Preface
I’ve Just Seen a Place
The first time I saw the Capitol Records building in person was in December of 1983. I was 17 years old, a senior in high school and had traveled west from my home in Detroit, Michigan to visit my sister in San Francisco for the Christmas holiday. We drove to Los Angeles to explore Hollywood. I still remember driving south on the 101 freeway and passing the iconic round tower. I became immediately transfixed by its unmistakable atomic-age architecture—it appeared to float above a rectangular base like a Cold War-era rocket ready for launch. Capped with a needle-like spire and those massive letters (in case amnesia struck?) … it was the definition of a head-turner.
I recalled numerous record albums, including my ...
