Read this: A brief history of “Licorice Pizza,” the L.A. record store that inspired Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest
Formerly named Soggy Bottom, PTA’s upcoming film will premiere this November
Film Features pizza
Aside from “Martin Scorsese comments on Marvel movies,” there are few things more exciting to cinephiles than “new Paul Thomas Anderson movie.” Anderson is ramping up the excitement for his next film by making a few changes, including updating the title from Soggy Bottom, which is just an astounding title for a movie, to Licorice Pizza, a confusing one. For many, the title Licorice Pizza probably means as much as Chappie or Finch or Soggy Bottom. But as L.A. Mag explains, Licorice Pizza shares its name with a now-shuttered southern California record store. They write:
The new name comes from a long-gone chain of L.A. record shops founded in Long Beach by James Greenwood in 1969. By the time the Glendale-based chain was sold in 1985 there were 34 locations in Southern California, including Canoga Park, North Hollywood, Reseda, and the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Their logo, featuring a depression-era cook proud of her freshly baked record album, was plastered all over the streets of L.A., and is currently a top-selling T-shirt at the Valley Relics Museum, which registered the apparel trademark just in time to get in on the movie action.
The name for the store comes from a joke made by folk duo Bud & Travis on their live album Bud & Travis…In Concert. Recorded at the Santa Monica Civic Center in 1960, the album features some stage banter, including some choice self-deprecating roasts of their album:
The comedy/folk duo are on a self-deprecating roll about how unsuccessful their record was, remarking that it had “sesame seeds on the other side” and could be played on a Waring blender. Just before going into their version of “La Bamba,” they mention that the platter was being sold at feed stores as a “licorice pizza.”
The store did what it could by airing commercials during American Bandstand and Soul Train, LA Mag notes. However, a string of scandals, including stocking shelves with counterfeit merchandise and “a charge that Greenwood purchased stock that had been shoplifted from other stores, including Kmart, and competitor The Wherehouse,” led to the store’s decline. Eventually, a northern California store, Record Bar, purchased the chain in 1985, and within five years, they were all Sam Goodys. It’s the circle of life.
As for the movie Licorice Pizza, the trailer has been slowly rolling out in repertory theaters in major cities worldwide, including London and Chicago. When will have the trailer to post? We don’t know, so stop asking! Licorice Pizza stars Bradley Cooper, Alana Haim, Benny Safdie, and Cooper Hoffman, the son of late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. It’s set to begin a limited release on November 26 and is going wide on December 25.
24 Comments
Darn, I’ve been meaning to buy that t-shirt for years. Better get going, lest I look like I’m just jumping on the band wagon.
I bought a Licorice Pizza t shirt at a vintage clothing store in 2008 in NYC. I’m officially a hipster.
Licorice Pizza is not a stranger to Angelinos of said era. Remember it well, shopped frequently.
I only know about Bud and Travis thanks to my dad’s extensive folk record collection. Helped get me into a lot of great stuff.
it’s…uh…not a great title, but sometimes these kinds of titles work and some Vanilla Sky they don’t
Kinda sticks out among the other titles in the PTA oeuvre.
Not really. It’ll be the second PTA movie named after a place in the Valley.
Right. I forgot about There Will Be Blood Antiques on Moorpark
I’m impressed! Not many people know about “Punch Drink Love liquor ’n lingerie” in Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara is not in the Valley!
Oh, right—Phantom Threads, that old vintage shop in Woodland Hills.
The good news is now it won’t turn off Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood immediately… though they will still likely be hesitant.
It checks out. As a Gen X who grew up in the 70’s SoCal accurately depicted in Boogie Nights, Licorice Pizza immediately evokes driving to the cool neighborhood to buy records from hip and possibly criminal sales staff.
The new name comes from a long-gone chain of L.A. record shops founded in Long Beach by Jonny Greenwood in 1969.
Nice try, but Jonny Greenwood wasn’t even born until 1971.
I’ve seen Licorice Pizza mentioned in GnR & Motley docs. LA in the early 80s must have been a blast.
Fun fact: Matt Groening worked at Licorice Pizza in the late 70s and first sold Life in Hell as a comic book there.
When will have the trailer to post?
When will indeed.
I remember buying the original “Some Girls” album at Licorice Pizza in San Diego. And then returning it for the new “updated” cover that removed all the copywrited images the Stones used without permission. I didn’t say I was smart.
Licorice Pizza = LP = 33⅓
Spent many days at my local Licorice Pizza in Santa Ana.
To think, I was worried that “Soggy Bottom” was the worst possible title.
Wow, that brings me back. I remember them from when I lived in the OC in the 1970’s. One of my wealthier grade school classmates’ father was a higher up there. I remember that they were just as much a head shop as a record shop. They were way more sleazy than The Wherehouse.
I’m SOOOOOO TIRED of LA denizens expecting awards because they set their movies in LA.It’s getting kind of disgusting at this point.I love PTA, don’t get me wrong, he’s great, but if there’s one more Oscar given to an LA movie because it’s an LA movie, I might just vomit until my insides are outside.