A TWO-STOREY house on West Grand Boulevard was once a music-makers paradise.
Now the house is a museum to a colourful city that is behind the new movie Sparkle, which is recalling its past with renewed pride.
Detroit, the home of Motown Records, which became known as Hitsville USA during the record label's 1960s heyday, looked like many others on its block. But behind its walls, business was anything but usual and Sparkle seems to have captured the magic of the times, residents say.
Young people, some barely out of their teens, wrote and recorded songs that were the driving force in building the multimillion-dollar label that launched the careers of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes, among many others, giving Detroit an identity around the globe.
The release of updated 1976 musical drama Sparkle brought a wave of nostalgia to die-hard fans of the Motown Sound and residents excited to see Detroit reflected positively on screen.
The movie features characters from a special era, plus cultural landmarks such as Baker's Keyboard Lounge and Cliff Bell's nightclub, which are still operating today.
Resident Blanche Ussery, who saw Sparkle with her family, noted a few omissions and minor inaccuracies, but says the story mostly captured the spirit of the city.
"I thought it was pretty much reminiscent of the times," Ussery says.
Strikingly accurate, she says, was the courtship between co-stars Jordin Sparks and Derek Luke, which brought to mind a simpler time in Detroit. Luke's character pursued Sparks' protagonist at church, much like Ussery's husband sought her at People's Community parish, where they eventually married.
Cameo appearances like that of Universal Motown recording artist and Detroit resident Kem, whose soulful love songs often pay homage to original Motown talents, also gave the movie an air of familiarity.
Joe Spencer, a restaurateur and retired TV executive who earned writing credits on albums by Edwin Starr, singer of 1970 hit War and girl group The Marvelettes, who scored with Please Mr Postman, recalls the mood at Hitsville in its heyday.
It was not unusual to find Diana Ross rehearsing in one area while William "Smokey" Robinson listened to un-released songs down the hall.
"You were in the same place with some of the world's greatest songwriters and hit makers and they were everyday people, too," Spencer says.
Sparkling memories on Motown
A TWO-STOREY house on West Grand Boulevard was once a music-makers paradise.
Now the house is a museum to a colourful city that is behind the new movie Sparkle, which is recalling its past with renewed pride.
Detroit, the home of Motown Records, which became known as Hitsville USA during the record label's 1960s heyday, looked like many others on its block. But behind its walls, business was anything but usual and Sparkle seems to have captured the magic of the times, residents say.
Young people, some barely out of their teens, wrote and recorded songs that were the driving force in building the multimillion-dollar label that launched the careers of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes, among many others, giving Detroit an identity around the globe.
The release of updated 1976 musical drama Sparkle brought a wave of nostalgia to die-hard fans of the Motown Sound and residents excited to see Detroit reflected positively on screen.
The movie features characters from a special era, plus cultural landmarks such as Baker's Keyboard Lounge and Cliff Bell's nightclub, which are still operating today.
Resident Blanche Ussery, who saw Sparkle with her family, noted a few omissions and minor inaccuracies, but says the story mostly captured the spirit of the city.
"I thought it was pretty much reminiscent of the times," Ussery says.
Strikingly accurate, she says, was the courtship between co-stars Jordin Sparks and Derek Luke, which brought to mind a simpler time in Detroit. Luke's character pursued Sparks' protagonist at church, much like Ussery's husband sought her at People's Community parish, where they eventually married.
Cameo appearances like that of Universal Motown recording artist and Detroit resident Kem, whose soulful love songs often pay homage to original Motown talents, also gave the movie an air of familiarity.
Joe Spencer, a restaurateur and retired TV executive who earned writing credits on albums by Edwin Starr, singer of 1970 hit War and girl group The Marvelettes, who scored with Please Mr Postman, recalls the mood at Hitsville in its heyday.
It was not unusual to find Diana Ross rehearsing in one area while William "Smokey" Robinson listened to un-released songs down the hall.
"You were in the same place with some of the world's greatest songwriters and hit makers and they were everyday people, too," Spencer says.
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