Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "r5 records"

Specialty vinyl store to open in Midtown

2010-07-28T00:37:52Z

In an era dominated by MP3 players and downloaded music, two music lovers are confident other fans are hungry for the real thing: vinyl, and lots of it.

Dal Basi, a longtime Tower Records music buyer, and his partner, Nich Lujan, are banking on the importance of being able to touch your music collection. They are opening an independent vinyl specialty store, Phono Select Records, in Midtown in early September.

"Digital music is so soulless," said Basi, 42. "Fast food is kind of like an MP3. You're getting what you need for the moment, but it's not something special."

Basi and Lujan both use digital audio players. But the most devoted music fans are into the entire "organic" experience: owning a collection, pulling out an album or cassette tape, putting it on, listening to the recording and checking out the art and liner notes, Lujan said.

More than half the inventory will be vinyl records — about 5,000 to 6,000 will be 33s or "long-playing" records (LPs), and about 1,000 will be two-song 45s. The store at 2312 K St. will stock almost as many CDs and a smattering of cassettes, which are seeing a revival among indie rock labels. About 70 percent of the merchandise will be used.

A lot of LPs are being reissued now. Some of those have thicker, higher-quality vinyl and better sound, making this a good time to buy records, Basi said.

The roughly 1,200-square-foot store will contain listening stations with phonographs, cassette players and CD players. The store will sell more than music. Phono Select will carry old and new posters, books, magazines, T-shirts, band buttons and pop culture curios.

The focus will be on independent music: indie pop, punk rock, metal, hip hop, reggae, world music and old, avant-garde jazz — from The Clash and Bad Brains to Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Basi said.

The store will carry local bands and small, independent labels such as Burger Records of Los Angeles, and London's B-Music and Sing Sing Records of New York.

The interior will be somewhat spare and stylized to spotlight the selective inventory.

"Record stores have the reputation for being a place where you just pack stuff in. People have to sort through the madness to find the
jewels," Lujan said. "We want the jewels to be right there when you walk in."

Basi has worked in the music business for more than 20 years. He was just 18 or 19 when he went to work for Tower Records in Stockton in 1986 or 1987. He quickly became the buyer for independent music.

"I was the kid who read all the magazines and went to the shows," he said. Basi later did a brief stint managing Tower Records on Broadway. He also worked at a music wholesaler, Valley Media, and for R5 Records, opened on Broadway by Tower founder Russ Solomon.

In that time, he's amassed a huge collection of music. Half of the store's inventory will come from that collection.

Lujan, 28, was working in computer-based graphic and print design at the Academy of Art in San Francisco until Basi called, saying he wanted to open the record store the two had talked about for the last few years.

A mutual friend introduced them because they like many of the same bands and are both open-minded enough to listen to anything at least once, they said.

Lujan and Basi, who will be the only ones staffing the store, said they want to share that same kind of experimental, collaborative, interactive experience with customers. With the store's eclectic focus and only 30 percent new inventory, they won't be able to carry everything. They hope to engage customers in conversation to find out what they like, then either find that or introduce them to someone similar they might not have heard of.

"There's so much music that flies under the radar and doesn't get promoted every day," Basi said. "That's what we want to champion."

Hours will be Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; and Sundays noon-5 p.m.

Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Tower Records founder retires

2010-07-19T01:49:00Z

Russ Solomon, the iconic founder of Tower Records, officially retired from the music business Saturday.

But it was clear he hasn't retired from the hearts and minds of many Sacramentans. More than 200 people turned out on a scorching afternoon for Solomon’s retirement party at the corner of 16th Street and Broadway — the longtime site of his Tower Records store and now the home of Dimple Records.

The 84-year-old record store mogul built a multimillion-dollar chain that spanned seven decades, with stores on three continents. Guitarist Skip Maggiora, owner of Skip's Music stores, thanked Solomon for "putting music into millions of lives," including his.

"He had a passionate way of doing business that made going to Tower Records an experience," said Maggiora.

Solomon said he was just 16 when he and his father started selling used 78 rpm records from the soda fountain jukebox in the family's drug store, Tower Drugs, in 1941. They quickly began selling new records, and a sales area that began as one table turned into Tower Record Mart inside the store, which later became Tower Restaurant.

The first Tower Records store opened on Watt Avenue in 1960. Solomon operated his second store, across from Tower Restaurant and the landmark Tower Theater, for nearly 50 years.

Solomon said his employees deserved recognition for making Tower Records what it was.

"I get all the credit," he told the crowd. "But the truth of it is, it really was the people of Tower Records — and many of them are here today — who built the company and came up with the nifty ideas I got all the credit for."

Tower Records were the first music stores that let customers listen to records before buying. The Watt Avenue store had a half dozen demo rooms, said Maggiora. He said he was grateful to Solomon, for letting him, as a 12 year old, listen to music he couldn't afford to buy as he was learning to play guitar and trying to put his first band together.

Tower Records fell into bankruptcy in 2006. Solomon ran R5 Records at the 16th and Broadway location until mid-June.

At the party, Dimple Records owners Johnny and Dilyn Radakovitz dedicated the store to Solomon and Tower Records. Solomon then ceremoniously handed them the key to the store.

Solomon and Tower Records put Sacramento on the map, said Mayor Kevin Johnson, adding that he bought his first record at the Broadway store.

"Thank you for your legendary contribution to music," he said.

Solomon said he is happy Dimple Records took over the store. The party was meant to celebrate the store’s opening as much as his retirement, he said.

Solomon said he plans to focus on photography, a passion for 60 years.

Many former employees gathered in a parking lot outside the store. Solomon always treated them like family, said Carl Schumacher, hired as a Tower Record Mart sales clerk in 1955.

"We're still his kids," Schumacher said.

Carol Shoemake, who went to work in the drugstore's office in 1963, said employees knew Solomon as a generous man. When she married a co-worker three years later, Solomon made all the arrangements for their wedding night and gave them his credit card.

"He'd give you the shirt off his back," she said.

Photo by Kati Garner. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Dimple Records opens

2010-07-15T03:20:59Z

Dimple Records opened at Broadway and 16th Street Wednesday in the longtime home of Tower Records.

The Radakovitz family, which has officially operated Dimple Records since 1978, said they plan to dedicate the store to Tower Records founder Russ Solomon at his retirement party Saturday.

The location is nearly hallowed ground for local musicians and music lovers. Tower Records got its start nearby when Solomon began selling vinyl records in his father's drug store and soda fountain in 1941 in a building shared with Tower Theater.

The family recognizes Solomon as an icon in the music business.

"He's been here in this neighborhood since 1941," said Dilyn ("DYE lyn") Radakovitz, who started the small record store company with her husband, Johnny. "That was kind of crazy, trying to get your head around that. He's been here since before the war."

The first Tower Records store opened on Watt Avenue in 1960. Solomon ran the Tower Records store on Broadway for nearly 50 years until the business he'd turned into one of the country's biggest record store chains fell into bankruptcy in 2006. He operated an independent record store, R5 Records, there for two years until mid-June.

Dimple Records' roots stretch back to 1966, when patriarch Johnny Radakovitz became a "rack-jobber" delivering vinyl records to any business that would sell them to the public. Just out of the U.S. Navy, he was a 21-year-old guitarist with a passion for Spanish classical guitar and nylon-string classical.

He worked for Canterbury Records. Radakovitz drove from southern Oregon to as far south as Fresno and Bakersfield and into Nevada. He sold to pharmacies, supermarkets, truck stops and more.

"Anyone who would carry 45's," Dilyn Radakovitz said. "Then it was eight-tracks — whatever the music was in that day."

"He just went around and sold Monkees' albums out of the back of our station wagon," said son Andrew, who grew up in the record business.

On weekends, Johnny Radakovitz worked at Canterbury's record store at Arden Fair Mall — later home to Virgin Records. Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin and Grace Slick were some of the musicians who used to visit the store to sell their records on consignment.

Solomon also ran a rack-jobbing business, which was how some people got their start in the recording industry and how some music labels and record stores started.

Solomon was a mentor for Radakovitz. Although the two never worked together, Solomon taught him an important lesson about rack-jobbing: "Stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap," Radakovitz said.

Johnny and Dilyn, who worked for the phone company, married in 1967. He went on to work for Pic-a-Tune, Musical Isle of America and United Artists/TransAmerica. He went into business for himself as a rack-jobber with the same clients under the name River City Records Distributors.

They took over Cordova Records in Rancho Cordova in 1974 and The Record Shoppe in Roseville in 1975 before opening the first Dimple Records in 1978 at another Roseville location. Today, the family employs about 140 people and owns eight stores in Roseville, Citrus Heights, Folsom, Davis, Elk Grove and Sacramento. The headquarters is based at their store at 2433 Arden Way in Sacramento.

Their oldest son, 42-year-old Ollie, is the company's chief financial officer. Andrew, 41, is in charge of human resources.

Wednesday afternoon, the buy-back counter at the new Broadway store, 2500 16th St., was still being put together, and boxes of DVDs and other merchandise were being unpacked by the family and their employees. Dimple Records District Manager Jen McKee and Operations Manager Kyle Newton are overseeing the opening.

Dilyn was putting picture-hanging wire on the back of a painting of Solomon they'll unveil Saturday. Customers were already trawling through new and used music, movies and games. At least 10 people had already visited to sell or trade music for cash or store credit.

"We opened the door and they came. And they've just kept coming," she said.

Solomon turned the location into an "iconic sort of destination" in Sacramento, Johnny Radakovitz said.

Dimple Records still follows Solomon’s advice to sell as cheaply as they can. All the stores sell vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, and cassettes. They also sell local music left on consignment by musicians.

But the stores have changed with the times, expanding to include much more than just music. They carry movies, video games, posters and candy. At least 30 percent of the music, movies and games are used. The stores give out free T-shirts and other swag to customers and hold contests for people to win movie tickets or music.

Record stores that just sell music don't make it anymore, Dilyn Radakovitz said.

"The key to the independent record store of today is you have to think of your store as providing entertainment," she said. "There are too many choices."

The store is open Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. and until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The grand opening will be held in August.

Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter covering business and development for The Sacramento Press.

Russ Solomon's R5 records to close

2010-05-12T20:26:37Z

Two years after he opened an independent record store on the site of the Tower Records empire he founded half a century ago, Russ Solomon will close his R5 Records at 16th and Broadway.

"The rumors are true," he said on noon Wednesday. "I'm finally going to retire. Enough already."

Solomon, who will turn 85 this year, side-stepped questions about the success of the store in a tough economy and a dismal retail record environment, but was quick to note that "the new people are in a better position to make it a success."

The "new people" will reportedly be the owners of Dimple Records, a locally-owned small chain with stores around the Sacramento area. Solomon would not confirm Dimple's role, saying "it's not a done deal," but he added that "it looks really really good. We're very happy about it."

One thing Solomon is happy about is that there will continue to be a record store on the 16th and Broadway location, as there has been for nearly 50 years.

Dimple has found success combining a used and new record store approach, with extensive in-store marketing and an additional focus on local artists and events. It has six suburban locations in Citrus Heights, Roseville, Elk Grove, Folsom, Davis and two stores on Arden Way, one devoted to vinyl.

"It's good that there will be a record store there," he said. "That's what I care about."

On the verge of retirement, Solomon said that he plans to spend his time "keeping busy.

"I'm going to get out and take photographs, maybe even make some art," he said. "You know me - I have to be doing something."

In The Flow is coming this weekend!

2010-05-12T19:53:18Z

*Note, there is a bias here because I'm directly involved with the Festival's organizaiton, etc.
-RH

In The Flow 3!

The 3rd annual In The Flow Jazz/Improvisational Festival will be at Luna's Cafe, R5 Records and Beatnik Studios this weekend (Friday, 5/14 through Monday, 5/17). The lauded young improvisational music festival will feature musicians from all over the West Coast, including Vinny Golia, Nels Cline, (guitarist from super group Wilco and the Nels Cline Singers), Lovely Builders, Gerry Pineda, Tony Passarell, Henry Robinett and many more.

In The Flow 3 Festival, produced by area guitarist Ross Hammond along with a group of volunteers, will post up over thirty music groups at two major locations--Beatnik Studios at 17th & Broadway and new this year, the venerable Luna’s Café at 16th & N Sts. Tickets are $10 per day or $30 for a 4-day pass. Tickets are available at www.intheflowsacramento.com. “All of the artists presented are representatives of Sacramento, Los Angeles, SF/Bay Area and Portland. In The Flow 3 is a great chance to experience what artists from out West have to offer,” says Hammond.

The returning title sponsor of the weekend events at Beatnik is the Greater Broadway Partnership Neighborhood Association, in conjunction with the Jazzhouse and SMF Music.

Pre-fest events at Russ Solomon's R5 Records (corner of 16th & Broadway) and also Records at 1618 Broadway will be announced shortly.

Friday night, May 14 will feature a special night of poetry and music collaborations at Luna's Cafe. The event, hosted by local poet phenom NSAA (a.k.a. Lawrence Dinkins) will be a night of surprises as regional poets trade verses with area jazz and creative musicians.

On Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16 In The Flow 3 returns to Broadway for two full days of music and art at Beatnik Studios. This year there will be terrific jazz and improvisational musicians from Los Angeles (Nels Cline, Vinny Golia, GE Stinson, Steuart Liebig, Tom McNalley), Portland, Oregon (Rich Haley), The Bay Area (Phillip Greenlief, Scott Amendola, Darren Johnston, Lisa Mezzacappa), Grass Valley (Randy McKean, Murray Campbell), plus Sacramento and Davis (Ross Hammond, Tony Passarell, Electropoetic Coffee, Alex Jenkins, Gerry Pineda). Over twenty different groups will be playing throughout the weekend.

In addition, there will be a special showing of regional visual artists Mark Fox, Nicole Fox, Milton Bowens, Greg LaTraille and Kathy Blackburn at Beatnik Studios all weekend during the Festival.

Monday, May 17 will be dedicated to late Sacramento bassist and In The Flow co-founder Byron Blackburn, as his final recording session will be released at Luna's Cafe. The Labor Day Session CD features Blackburn along with Ross Hammond, Tom Monson, Phillip Greenlief, Jaroba and Tony Passarell. The remaining band members will be playing music from the new CD. Since November 2009, a weekly jazz/improvisational series at Luna’s, “Nebraska Mondays” named in honor of the Nebraska-born Blackburn, has grown in popularity.

A detailed 8 page program guide (available in late April at many Broadway and Midtown restaurant/cafe/shop locations, as well as greater Sacramento locations) will give fest-goers both artist bio info and a handy walking map to the neighborhood cafes restaurants and businesses.

More information, and tickets can be found at www.intheflowsacramento.com.

Broadway gets In the Flow for weekend jazz festival

2009-06-27T00:39:08Z

Sacramento jazz fans, get ready. The second annual In the Flow jazz festival starts Friday and will be invading four venues on downtown's Broadway.

Last year's festival was held on the patio of True Love Coffeehouse. This weekend, Beatnik Studios, The Comedy Spot, R5 Records and Java Lounge are opening their doors for three days of live jazz performances.

"Sacramento has an incredible jazz scene. We have great players with great, original ideas that span all things jazz and beyond," said Ross Hammond, the main coordinator of the festival.

The idea for the festival was dreamt up during a coffee outing with Hammond, jazz musician Byron Blackburn and some of their friends. They wanted to hold a jazz festival that really represented Sacramento and would showcase new and creative music. From that desire, In the Flow was born.

The organizers of the event have been given a grant from the Sacramento Metro Arts Commission and sponsorship from the Greater Broadway Partnership, enabling them to not only expand the event this year but allowing all proceeds from tickets sales to go directly to more than 20 artists and groups performing throughout the weekend.

While all of the performances are worth checking out, some of the must-sees this weekend are Byron Blackburn's CD release, Vinny Golia, the Harley White Orchestra, Nagual, Tony Passarell's Thin Air Symphony and the poetry/music showcase.

"[In the Flow] is trying to push some musical boundaries while at the same time showcase all of the different kinds of jazz you'll find in the area," Hammond explained.

Also making a special appearance is George Holden, a light show extraordinaire that will be putting on the famed "Abercrombe Liquid Lightshow." Holden has been putting on his psychedelic light shows since the 1960s and has done lighting effects for bands like the Grateful Dead, Dooby Brothers and Carlos Santana. He's bringing his strobe lights, black lights, ink and gels to Broadway for the weekend to give a special performance at Java Lounge from 8 p.m. to closing Friday night and Beatnik Studios from 11 a.m. to closing Saturday and Sunday.

In the Flow differs from Sacramento's popular annual Jazz Jubilee, which focuses more on "Dixieland" jazz, the main form of jazz coming out of New Orleans and Chicago in the early 1900s. In the Flow will have something for almost every jazz fan, except smooth jazz followers, and will be showcasing a broad span of local and regional jazz musicians, artists and poets.

"We're planning on doing this festival annually, so just mark your calendars now for the next decade or so," Hammond advised.

Tickets are $20 for the entire weekend and can be purchased at R5 Records. R5 is located at 2500 16th St. in Sacramento.

For the complete festival schedule, visit myspace.com/intheflowfestival.

Photos are of last year's In the Flow festival and were taken by Tommy Van Wormer

R5 Records' Record Store Day '09

2009-04-11T02:38:45Z

On April 18, 2009, R5 Records will be having a huge record swap for the internationally celebrated Record Store Day! Record Store Day is a day where hundreds of independently owned record stores celebrate the art of music. When R5 Records had their celebration last year, over 1,000 people showed up to see tons of local bands play and to get their hands on some awesome music paraphernalia. This year we will once again have a huge lineup of local bands and DJs that are going to be playing great music all day long. Inside the store EVERYTHING is going to be on sale and you'll have a chance to find some awesome stuff in in the Rock n' Roll garage sale we're having. There's also going to be records avaiable that you won't be able to find ANYWHERE ELSE!!! These exclusive records include albums by Sublime, Cold War Kids, Slayer, Modest Mouse, and Elvis Costello to name a few. Last but not least, there's going to be a raffle for box sets, framed prints, record players, and tons of other music goodies with all proceeds going to The Met School's music program.

For more details look at the flyer below. Hope to see you there!!!

-Hippie T

Tesla in town twice this week: In person and in concert

2009-01-27T01:03:16Z

When Tesla the band launched nationally in 1987 on powerhouse label Geffen Records, few thought that Sacramento’s most successful rock export would still be rocking more than 20 years later.

That was even more true when the band broke up in 1995, victims of their own rock star egos and chemical dependencies.

Even after reuniting in 2000, some wags dismissed the band’s return as the mere desire to cash in on a well-known name from the classic rock era, which said naysayers considered completely played out. What a joke, they said.

But Brian Wheat has had the last laugh. Bassist and manager of the band he co-founded with guitarist Frank Hannon in 1982, Wheat has worked for this decade to rebuild the band’s career and restore its good name. Along the way, he’s learned how to manage a band, build a record label, build and manage a recording studio and do it all in a way that not only makes money, but also allows his band mates to live the lives they want.

And they still rock, as will be apparent to anyone who sees them return home for a concert Friday, Jan. 30, at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento.

“This is a great band, and it doesn’t get enough credit,” he says during a break in recording at his studio on J Street in midtown Sacramento. “We have to keep proving ourselves. But that’s good - it keeps us honest.”

Tesla, named for the Yugoslavian inventor of alternating current who was eclipsed by his contemporary, the American Thomas Edison, has always been about honest, straight-forward rock with a hard edge. With the twin lead guitarists, Hannon and Tommy Skeoch (replaced in the new incarnation by Dave Rude), Tesla has had a handful of national hits (“Signs,” “Love Song”) but is best-known for its blazing live shows.

And like their namesake, the band seems to get energy from seeing itself as underdogs. Wheat in particular has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about how the band is perceived locally. They never played Old Ironsides or the True Love Coffeehouse. But he’s very proud of how well his crew has survived shifts in the commercial and aesthetic winds that have destroyed more than a few - if not most - of their late ‘80s contemporaries. He’s still a fan himself.

“I was talking to the bass player in Frank’s band the other day,” says Wheat, “And the guy is going on and on about what a great guitarist Frank is. To me, he’s just my brother, but I also know what a great player he is. I don’t think we take each other for granted.”

Wheat’s work in Tesla goes far beyond playing bass and sharing songwriting credits. A savvy businessman with humble South Sac roots who respects the value of a dollar, Wheat has worked hard to bring the band’s entire operation in house - literally, his own house, a lovingly-restored Victorian just down the street from Harlow’s.

“My company has everything under one roof, and we do partnerships for things we need done,” he says. “We get a much better deal than the major labels are offering. Aside from our distribution with Rykodisc, the rest of it is all on us. We’re in charge of everything, from videos to retail campaigns to radio promotion.

“It’s a whole new world from when we started,” he explains. “Record sales are down tremendously, you need to think outside the box. When we started, there wasn’t the internet, laptop computers, not so many forms of entertainment. Back then, it was TV, radio, records. Now there’s tons of entertainment, you’re competing against a lot more than you used to.”

The band even records in Wheat’s studio (full disclosure: I have myself recorded at Wheat’s studio), which means that they are able to take their time, and not have to travel. Travel, after all, is one of the rock band’s biggest pitfalls; most bands find it exhausting and expensive, even as they romanticize it for their fans.

“We’re older now, and touring takes a physical toll,” says Wheat, who is in his mid-40s. “So at our ripe old ages, we go a month on, a month off. We tour the U.S. September through May (they leave for a southwest tour after their Memorial Auditorium concert), and do summers in Europe and Asia.”

Touring in that manner, the group manages to see the world, play for fans all over (a substantial 120 shows a year) and still get a good deal of time off.

Taking breaks means that the band can stay healthy, stay home (the members live all over Northern California, Wheat and lead singer Jeff Keith being the only two in the Sacramento metro area) and stay friends.

Wheat admits that they are able to do that by budgeting carefully - “We don’t blow $400 a night for rooms at the Ritz-Carlton anymore,” he says - but they also do it by keeping a steady stream of product out there for fans.

“We try to have a piece of product out there every year,” he says, and it’s true: Last year, they released a live DVD, “Comin’ Atcha Live,” and an album of new material, “Forever More.” Before that, they released a pair of albums of cover songs, and before that, their first post-reunion album of original material, Into the Now.

Tomorrow night, Jan. 27th, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. the band will appear at R5 Records at 16th and Broadway. They’ll be signing copies of their latest album, Forever More, which is just now being released on vinyl (it came out on CD last fall). The band is billing the release as Tesla’s first vinyl in two decades.

And then it’s off on the road, but only until the end of February. At that point, Wheat will start work on another album with his side project Soul Motor, and somewhere in there, he’ll continue working on recording the still-unnamed band he’s formed with local rock star guitarist Mike Farrell, singer Lee Boots and his own brother, Mike, on drums.

“I’ve got no idea how that’s going to work out, I’ve never played with these guys, even my brother,” he says. “But it’s fun, and that’s what matters, right?”