A Win For Detroit’s Musical Legacy: United Sound Systems Spared From Demolition Under New MDOT Plan

The studio where legends including Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, and Parliament-Funkadelic recorded will be relocated.

United Sound Systems

The studio where legends like Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, and Parliament-Funkadelic recorded albums will be spared demolition under a new plan announced by the Michigan Department of Transportation.

United Sound Systems in Detroit’s New Center neighborhood has been under threat for years due to a proposed expansion of I-94. 

MDOT now plans to move the building to a nearby location.

Listen to CultureShift’s Amanda LeClaire talk with the Detroit Sound Conservancy’s Carleton Gholz about what’s next in the group’s efforts to save this vital part of the region’s cultural history.

Author

  • Amanda LeClaire is an award-winning journalist and producer of the CuriosiD podcast for 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. She served as the host of WDET's now discontinued program CultureShift, was a founding producer of WDET’s flagship news talk show Detroit Today, and a former host/reporter for Arizona Public Media.