Tag Archives: Amoeba Records

Ringo Starr ‘February Sky’ – Amoeba 7″ Single Rarity

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In the lead up to Record Store Day 2024 Ringo Starr was on the publicity trail for his forthcoming 4-track EP called Crooked Boy. It was being released on Record Store Day as a Limited Edition black and white marble vinyl. Then, later this month, it will come out on normal black vinyl and on CD.

Ringo did a lot of social media in the lead-up, plus a number of interviews for print, radio and podcasts. But the big deal was a personal appearance at the Amoeba Music record store in Hollywood. This was on April 18 where he was joined on stage by Linda Perry, the driving force behind the latest EP. Perry wrote, produced and engineered the new record. She even chose the photo for the front cover of the EP.

On that day, and only in person at the store, Amoeba made available an extremely limited edition 7″ single of one of the songs from the EP called ‘February Sky’. It’s been reported (but not confirmed) that only 500 of these singles were pressed. They come in a picture sleeve and are pressed on a cool red vinyl:

Amoeba must have had a few left over and so the following week they made the remaining stock available online. These sold out in ten minutes. It was US customers only as the store doesn’t ship internationally.

As you can see, some copies on eBay have since sold for as high as US$360…..

Being based in Australia we thought we’d never get a copy for the collection, but thanks to one of our readers – our mate Guy – there will be one winging its way Downunder very soon!

A Visit to Some San Francisco Record Stores – Part 1

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You may have noticed that beatlesblogger hasn’t been updated for a little while. That’s because I’ve been on holiday in San Francisco, USA and of course while there I had to make time to visit some record stores seeking out any Beatles or Beatles-related records and CD’s. What I found will be the subject of the next couple of posts here.

First though to the main stores I discovered in San Francisco offering either new and/or second-hand Beatles. There were three main contenders here – and all very worthwhile checking out if you happen to be in town.

The first was Rasputin Music. They have two stores in San Francisco itself, plus shops in nine other locations in the wider Bay area and California. The two I got to were the store just down from Union Square on Powell Street, and the one on Haight Street in the famous Haight-Ashbury district.

Rasputin 2The Powell Street store is by far the largest of the two, with five floors (that’s right, I said five levels) of new and used records, CD’s, DVD’s and tee shirts to tempt you. Rasputin 1

Joining Rasputin on Haight Street is the wonderful Recycled Records. Owner Bruce Lyall has been there for over 25 years – and it shows. For anyone who loves the smell, look and feel of a large second-hand record store this is the place to come. I loved it so much I took these photos:Recycled1Recycled2Recycled3

As you can see, Recycled has a wonderful ambience and can be a bit overwhelming at first such is the extent of their collection. They sell LP’s, 45’s, compacts discs, posters and assorted paper memorabilia; rare books and a wide assortment of collectibles. If at first you don’t see what you want in the bins look below them to the shelves. I found quite a few other great items stored down there. Again, well worth checking out.

Finally the big one: Amoeba Music:

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Amoeba have two shops in the Bay area – one in Berkley, and one at 1855 Haight Street (they also have one in Los Angeles too). So, if you are on Haight for a visit to the groovy, picturesque and historic Haight-Ashbury district you can use the time to check out not one but three stores (Rasputin, Recycled, and Amoeba) all within easy walking distance of each other and all harbouring potential Beatle treasure.

When you walk into Amoeba be prepared for an intake of breath. It is HUGE:

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So, those are the stores I visited covered. Next time some details on what I found……check back again soon.