Customers sometimes walked into Rooky Ricardo's with little more than a scrap of melody, and Dick Vivian could guide them toward the 45 they meant. Vivian, the owner who made that exchange a nearly four-decade ritual in San Francisco's Lower Haight, died at home on July 24, 2026, at 78.

At Rooky Ricardo's, a visitor had to leaf through sleeves, ask a question and listen. Four listening stations gave the search a soundtrack, while the shelves concentrated on soul, oldies and girl-group singles. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Vivian could work from a customer's hazy recollection and locate the right record. The transaction often became a conversation.

Born in Walnut Creek, Vivian began studying popular music as a child through Top 40 radio and weekly charts. He told GQ that hearing the Del-Vikings' "Whispering Bells" at 10 changed him. He learned the Bop, Lindy Hop, Mashed Potato and Jitterbug, kept dancing while attending San Jose State, and later became a familiar figure on KOFY's TV-20 Dance Party.

The record store grew from accumulation rather than a childhood business plan. Vivian was working in restaurants when his collection became too large to manage at home. He had already invented the name: Ricardo played on Dick, while Rooky admitted that he would be a rookie. Rooky Ricardo's opened at 448 Haight Street on June 6, 1987, with Vivian supplying the records and a man named Larry initially operating the shop. It stocked only 45s at first, then added LPs as demand grew.

Vivian knew soul and oldies, especially the girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s, and he preferred guiding a listener beyond the most familiar names. By 2013, tens of thousands of singles filled both his home and the store. "I view myself as a service," he told GQ. "I will help people find what they're looking for if I have it." Lists were welcome, but so were detours toward something new.

That method trained ears as well as customers. Musician Nick Waterhouse worked at Rooky Ricardo's and described Vivian as a friend and mentor. DJs, touring musicians and collectors treated the store as a destination, while neighborhood regulars lingered. Chris Veltri, owner of nearby Groove Merchant, told KQED that the shop was entirely an expression of Vivian and that entering it felt like stepping into another era.

The shop proved portable without losing that atmosphere. In 2016, a seismic retrofit sent Rooky Ricardo's from 448 Haight to a temporary space across the street at 419. Records and the listening station made the move, and the smaller location became permanent the next year. In July 2017, KTVU reported that San Francisco had added the store to its Legacy Business Registry. City records also credited Vivian with organizing neighborhood events and helping establish the Lower Haight Merchants and Neighbors Association.

Rooky Ricardo's announcement said Vivian died around the time he ordinarily would have left home to open the shop. The Chronicle reported that the last 45 he heard was Gwen Owens' "Keep On Living." Friends asked those wishing to honor him to put on a record.

The shelves of soul and girl-group singles, the listening stations, the Haight Street storefront and the musicians Vivian guided preserve the world he built. His particular achievement was to keep music discovery social: a list unfolded on a counter, a turntable ready, a joke before the needle dropped, and one carefully chosen record passed from hand to hand.