A New Mag Pipes Up: The Record Rag

It is common knowledge that the magazine you hold in your hands is America’s best rock mag, but what is not common knowledge is that America’s second-best rock mag has been steadily gaining steam in San Francisco. No, not that one — I’m talking about The Record Rag, published as a leisure service of Aquarius Records, a feisty little record shop on Castro Street. Aquarius itself is pretty amazing — easily the Bay Area’s best selection of jazz, for one thing, and they love to buy old record collections, as long as the (fiscs in question are playable. In addition, the staff at Aquarius knows and loves the music they sell. There’s no question but that they’re making money, but there’s also no question that making money is only one of the reasons they’re in business.

The love and knowledge comes out best in The Record Ragh written almost entirely by the Aquarius staff. It deals with some of the new records in the shop that are of interest in terms that are pure fandom, but the Rag is at its best when it examines other matters. Earlier this year Associate Editor Michael Wright took on the abysmal FM radio scene in San Francisco and hit a whole bunch of nails on the head, drawing squeals of outraged protest from no less than KSAN’s Tom Donahue, who managed to skirt each issue without dealing with any of them, and even descended to some name-calling. On the page facing, Wright patiently refutes Donahue, scoring (points that FMers all over the country should pay attention to if they care' about keeping their audience.

The Record Rag's enthusiasm makes up for their lack of professionalism, and sample copies are free from Aquarius Records, 524 Castro Street, San Francisco, California. If music is more to you than background noise, send for a copy or drop in.

Ed Ward