental Impact Statement, 2014."
- ^ Hoerler, Eli DiSante. "Detroit's United Sound Systems Studio Slowly Gets Its Groove Back," Deadline Detroit, February 10, 2014
- ^ Lewis, Mathew. "Giving United Sound, Detroit's other landmark music studio, its due". Model D. Model D. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- ^ historical marker at building