Wallichs Music City: Los Angeles' Legendary Record Store

Most record stores sell music. Wallichs Music City helped create it.

The Store

Glenn Wallichs opened Music City in Hollywood in 1940, and it quickly became the most important record store in Los Angeles — and arguably in the country. The store was a full-service music destination: records, sheet music, instruments, and the kind of knowledgeable staff that made it a gathering place for musicians and music lovers alike.

But Wallichs' most significant contribution to American music wasn't the store itself. In 1942, Glenn Wallichs co-founded Capitol Records with songwriter Johnny Mercer and movie producer Buddy DeSylva. Capitol became one of the most important record labels in American history — home to Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, the Beach Boys, and the Beatles' American releases. The label that launched from a Hollywood record store went on to define American popular music for decades.

The Store's Legacy

Music City continued to operate as one of Hollywood's premier record stores through the postwar decades, serving the musicians, producers, and fans who made Los Angeles the center of the American music industry. In a city where the music business was everywhere, Music City was the place where it all came together at retail.

The Wallichs Music City Los Angeles Retro T-shirt is for everyone who knows the story. Find it in the Los Angeles collection.