Rasputin Music
Rasputin Music is the largest independent chain of record stores in the extended San Francisco Bay Area, California. The store was founded as "Rasputin Records" in 1971 in Berkeley, California by Berkeley entrepreneur, Ken Sarachan. There are currently seven operating locations around the Bay Area: the flagship Berkeley store on Telegraph Avenue, San Francisco, Mountain View, Campbell[1], Concord, San Lorenzo, and Vallejo. Two additional locations have opened up in the Central Valley cities of Stockton and Fresno.
The original Rasputin Music store was located in Berkeley, on Telegraph Avenue where Blondie's Pizza now operates (Ken Sarachan also owns Blondie's). Rasputin's moved across the street into a larger space when Odyssey Records went out of business. In the late 1970s it split into two separate locations, with one store serving rock music and the other serving soul and jazz (and other) music. In July 1982, a suspicious fire at next-door Steve the Greek's restaurant caused the destruction of the soul and jazz store. Rasputin's Berkeley operation was then consolidated back into one store location. It currently operates at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Channing Way.
Rasputin's was first known for low prices on both new and used CDs, DVDs, and vinyl records. Its selection of new vinyl is unusually rich, as is its selection of used CDs and DVDs. Although in recent years its prices have become competitive with those of other music stores, Rasputin often features in-store performances by top musicians and bands, one of the reasons why Rasputin remains a destination for music and DVD shoppers and a general Bay Area institution. Metallica made its first in-store appearance in almost a decade at the Rasputin Mountain View store as part of the April 19, 2008 "Record Store Day".[2]
Rasputin's in-house magazine and web site, the Rasputin Manifesto, is highly regarded for its in-depth reviews of both mainstream and independent music and DVDs.
On February 4, 2008, the Newark location closed down indefinitely due to redevelopment of the shopping complex in which it was located.[3].
[edit] Acquiring Tower Records locations
Rasputin acquired the leases of 4 former Tower Records locations: one in the East Bay city of Concord, where the Pleasant Hill store was relocated, one in Mountain View, and two in the Central Valley cities of Fresno and Stockton. The Concord store, despite having been under Rasputin's management since 2007, still bears the Tower Records signage (with no mention of Rasputin's) as of March 2010. As of September 2010 there is a poster displayed in the window of this location stating that the Tower Records sign is simply a "Historical Anomaly".
[edit] References
- ^ Dennis Taylor (1997-01-03). "Rasputin Music is hoping for sweet sound of success". Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/1997/01/06/story6.html. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
- ^ Ed Christman. "Metallica In-Store Set For 'Record Store Day'". Billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003726607. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
- ^ Todd R Brown (2008-02-29). "Iconic music store shuttered in Newark". Oakland Tribune. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20080229/ai_n24373305. Retrieved 2008-10-18.[dead link]
[edit] External links
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