Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios

US recording studio located in Los Angeles, California and owned by Motown. Also known as Motown Recording Studios, Motown Recording Studio, West Hollywood, CA, Hitsville West Studios and Hitsville Recording Studios. For the original Motown 'Hitsville' studio in Detroit, please see Hitsville USA Studios, Detroit. [u]History:[/u] Built as Poppi Studios, a recording and mixing studio, the facility was acquired circa September 1971 by Berry Gordy's Motown Records and named MoWest Studios, coinciding with the launch of the MoWest record label. In 1974, the label was shuttered and the studio renamed Motown Recording Studios. Originally a two-story state-of-the-art studio complex, it boasted an atrium and an al fresco conference room on the roof. Gordy even moved parts of Motown’s famous Detroit studio A (a.k.a, “the Snake Pit”) to Los Angeles in hopes of recreating the Detroit studio's classic sound. Guy Costa was the studio's managing director. By 1979, the facility had expanded to 4 studios, named "Sunset", "Sunrise", "Twilight", and "Dawn". Around 1980, the studio name was changed to Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios. Gordy sold the studio in 1988, coinciding with the sale of Motown to MCA Records.