Author Topic: Licorice Pizza and other Record Shops (Read 27788 times)

Chiprocks1 · « **on:** November 08, 2011, 06:58:42 pm »

Licorice Pizza

I miss this place. This was the ultimate in cool for a "big chain" franchise. It was primarily located in Southern California, so most of you peeps probably have never heard of Licorice Pizza. So, what made this place better than the other Record shops of the day? First off, as a kid, it just seemed larger than life with all the Music Posters hanging on the wall, the cutout displays, the rows and rows of vinyl LP's, the counter that was too tall for me to even reach when paying for my records, the music blasting over the P.A. System and the crown jewel in making me a fan for life...free licorice. Red Vines! I stayed away from the black crap. But the Red Vines were awesome! You didn't even have to buy anything in the store and they would give you a rope to take home.

Fun fact, the last record/vinyl I bought from my local store was KISS' Creatures Of The Night. I bought most of my KISS albums as well as pretty much every thing else there. I miss that place for a lot of reasons. There are certain stores from my childhood that I wish still existed and this is one of them.

So, post here your favorite Record store then and now. Give me something good to read!!

Chiprocks1 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 08, 2011, 07:03:02 pm »

FYI, the Licorice Pizza Logo STILL kicks so much ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish I could find information about the person that did the artwork though. :::sigh:::

Mac · « **Reply #2 on:** November 09, 2011, 06:46:27 am »

Licorice Pizza, based in Glendale, where I was born

, opened its first store in Long Beach in 1969. Founder James Greenwood borrowed the company's name from remarks made in a comedy sketch on an album by '60s folk singers Bud and Travis (I also read something about Abbott and Costello). The entertainers mused about sprinkling their records with sesame seeds and selling them as licorice pizzas.

"Jimmy thought that was funny and that it might make a good name for a store," said Ruth Sims, senior vice president and general manager of Licorice Pizza.

It is an excellent logo. Love it. I just may buy a t-shirt

Mac · « **Reply #3 on:** November 09, 2011, 06:47:39 am »

Peaches Records and Tapes is one of my first experiences with music. It was the chain store to go to.

Vintage Vinyl (not a chain) was introduced to me by a fellow fan of music. He invited me one Saturday to go downtown to Soulard Market where these two guys set up a table with 3 ‘peaches’ crates full of used LP’s. They were fairly new, in perfect condition. I distinctly remember buying Blonde’s Eat To The Beat. It was kind of a trip to go downtown, so I didn’t do it much, but the guys business expanded so quickly they eventually wound up buying an old movie theater in The Loop, a very eclectic area primarily with college students. When I was heavy into music buying, this was the place to go. I go rarely now (I have nothing to do with vinyl any longer), but on occasion I do visit just to see how the place is doing. They are still going strong. Those days of flipping through the vinyl bins bring back so many great memories.

Logo is OK, not as cool as Licorice

Chiprocks1 · « **Reply #4 on:** November 09, 2011, 06:48:28 am »

Quote from: Mac on November 09, 2011, 06:46:27 am

It is an excellent logo. Love it. I just may buy a t-shirt

I've been contemplating buying one myself since last night when I did a search for Licorice Pizza and came across the shirts. Great minds........

Chiprocks1 · « **Reply #5 on:** November 09, 2011, 07:17:05 am »

Tower Records - San Diego / Sports Arena Blvd.

Tower Records - Los Angeles / Sunset Strip

When Licorice Pizza was sold and then eventually morphed into Sam Goody's, I eventually wound up going to Tower Records...a lot. This was my home away from home for the next few hundred years. Even though TR was pricey, they always had cool sh*t with the posters, tshirts, keychains and all that other stuff they would pack into their stores that made it an event to just shop there. Even though we had two Tower Records in San Diego, I stuck mainly with the one closet to home. The top pic (I didn't take the pic. Not mine) is right across the street from the San Diego Sports Arena (as seen in Almost Famous). The other Tower Records in San Diego that I would only go to when I would swing by Guitar Center was out past San Diego State University.

Whenever I was in LA, I would hit Tower Records on Sunset Strip, which is the 2nd picture above and can also been seen in Tom Petty's video for Into The Great Wide Open. I wish I could find video of Licorice Pizza somewhere. It doesn't have to be a music video. News report of something would be enough for me. :::sigh:::

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Into The Great Wide Open

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqmFxgEGKH0&ob=av2e

Chiprocks1 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 09, 2011, 07:40:40 am »

I was talking to my friend last night about Licorice Pizza and the talk turned back to Tower Records and we ended up talking about the night we both went to the midnight release for Guns 'N Roses Use Your Illusions 1 & 2 down at Tower Records (Sports Arena Blvd). It was so random to run into him down there as I hadn't seen or talked to him in a couple of years. I had just gotten off from work around 11:30 that night and went straight to TR to get my copies. The line was pretty long. As I started walking toward the end, in the middle some dude called out to me. It was him. I cut in line. I'm an evil person that got his copies sooner, rather than later.

Bwahahahahaaha.

Evil!

Thanks buddy!

They had a News Crew out there filming live that night. I know I have it somewhere on tape. But I have moved so much since then, that I have no idea what tape it's on or where the tape even is.

Bah!!!

boyinblack80 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:17:24 pm »

I've been to that tower in LA a few times....last time I went would have been back around 1988 or so...I am pretty sure it's long gone.

the tower here was really great....and as chip has already said...if you were a kid growing up in PB during the 70's Licorice Pizza was a lot of fun. Posters, records, lots of blank tapes so you could make copies of your records....and free licorice..which I don't even like....but the bag was always super cool

boyinblack80 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:20:50 pm »

I bought my first CD's there too back in.....man I want to say 1981...no probably 1982.....Rush only had 2 CD's out at the time (most bands didn't have back catalogs out yet...only their most current records were being put to disc) so my first CD's were Rush ; Moving Pictures and Signals, The Firm, and also Deep Purple Perfect Strangers.....I remember also when the Rolling Stones who I think were the first band to actually go BACK and release older albums...it was actually a very big deal and seemed SO strange at the time/

""whoa you can get an OLD album on CD.""

crazy how times have changed.

Chiprocks1 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:21:19 pm »

I have to find the last known copy of my Licorice Pizza paper bag. It's in the 2nd garage in a box. I made sure to double bag THAT bag and then add a force field around it. This is priceless to me. I can't remember if they ever had plastic bags like Tower Records did. Not sure anyone was really using plastic bags back then. But the paper ones were f ucking awesome and I would just draw and redraw the logo all the time.

boyinblack80 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:22:16 pm »

hahahahaha that's cool!

Chiprocks1 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:23:15 pm »

Quote from: boyinblack80 on February 17, 2012, 09:20:50 pm

I bought my first CD's there too back in.....

At Licorice Pizza? I don't remember them carrying any CD's. Maybe it was Sam Goody's that it morphed into?

boyinblack80 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:27:55 pm »

I guess that's possible...I for sure got them at that "site" I remember so clearly go in and looking through the racks, where they were in the store.....I looked through CD's there tons of times

what year do you think Licorice Pizza closed?

I can totally figure out when I bought the discs...just based on the release dates.

Chiprocks1 · « **Reply #13 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:28:43 pm »

Quote from: boyinblack80 on February 17, 2012, 09:17:24 pm

lots of blank tapes so you could make copies of your records....

Lars Ulrich tried to sue Licorice Pizza as a 14 year old kid because he thought blank tapes were EVIL.

Chiprocks1 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:30:56 pm »

Quote from: boyinblack80 on February 17, 2012, 09:27:55 pm

I guess that's possible...I for sure got them at that "site" I remember so clearly go in and looking through the racks, where they were in the store.....I looked through CD's there tons of times

what year do you think Licorice Pizza closed?

I can totally figure out when I bought the discs...just based on the release dates.

Well, personally I didn't see CD's on the racks until I started going to Tower Records and that came after the Decline of Western....I mean Licorice Pizza. Sam Goody's at the time was in the thick of doing movie rentals and were pushing VHS....hard.

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Author Topic: Licorice Pizza and other Record Shops (Read 27788 times)

Chiprocks1

Licorice Pizza and other Record Shops

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