Pete Smolen

Was located in Columbia, South Carolina and was co-owner of Ripete Records. Peter "Pete" Nathen Smolen, age 76, died Aug. 2, 2023, after a 13-year stay of cancer that he never let define him. Pete was born in 1947 in New York City and spent his youth in White Plains, N.Y., and then in Ahoskie, N.C. He graduated from Duke University in 1969 with a degree in history, after an about-turn from pre-med, and then promptly didn't use either degree in his start at Record Bar, a music store chain based in Durham where he soon became a buyer. Looking for a city to start his own music store business, Pete moved his family to Columbia, S.C., where he resided for the remainder of his years. His first Sounds Familiar location opened in 1976 in Landmark Square in Columbia, SC. Over the years, Sounds Familiar grew to three locations in Columbia SC with stores in Myrtle Beach SC, Charlotte NC and Asheville NC at times. He was also part-owner of Paradise Records in Fayetteville, N.C., Greenstreets music club in Columbia and Carolina beach music label Ripete Records, which he ran with partner-in-crime and good friend Marion (Rion) Carter. He loved a nightly Dewar's on the rocks, Duke basketball, floating on the Black River with friends, old movies (even if the movie didn't age well) and music, especially rock 'n' roll and R&B – John Prine, Otis Redding, The Who. But he also loved the Bee Gees, Master P and Lil' Kim for all the money they made for Sounds Familiar. Although beach music was very good to him, he never did learn how to dance the shag. January 11, 1947 - August 2, 2023