how it all happened
Berry Gordy, Jr. was born November 28, 1929 in Detroit Michigan. He is the founder of Motown Records which got its start when Gordy borrowed just $800 from his family's savings. Before Motown, Gordy worked on the assembly line at the Ford Plant. While he worked he often wrote songs mentally in his head. Writing music has always been his natural gift and his dream was to become a professional songwriter. By 1959 he quit his job to pursue his dream. "Everyday I watched how a bare metal frame rolling down the line would come out the other end a spanking brand new car. Maybe I could do the same thing with my music... create a place where a kid off the street could walk in one door an unknown and come out another door a star." (Gordy)
In late 1957 Gordy had his first hit record, “Reet Petite,” for popular rhythm and blues artist Jackie Wilson. Gordy first operated his company out of his apartment until he bought a house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard which he named Hitsville USA. Gordy began to attract some of the many young rhythm and blues performers emerging in Detroit during the late 1950s. Berry Gordy was forming Motown Records into one of the most successful companies in the United States. He would soon find out that the artists that he would make famous would mold into the most influential in the history of pop music.