Rooky Ricardo’s Dick Vivian in Need of Support After Cancer Diagnosis

If you’ve ever walked into 429 Haight St. — or 419 Haight, or 448 Haight — to browse for records, you’ve undoubtedly encountered Dick Vivian.

Since 1987, the vinyl bon vivant has owned and operated Rooky Ricardo’s Records, which received official legacy status from the city in 2017. Both the shop – which champions music from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s with a special affinity for soul and girl group 45s – and Vivian himself have become San Francisco icons. Just ask GQ, which profiled Dick in 2013.

“He wants you to experience love the way he does — unflinchingly, fiercely, naively,” the profile opined. “He first fell in love [with music] at the age of ten, while lying alone on his bed, and he has dedicated half of his life to recreating the feeling again and again.”

Rookys is one of the oldest record stores in San Francisco; it’s survived two displacements, multiple rent hikes, two tech booms, one financially devastating scam and a pandemic.

And now, Vivian has continued to run the shop despite a Stage 3 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in March of this year. He’s been receiving treatment at UCSF, including weekly chemotherapy infusions, and gets assistance from several friends.

Musician and longtime Rooky’s employee Nick Waterhouse moved back to San Francisco from L.A. to help care for Vivian. Speaking from a hospital hallway, Waterhouse says his friend and mentor has several comorbidities in addition to the cancer diagnosis, and will soon undergo heart surgery.

“The reality is he’s going to need care; care that a friend can’t even provide,” Waterhouse says. “This is about quality of life. I think he made the quality of my life and a lot of other people’s lives so high that he deserves the dignity of simple care.”

While Vivian has insurance, certain aspects and procedures of his medical care are not covered. Adds Waterhouse: “There is no retirement when you run a record shop that sells $5, $10, and $15 45s.” To fill in those gaps, a GoFundMe campaign has been established to help cover his costs.

At press time, the campaign has raised over $20,000 its $25,000 goal, with musicians, DJs and collectors nationwide stepping up. Both on the platform and on social media, fans and friends expressed their gratitude for the myriad ways Vivian and Rooky’s have impacted their lives.

“Dick Vivian and Rooky Ricardo’s Records have been monumentally, unspeakably important to me,” wrote Ben Wright, a Brooklyn-based DJ who once lived a block from the store. “Rookys was a place where I could go to forget about things for a while. It’s no exaggeration to say that Dick helped me get through one of the worst periods of my life. … Sometimes he even slipped me a couple free records to boot. What can I say, the man is a class act.”

Chris Veltri, who owns neighboring record store Groove Merchant, says Rooky Ricardo’s is Dick Vivian. “His store is kind of a dying breed; it’s 100% him. You’re kind of walking into a different era, a space that’s unique into itself.”

Veltri has learned a lot from Vivian, including the importance of creating space and atmosphere. “A record store really is like a good bar or a coffee shop. It’s a meeting spot first, it’s where conversation happens,” he says. “People just need a space that can be mindless and just the physicality of flipping through the racks and just shooting the shit. And that’s what Dick’s spot has always been. He’s always sitting at his table, cleaning 45s, pricing 45s. You walk in and a relaxation sets in. You don’t get that in a lot of stores.”

Musician and producer Tom Brenneck donated to Dick’s GoFundMe out of “pure love.” The L.A.-based artist started shopping at Rookys 20 years ago as a member of the Dap-Kings and the Budos Band, and later with Charles Bradley. “[Over the] last few years, I go there with my wife and kids just to hang, hardly to shop,” he says.

Waterhouse, Kurt Andre and Sweaterfunk DJ/Pressed 916 co-founder Jon Blunk plan to run the shop moving forward, bringing Dick in if he’s able.

“He just keeps saying, ‘All I want to do is just go to the shop, be in my apartment at night and read a paperback book and watch a movie,'” Waterhouse says.

Born in Walnut Creek, Vivian became a regional celebrity for dancing on KOFY TV. (He still has moves). His status grew as a host and waiter in the California fine dining scene, where Vivian’s hilarious and lovingly catty personality garnered attention. When he opened Rookys in 1987, the store became a “dreamy embodiment of whatever he thinks people should get out of listening to records,” Waterhouse says.

“When you come in as a customer, he … immediately personalizes you. He’s not chilly or distant. He brings you in closer by joking with you. He has a genuine curiosity about what you’re interested in,” Waterhouse continues. “I think Dick does that to every person, regardless of their background, and has for three and a half decades. And so people fall in love with him.”

The outpouring of support surprised even Dick.

“I know I know a lot of people, but this is beyond my wildest dreams,” Vivian tells KQED. “As I’m sitting here waiting to know what’s going to happen, it’s really made a huge difference in my attitude. So I’m still laughing and being hilarious. Thank you, everybody.”

A GoFundMe for Dick Vivian can be found here.