Rockaway Records is a US

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a DIY ethic, do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties aff ...

and memorabilia store located in the

Silver Lake Silver Lake may refer to: Cities and towns Canada *Silver Lake, in Peterborough County, Ontario, a dispersed rural community in the municipality of Trent Lakes *Silver Lake, in Renfrew County, Ontario, a dispersed rural community in the municipalit ...

neighborhood of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The store's specialties are rare

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

records, autographs, posters, memorabilia, and other music collectibles. It was founded in 1979 in Los Angeles by brothers Gary and Wayne Johnson.

History

In 1979, after attending a record

swap meet A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell Used good, previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of ...

in the

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

parking lot in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, avid music lovers Gary and Wayne Johnson began buying and reselling vinyl albums. The pair started frequenting yard sales and swap meets looking for old records. Within a couple months of discovering the Capitol swap meet, they started selling there as well as buying more rarities. What started as a hobby soon became an international

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

business run out of the basement of the house they shared in

Brea, California Brea (; ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States. The population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 47,325. It is southeast of Los Angeles. Brea is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The city ...

. The choice of business name was an homage to the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

song "Rockaway Beach". Within a couple of years, the brothers quit their jobs to focus on Rockaway's full-time mail order business. In 1982 the Johnsons purchased Rainbow Records, a small record store on Glendale Boulevard in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. The brick-and-mortar Rockaway Records moved twice along the same street before moving into its current location in 1992. Upon purchasing the 9,000 square-foot property (previously home to a nightclub called Caché), Rockaway became the largest record store in Los Angeles. After several years working alongside his brothers, Alan Johnson opened a second Rockaway Records location in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

, which closed in 2007. In 1992, a sister store opened in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

and Tommy Dunbar are among the former employees of Rockaway.

Auctions and sales

Rockaway has a history of buying and selling large collections, as well as newsworthy and unique items. * In 1991, the store made headlines for selling the first known copy of Prince's never-issued 1987 '' Black Album'' on CD for $13,500. * In 2009, the store acquired the world's largest

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

LP collection. * In 2014, the store bought and sold a collection of Beatles memorabilia valued at more than half a million dollars. * In 2015, Rockaway sold an original drawing by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

from 1967 (replicated in the

Monterey International Pop Music Festival The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16-18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix Exp ...

program) for $175,000.

In popular culture

* The store was used as a filming location for the TV series ''

Arliss Arliss may refer to: * Arliss (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Arliss (surname), a list of people with the surname * ''Arliss'' (TV series), stylized as ''Arli$$'', a sitcom airing on HBO ...

''. * The store was used as a filming location for the movie '' Border Radio''.{{Cite web, title=Border Radio: Where Punk Lived, url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/461-border-radio-where-punk-lived, last=Morris, first=Chris, website=The Criterion Collection, language=en, access-date=2020-04-13 * The store was used as a filming location for the reality TV series ''

Gene Simmons Family Jewels ''Gene Simmons Family Jewels'' is an American reality television series that aired on A&E from August 7, 2006, to July 14, 2012. It follows Kiss bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons, his longtime partner and wife Shannon Tweed, and their two child ...

''. * Erykah Badu's 2008 music video for "Honey" was filmed at Rockaway Records in Los Angeles.

References

External links

Official website

Official website of Rockaway Records Australia
1979 establishments in California Retail companies established in 1979 History of Los Angeles