United Sound Systems Studios Detroit.JPG
United Sound Systems Studios Detroit
(Ian Thibodeau | MLive)
The fate of a landmark Detroit music recording studio that once produced hits by Aretha Franklin, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Bob Seger and Marvin Gaye, among others, is in the hands of a federal judge.
United Sound Systems Studios at 5840 2nd Ave. in Detroit is the target of federal seizure in connection with a long-running cocaine trafficking case, a document filed in Ann Arbor's U.S. District Court last month shows.
The two-story brick building along Interstate 94 in Detroit was in the way of initial Michigan Department of Transportation plans to widen the adjacent highway, but MDOT has since said construction plans will be altered to avoid razing the studio, now located in a rezoned historic district.
Danielle D. Scott, the cousin of Dwayne Richards, who's embroiled in a far-reaching cocaine trafficking case that began in 2012, purchased the historic recording studio in 2009 for $20,000, Crain's Detroit reported Sunday.
It's believed the proceeds used were from drug sales.
Richards is one of nearly a dozen defendants named in a large-scale cocaine trafficking case that alleges the sale of, or conspiracy to sell, more than 500 kilograms of cocaine.
Richards, who went on the run and was wanted by U.S. Marshals following the initial 2012 indictment, acted as the Detroit connection in a trafficking operation out of California.
Crain's Detroit reports Richard's wife, Chynita Richards, handled the daily operations of the studio when it was renovated and reopened in 2014.
MLive couldn't immediately reach a representative with the studio or Richards' listed attorney for comment Monday.
"These guys are definitely flashy, they're into high end cars, they like to flaunt their money," Deputy U.S. Marshal Aaron Garcia told WXYZ-TV, Channel 7 Action News while Richards was still a fugitive in November. "Basically to mock law enforcement like, 'hey look at what I got.'
"... This ain't your typical drug dealer on the street level. This guy is believed to be a leader of an organization running the Detroit area."
Richards started Hommie Records, a rap music label investigators say was also a front to launder money.
According to federal court filings, Richards is currently behind bars.
United Sound Systems Recording Studios was established in 1933 by Jimmy Siracuse and became the first independent and full-service major recording studio in the nation.
It started as a hub for commercials in the 1940s and later became a hot spot where Charlie Parker, Max Roach, Miles Davis and John Lee Hooker recorded.
Other artists who frequented the place included Little Willie John, Jackie Wilson, and then songwriter Berry Gordy, who eventually founded Motown Records.
In the 1960s, United Sound was the place where Bob Seger recorded the songs "Ramblin' Gablin Man" and "Heavy Music." The MC5 recorded "Back in the U.S.A." there, and Isaac Hayes created hits like "Hot Buttered Soul" and "Shaft" at the studio.
During the 1970s, United Sound was the place where George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic created the sound that became known as "P-Funk." The group cranked out hits there like "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)," "Mothership Connection," "Flashlight," "One Nation Under A Groove" and "Atomic Dog."
When the 1980s came, Clinton decided United Sound would be the perfect place to have a new band called The Red Hot Chili Peppers record their first major album: 1985's Freaky Styley.
Paul Riser, a song arranger for Motown, conducted orchestra hits at United Sound in the 1980s and 1990s like Luther Vandross' "A House Is Not A Home" and R-Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly."
The Rolling Stones teamed up with Aretha Franklin at the studio for an updated version of their hit "Jumpin' Jack Flash" which was used in the movie of the same name that starred Whoopi Goldberg.