Northern Records (5)

Also appears as "Northern" only. US record label founded around 1958 by Johnnie Mae Matthews in Detroit, Michigan. In the 1950s there weren't any sizeable recording companies in Michigan, and Detroit's musicians and singers usually traveled to New York or Chicago to find fame and fortune. Johnnie Mae was frustrated at the scarcity of opportunities in Detroit, but was gutsy enough to start her own business. Around 1958 she opened an office-cum-rehearsal room at 2608 Blaine, just a few blocks from her home at 2900 Carter, and named it the Northern Recording Company.