HISTORY
John Damroth founded Planet Records in 1983. Though originally intended to open in Harvard Square, Planet’s original location ended up being in Kenmore Square. The property wasn't designed for commercial use (it was an apartment), so it was necessary to tear apart and rebuild the interior (DIY style). Next door was The Rat, a fabled but now defunct venue, and across the street was Celebrations, a disco-era holdover club. Kenmore Square had an awful lot (maybe an excess…) of character(s) at the time. This was the era of the beloved Mr. Butch (who used to store his beers, among other things, in our refrigerator).
The Kenmore Square store was a great business success from the start. Possibly contributing to this was the fact that people used to actually buy music. In 1997 it became possible, finally, to open a second location in Harvard Square. The idea was that the Harvard annex, smaller as it was, would specialize in CDs. Sadly, though, the Planet empire was not to be: eight months later, in 1998, a fire destroyed the building our Kenmore location occupied. Heartbreaking as it was, the Mission would not be abandoned. The Harvard store underwent adjustments to accommodate an LP department. It wasn’t yet clear whether this was worthwhile: often, several days would pass without selling a single record. Today LPs sell pretty well once again, so there.
At twenty-six years, Planet has established itself as a local landmark. Though the entertainment megastores have fallen — Harvard Square was once home to both a Tower Records and an HMV, two institutions your children will never have heard of — Cambridge and Boston have continued to support both independent record stores and unique regional corporation Newbury Comics. Harvard Square is a great place to go record hunting: Planet Records, Twisted Village, In Your Ear and Newbury Comics are all a block or two apart, and Stereo Jacks and Weirdo Records are each a ten minute walk up or down Mass Ave. At our store, we provide a free Record Store Guide with locations, descriptions and contact info for these locations and others — an excellent resource for muso tourists passing through town.