Boo Boo Records celebrates 50 years of turning tables on Record Store Day

In San Luis Obispo, one record store has lasted through 10 presidents, one pandemic and the ebbs and flows of the vinyl industry. 

Boo Boo Records was opened 50 years ago in 1974 by business partners Ed Taylor and Glenn Forbes. According to the store’s website, their original investment into Boo Boo Records was only $700. Originally located near the railroad station, the store has since moved downtown.

Mike White, the store’s current owner, started attending Cal Poly the same year the store opened and has been a customer since its beginning.

“I was down there three days a week, really, honestly from like ‘74,” White said.

He began working at Boo Boo’s in 1978, and almost a decade later, he became a partner in the store. He now acts as the sole owner.

He was there the day a famous musician came into the store out of the blue. White said around the making of the “Nebraska” album, Bruce Springsteen walked through the doors on a stormy afternoon.

“I couldn’t contain myself,” White said. “So on his way out, I had to say, ‘Bruce, what are you doing, what are you doing in San Luis Obispo?’”

According to White, Springsteen had been on a trip to visit relatives when he took a pit stop in SLO.

“He needed some music, pulled up the road, asked somebody, ‘Where’s the record store?’ He said Boo Boo Records,” White said. “He parked across the street and came in by himself.”

As White was gearing up to celebrate the store’s anniversary, he and the staff were preparing for Record Store Day (RSD). According to the official Record Store Day website, since 2007, Record Store Day has been a busy day for independent music stores across the country. Special Vinyl, CDs and other forms of music are released on the day, which fell on Saturday, April 20 this year.

On RSD, the store opened two hours early at 8 a.m., with a line down the block. Customers like Adam Harding were able to scope out limited edition albums at Boo Boo’s that day.

“I picked up The Offspring’s picture disc. Their ‘Splinter’ album. And it’s a 20th-anniversary limited edition pressing,” Harding said. “There was two at the store, and it hasn’t been pressed for over 10 years.”

Meanwhile, other customers like Cal Poly Professor James Bingaman, waited in line with anticipation, unsure if he could find the special album he was looking for.

“‘Evergreen’ by the Paper Kites. It’s a compilation of some of their early work. They put it on a vinyl,” Bingaman said on April 20. “They’ve got about 2,000 copies in the U.S., so, hoping that they have it here.”

Julia Madsen was looking to find special releases for Chappell Roan and the double 12-inch vinyl of Paramore’s cover of “Burning Down the House” and David Byrne’s cover of “Hard Times.”

“I went to college here many moons ago, so Boo Boo and I have a good relationship,” Madsen said. “I’m happy to be back and check them out, but I love supporting smaller record stores and Boo Boo always has a great curation of stuff.”

For RSD, Boo Boo Records also hosted live bands and DJs to play throughout the day. They featured acts like Peaking Lights, Derek Senn, Hot 45, The Funk Junket, Grand Liquidator and Max MacLaury.

As people waited in line, Boo Boo’s employee Jaxon Buchanan let them in one at a time to ensure the store wouldn’t get too crowded. He said the store has an inviting environment and has worked as a sort of institution for the people in the community.

“I came here when I was a kid all the time,” Buchanan said. “I used to work right across the street from my dad’s old office and I would work a couple hours, and then get paid, and immediately come buy a record.”

David Beals, a long-time Boo Boo’s customer, first started visiting the store in 1981. He said he would come to socialize and learn about new music. He called it a second home.

“I almost worked here, but I figured I’d lose my paycheck if I worked here. I still did,” Beals said.

He said he enjoys the fact that physical music has made a comeback and that it echoes back to when he was a kid and bought The Beatles’ album “Revolver.”

“I brought it home, I played it, I played it again, I played it again, I played it again, 20 times,” he said. “And reading the jacket and all that, so you really were focused in on the music of it.”

White said people are often drawn to the look and sound of the records and other physical media. He said it is a very different experience than listening to an album on streaming platforms.

“The warm sound of a record, the analog sound, I think people are drawn to that,” White said.

Since he’s worked at the store, White said he’s seen changes in how people consume music, from vinyl to 8-track to cassettes to CDs and back to vinyl. He said moments like RSD are a testament to the community they have built through 50 years of service.

“What’s really exciting is just seeing people’s faces when they get in and they find what they want,” White said. “It doesn’t get any better than that. Just love it.”

Boo Boo Records is located at 978 Monterey St. and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.