My son and I are both lifelong vinyl collectors. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, we've always noticed that if you spot someone carrying around one of Amoeba Music's bright yellow shopping bags, they usually have a smile and spring in their step. Makes sense as they have just visited one of the world's great record stores and on their way to hear some new tunes! According to Marc Weinstein, who co-founded the shop in 1990, the three locations of Amoeba—San Francisco, Berkeley, and Los Angeles—go through 1,500 to 2,000 bags each day. (Yes, that is a lot of plastic but the bags are apparently made from "recycled" materials and don't violate the state's ban on plastic bags.) Today's SFGate tells the story of these ubiquitous bags and the Amoeba logo that's emblazoned on them:
In perhaps their first stroke of marketing genius, [founders Dave] Prinz and Weinstein decided they wanted the business's name to start with the letter A in order to appear first alphabetically in the phone book — before their competitor, Aquarius Records. They also wanted to incorporate the university's scientific identity into the name, as well as call out the Bay Area's psychedelic history. They found the answer in a trippy-looking single-celled organism.
"We're just sitting there, frankly, smoking a joint listening to some Louis Armstrong, in [Dave's] living room and he said, 'Amoeba … Amoeba Music,'" Weinstein said. "And we're like, 'That's perfect,' because it fits so well what we're doing. It can be anything — it's new, it's used, it's world music, it's rock. Amoeba, it sort of speaks to all the things that can be morphing constantly in music itself."
They knew an artist who had painted album cover art on the exterior of the old Tower Records at Columbus and Bay streets in San Francisco. His name was Shephard Hendrix, and he also happened to be Jimi Hendrix's nephew. Weinstein remembers paying $500 for the logo, which is the very same one they use today.
Wonder if they ever kicked down some extra cash to Hendrix, or at least a chunk of store credit!
Previously:
• Marc Maron reveals 'What's in My Bag?'
• Gary Numan talks about his favorite albums at LA's Amoeba Records
