Gold Star Studios In 1939 Bill Quinn settled in Houston and established the Quinn Radio Service, a
radio repair shop. After being intrigued by a home
disc recorder he was asked to repair, he purchased one and began to experiment with it. In 1941 he opened a shop at 3104 Telephone Road in Houston, Texas, where he recorded personalized voice messages. Quinn renamed the business Quinn Recording Company and soon began recording
radio jingles. Venturing into music production in 1944, he founded the short-lived Gulf Record Company label. In 1946, Quinn founded Gold Star Records, initially recording local
country (or "hillbilly") artists before expanding to record local
Cajun and
blues artists. In 1947, Gold Star had its first
hit record, "
Jole Blon" by
Harry Choates, a swing and dance tune that and became the first and only Cajun record to reach the
Billboard Top Five. In the mid-1960s, J. L. Patterson leased the studio from Quinn, who was retiring. In January 1968, Houston independent record label
International Artists (IA) leased the studios, which became instrumental with Texas
psychedelic rock bands including:
13th Floor Elevators,
the Red Crayola,
Bubble Puppy, The Continental Five,
The Bad Seeds,
Zakary Thaks, and
ZZ Top predecessor
Moving Sidewalks. For a brief period in 1969 and 1970 the facility was known as International Artists Studios.
SugarHill Recording Studios In late 1971, longtime Gold Star producer Huey Meaux bought the studios out of receivership and renamed the facility SugarHill Recording Studios. In 1972,
Marcia Ball recorded her first album with her
progressive country band Freda and the Firedogs. The following year, Meaux acquired additional adjacent property to expand and refurbish the studios, and that October,
Little Feat, who were in Houston for two concert dates, recorded a 25-minute four-song set at SugarHill for
live radio broadcast on
KPFT 90.1 FM. Beginning in 1974, Meaux produced a string of hits with
Freddy Fender at the studios, including “
Before The Next Teardrop Falls” (1975), “
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” (1975), “
Secret Love#Freddy Fender version” (1975),
You'll Lose a Good Thing" (1976) and "
Living It Down" (1976). Between 1975 and 1983, Meaux and Fender issued 28 charting singles from SugarHill. Other artists recording at SugarHill in the late '70s and early '80s included
Ricky Nelson,
James Burton,
Todd Rundgren, the
Amboy Dukes with
Ted Nugent,
Jandek, and Houston punk band
Really Red. Tejano band
Little Joe y la Familia recorded at SugarHill, as did
Selena on some of her earliest recordings. In August 1983, a tornado generated by
Hurricane Alicia ripped a large hole in the roof of SugarHill Studio B, which was water-damaged. While the roof repair was covered by insurance, damaged gear and other technical issues rendered it unusable. In 1984, with studio profits dwindling, Meaux put the studio complex up for sale. In 1986, Modern Music Ventures (MMV), a recently formed umbrella corporation that eventually encompassed the Discos MM record label, three
publishing companies, an artist management company, and a music foundation, purchased SugarHill Recording Studios from Meaux. As part of the agreement, Meaux continued leasing an office in the building. Members of influential Australian rock band,
Radio Birdman, Deniz Tek and Chris Masuak, arrived in the early 90s to record their solo albums. In 1996, RAD Audio, a company formed by engineers Rodney Meyers, Andy Bradley, and Dan Workman, bought the studio from MMV. Extensive renovations and upgrades to the building, its studios, and recording equipment were completed by February 2000. In 1998,
Mathew Knowles contacted the studio to book studio time for
Destiny's Child to begin recording what would become their sophomore breakthrough album, ''
The Writing's on the Wall''.
Beyoncé would return to SugarHill to re-record the Destiny's Child song, "Dangerously in Love", which became the
title track of her
debut solo album. Other artists recording at the studio in the early 2000s included
Solange Knowles,
Brian McKnight,
Twista, and
Clay Walker. ==References==