The Delightful Story Behind A Thrift Store Vinyl Find

Bay Curious

KQED

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:22.5	Restrictions apply. Select plans only. Support for KQED podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport. SFO celebrates Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with performances in the terminals. Learn more at flysfo.com slash celebrates.
0:40.9	From KQED.
0:43.7	Jess Garcia has a little game she and her husband like to play.
0:47.8	They'll enjoy a big old pitcher of margaritas on Valencia Street in San Francisco,
0:52.6	and then wander over to the nearby thrift stores to see what kinds of treasures they'll find.
0:58.0	They were rummaging through the vinals when they saw something that caught their eye.
1:03.0	So when we saw this album, like obviously it attracted our attention.
1:07.0	The album cover has these hand-painted illustrations of San Francisco landmarks, cable cars, the
1:13.6	Transamerica building, Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and they're all circling this
1:19.2	portrait of a Filipino couple. It looks like a wedding photo from the 70s or 80s maybe. He's in a blue
1:26.2	suit with a purple ruffled shirt underneath.
1:29.4	She's in a white lace dress. And in thick black letters, the album title reads
1:33.9	Cora and Santos in Baghdad by the Bay. We didn't really understand what type of album this was
1:42.1	at first. My first impression that like maybe it was like a 50th
1:45.6	anniversary album that like they gave out to like friends and family with just like their
	...

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