Started by musician-turned-engineer Chris Julian in 1984, Calliope Studios became a hot bed of hip hop activity in the late 80s and early 90s. De La Soul recorded 3 Feet High and Rising here in 1989. A Tribe Called Quest recorded People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm here in 1990. Other albums produced at Calliope include the 3rd Bass album Derelicts Of Dialect (1991), Dee-Lite's World Clique (1990) and Black Sheep's A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing (1991).

Before Calliope was a hit factory, in the early days they just tried to stay afloat. As Julian recalls, "My first ad ran for $24 an hour. And I think the lowest competitor that I saw at that time in 1984, was $40 an hour. So I started by offering time for just about half of what the nearest competitor was." (source: frank151.org.

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Before the Wu-Tang Clan was signed by Loud Records (then a subsidiary of RCA Records), the many-membered crew would cycle through RZA's place, as he laid down beats behind each artist's rhymes.

The Wu put out their first single with "Protect Your Neck" on the A side, and first "Tearz" and then "Method Man" on the B side. They printed 5,000 cassettes and vinyls of the single to distribute, and continued to self-promote until they were signed. The address on the single was listed as this location.

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This recording studio in the Northeast neighborhood of Minneapolis has recorded several local and national acts for the past twenty years.

The Jayhawks did Mockingbird Time here, and the off-shoot super-group Golden Smog recorded portions of Weird Tales here.

Local punk legends Dillinger Four (Civil War) and The Soviettes (LP II and LP III) put down tracks here, as well as diverse artists like The Okee Dokee Brothers, Nashville Pussy, and Beck.

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After the release of Paul's Boutique, Capitol Records dumped their support for the Beasties tour that was supposed to follow the album in favor of "a Donny Osmond project."

With some extra time on their hands, the members of the band picked up the instruments they had shelved in favor of sampling on previous albums. They began by practicing at each other's apartments, then moved to this rehearsal space for several months before they rented and converted the space that became G-Son Studios.

The change from sampling other records to creating their own may have been at least partly financial. As Beasties producer/engineer recalled, "after [Beastie Boys] did Paul's Boutique, we realized we had spent a lot of money in the studio. We had spent about a $250,000 in rights and licensing for samples." Shortly after the Biz Markie vs Gilbert O'Sullivan case, the age of hip-hop sampling had sunsetted.

The subsequent album (3 years later) was the Beastie Boys Check Your Head.

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Chess Records was formed by two Polish immigrant brothers, Leonard and Phil Chess, in 1950. They moved to this location in 1956 and stayed here until 1965.

During that time, they recorded many influential blues and early rock and roll songs. Some of the artists that recorded here include Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson and Willie Dixon. Chuck Berry recorded "Johnny B. Goode" here. The Rolling Stones recorded "2120 South Michigan Ave" here on their American tour in 1964.

Chess Records moved a couple of times before being consumed by another subsidiary in 1975. Since then, the building has been purchased and is the headquarters of Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation.

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