San Francisco Rental Car and the Capitol Records Building
Driving up to the corner of Hollywood and Vine with your San Francisco rental car, there is one building that will pop out: the Capitol Records Building, with its trademark cylinder shape. Some say this shape was chosen to resemble a stack of records with a stylus on top, but there is no proof that this was the intention of the design or if it was just a coincidence that the first circular building was made by a record company.
Capitol Records is significant because it was the first record company based on the West Coast. They promoted artists such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra, Duran Duran, and Tina Turner. At the base of the building you will find a colorful mural on the southern side that features the portraits of Nat King Cole, Billie Holliday, and other jazz greats.
The Capitol Records Building is not open for tours, so you will have to look at it from your San Francisco rental car as you drive through the intersection at Hollywood and Vine. This is an office building, and security is tight. If you happen to see it at night from your San Francisco rental car, you might notice that the spire at the top has a red light that blinks on and off. There have been some theories that this is Morse Code. In fact, this rumor is true: the code says "Hollywood" every few seconds. This message has been changed only once since it was first turned on in 1956; in June 1992 the sign was changed to blink "Capitol 50" in honor of the 50th anniversary of the company.
Did you know...?
Although Capitol Records does not offer tours of their facilities when you visit in your San Francisco rental car, there are still many interesting facts about the building that you may not know:
- The 1974 blockbuster film "Earthquake" shows the tower of the Capitol Records Building collapsing during an earthquake. It was also destroyed in the film "The Day After Tomorrow".
- Capitol Records has been accused in the past of re-releasing albums with heavy modifications after they have been sold in other countries. One famous example was The Beatles first album, which was the same album released in the U.K. before, with one extra song.
- In September 2006, it was announced that the tower and adjacent properties were sold to a New York-based developer.
Current Artists
Capitol Records is still popular today; you may even be listening to one of their artists on the CD player in your San Francisco rental car. Artists that are listed under their current clients include Chingy, Coldplay, The Dandy Warhols, Duran Duran, Dave Koz, Ice Cube, Kylie Minogue, and Snoop Dogg. Capitol Records still has a place in the hearts and i-Pods of today's Americans, young and old.
See the building where it all started on the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood.
|
