Rooky Ricardo's Records

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Kim Cooper

Joined 10 years ago

Old-school, dance-oriented record shop and social center, packed with forgotten 45s.. The Scene
The SFPD put a stop to the wild monthly parties that were a Rooky Ricardo's tradition, but a visit to this vinyl-only soul, jazz, funk, blues and R&B shop still feels like a special event. There are barstools at the counter and vintage Formica kitchen tables where you can hang out, a wild cartoon mural of dancers with comically small heads, and a giant sculpture of Aunt Jemima holding court in the corner.

The Goods
With 50,000 singles and nearly a quarter of a million vintage LPs, odds are that Rooky has that '70s slow jam you've been missing. The big hits are there, but you can also troll for obscure early releases and non-LP b-sides by acts like Earth Wind and Fire, the Bar-Kays, James Brown, the Ohio Players and Funkadelic.