Golden World Records was an American

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

owned by Eddie Wingate and Joanne Bratton (née Jackson, former wife of boxing champion Johnny Bratton). The recording studio was located in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, United States. The studio's national hits included "

Oh How Happy Oh How Happy is a song written by Edwin Starr. It was a hit for the group The Shades of Blue. In the early 1980s, it was a minor hit for New Zealand based New York City soul singer Herb McQuay. Many artists have covered the song. Background "Oh ...

" by

Shades of Blue Varieties of the color blue may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation, intensity, or colorfulness), or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and sha ...

and "

(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet" is a song written by Bob Hamilton and Freddie Gorman, first made famous by the 1964 hit recording by the Reflections. The song is the first person narrative of a young man who plans to find a job so that he can buy ...

" by The Reflections. The early, pre-

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

songs of

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the num ...

, such as "Agent Double-O-Soul", were recorded at the Golden World studio. Golden World Records operated from 1962 to 1968. The label and its subsidiaries were purchased by

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and i ...

in 1966 and folded into the Motown Record Corporation. The Golden World studio became Motown's "Studio B", working in support of the original Motown recording studio (Studio A) at

Hitsville USA "Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit near the New Center area of the city. Motown founder B ...

. Before its purchase by Gordy, the studio's recordings often included moonlighting Motown back-up musicians, including

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases un ...

on bass and George McGregor on percussion. The famous clock that hung in Golden World Records is currently owned by Melodies and Memories in

Eastpointe, Michigan Eastpointe (formerly East Detroit) is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Eastpointe borders Detroit to the south, roughly northeast of Downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had ...

, and is on display there. A restored old

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth le ...

piano that Motown inherited from Golden World is now on display at the

Motown Museum "Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit near the New Center area of the city. Motown founder Be ...

Discography

Singles

Albums

Only one album was released on the Golden World label: *''(Just Like) Romeo & Juliet''—The Reflections—GWLPM-300—1964

References

External links

Golden World tribute page at Soulful Detroit website.
* Photo tour

Golden World Studio {{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1962 Record labels disestablished in 1968

Discography

Singles

Albums

See also

References

External links