The thrill I got standing in the worn old studio at the Motown Historical Museum was as if the Temptations were harmonizing right in front of me in their glittery suits, doing their familiar steps and spins in unison, Eddie Kendrick singing his sweet falsetto, Melvin Franklin coming in with the low notes.

But on this cold January weekday in Detroit, the only other people in the studio were a couple from Scotland, we three middle-aged tourists gleefully reliving the soundtrack of our youth.

The museum is in a small pair of houses that Berry Gordy Jr. -- founder of the Motown label -- bought in 1959 and dubbed ''Hitsville USA.'' For years it served as home to Gordy's family as well as the recording studio for Motown artists. It opened as a museum (www.motownmuseum.org) in 1985.

The exhibits are spare, consisting mostly of photos, records, some costumes and a few items of memorabilia. The family apartment, which was later used as small offices, has been restored to the way it looked circa 1960.

But as I stood in the studio and realized that Smokey Robinson and Martha Reeves had stood in this very spot behind the microphone, as I sat on the same piano bench that Stevie Wonder had used, the museum came alive.

I bought an armload of souvenirs and left singing.

This is one in a series of postcards by Marjie Lambert, assistant Travel editor, who has been to all 50 states.

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