Architect John Lautner's Chemosphere (named for the Chem Seal Corporation's coatings used when it was built) is a unique Modernist building in Los Angeles. The one story octagon sits on a thirty-foot-high concrete pole in the Hollywood Hills.

It's home to the murderous Sam in Brian de Palma's 1984 movie Body Double. In real life it's been the home of Benedikt Taschen, of Taschen publishing, since 2000.

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The Lovell House is a modernist home in Los Angeles built by architect Richard Neutra. Physician Philip Lovell instructed Neutra to design a house that would enhance the health of its inhabitants, and with the emphasis on healthy living which included a swimming pool, a basketball court, a handball court and a great number of windows, it became known as the Lovell Health House after it was completed in 1929.

In 1997's L.A. Confidential the building was home to pornographer and pimp Pierce Patchett.

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Sound City Studios was founded in 1969 by Joe Gottfried and Tom Skeeter. It struggled financially until Gottfried purchased "a state-of-the-art recording console from Rupert Neve, a British electronics genius who built technologically advanced audio gear: one of four in the world, a 28-input, 16-bus, 24-monitor 8028 with 1085 EQs and no automation" (from wiki).

The studio would go on to record a number of legendary artists and albums: Neil Young's After the Gold Rush (1970), several Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers albums, and Nirvana, Nevermind were all recorded at Sound City.

In May 2011, the studio closed it's commercial services, and is now used privately. Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) purchased the original Neve 8078 and installed it in his home studio. In 2013, Grohl made a documentary about the location called Sound City.

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After the release of Paul's Boutique, Capitol Records dumped their support for the Beasties tour that was supposed to follow the album in favor of "a Donny Osmond project."

With some extra time on their hands, the members of the band picked up the instruments they had shelved in favor of sampling on previous albums. They began by practicing at each other's apartments, then moved to this rehearsal space for several months before they rented and converted the space that became G-Son Studios.

The change from sampling other records to creating their own may have been at least partly financial. As Beasties producer/engineer recalled, "after [Beastie Boys] did Paul's Boutique, we realized we had spent a lot of money in the studio. We had spent about a $250,000 in rights and licensing for samples." Shortly after the Biz Markie vs Gilbert O'Sullivan case, the age of hip-hop sampling had sunsetted.

The subsequent album (3 years later) was the Beastie Boys Check Your Head.

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Just north of Sunset Blvd in LA is the house that served as the exterior for the 80s sitcom The Golden Girls (series run 1985-1992). The show was set in Florida, so there's no telling if Blanche, Rose, Dorothy or Sophia will be around there.

"Thank you for being a friend..."

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