The Delightful Story Behind A Thrift Store Vinyl Find

The Delightful Story Behind A Thrift Store Vinyl Find

From Bay Curious by KQED

May 7, 2026 · 27 min

About this episode

The episode explores the story of Cora and Santos Beloy, a Filipino American couple who were prominent figures in San Francisco's music scene during the 1970s, discovered through a thrift store vinyl find.

Jess Garcia loves perusing San Francisco thrift stores for treasures. One day, she came across a vinyl record titled "In Baghdad By the Bay: Cora and Santos Beloy," which piqued her curiosity. She rushed home to listen and was amazed at the sweet nostalgic quality of the voices she heard. When she looked for more information on the couple she couldn't find much, but had this feeling there must be more to their story. It turns out this Filipino American couple were "San Francisco famous" in the 1970s, playing a celebrated set in the Fairmount Hotel's Tonga Room among many other gigs. They were also larger than life figures in their local community. We bring you the story of Cora and Santos Beloy. Additional Resources: A Vinyl Found in San Francisco Contains Echoes of Filipino American Love Story Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Asal Ehsanipour. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger…

People in this episode

Hosts: Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, Olivia Allen-Price

Guest: Jess Garcia

Topics covered

  • thrift stores
  • vinyl records
  • Filipino American history
  • San Francisco culture
  • nostalgia

Keywords

  • thrift store
  • vinyl
  • Cora Beloy
  • Santos Beloy
  • San Francisco
  • Filipino American
  • nostalgia

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: KQED, Fairmount Hotel

Books & works: In Baghdad By the Bay: Cora and Santos Beloy

Places: San Francisco

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