You've seen the building.

Round. White. Thirteen stories. A needle rising from the roof beside Hollywood and Vine.

But after dark, the Capitol Records Tower does something many people never notice.

It spells HOLLYWOOD.

Not with giant letters.

With light.

The beacon at the top of the tower's 90-foot aluminum spire flashes H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D in Morse code.

Which means one of Hollywood's most recognizable buildings has been quietly sending the neighborhood's name into the night sky for decades.

Why Does the Capitol Records Tower Blink at Night?

The light atop the Capitol Records Tower flashes the word HOLLYWOOD in Morse code. The beacon sits at the top of the building's aluminum spire, above the circular tower near Hollywood and Vine.

The flashes are not random. They form a repeating message that has become one of the building's most distinctive details.

Most people recognize the tower by its unusual shape. Its blinking light tells a quieter story, one that becomes visible after dark.

And unlike most Hollywood stars, this one has been performing the same trick night after night. That's a pretty good opening act.

A New Kind of Tower for a New Kind of Hollywood

When Was the Capitol Records Tower Built?

The Capitol Records Tower was completed in 1956 at 1750 North Vine Street in Hollywood, California. Designed by Welton Becket and Associates, it became an architectural landmark for its distinctive circular form.

According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, it was the world's first circular office tower.

Its construction gave Capitol Records a headquarters that was immediately recognizable on the Hollywood skyline, reflecting the growing influence of the West Coast recording industry.

It was an architectural statement for a company that had already made one of its own.

Capitol Records was founded in 1942 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music retailer Glenn Wallichs and songwriter-producer Buddy DeSylva. The label became the first major record company based on the West Coast.

Then came the building.

And Hollywood got a new silhouette.

Does It Really Look Like a Stack of Records?

You've probably heard the story.

Is the Capitol Records Tower Designed to Look Like a Stack of Records?

The Capitol Records Tower resembles a stack of vinyl records, but the popular story that it was deliberately designed as a giant record player is disputed.

Its circular floors suggest stacked records, while the tall rooftop spire resembles a turntable spindle. The resemblance is so striking that it has become part of Hollywood's architectural folklore.

But visual resemblance is not proof of the architect's original intention. The safer historical distinction is that the building looks like stacked records, while accounts of the design's inspiration are more complicated.

This one acquired a visual pun the whole city wanted to believe.

There's a reason that little light makes such a good Hollywood detail. Most of the city's famous signs are meant to be understood at a glance. They tell you where you are, what is playing or whose name belongs above the entrance. The Capitol beacon asks for a second look.

To someone who doesn't know Morse code, it's simply a pattern of flashes. To someone who knows the secret, the same flashes become a word. The landmark hasn't changed; the viewer has.

And that makes the tower an unusually fitting neighbor to the recording studios below. Music works through patterns, pauses and timing, too. Up on the roof, Hollywood's name is expressed in a rhythm of light. Downstairs, generations of musicians have turned rhythms into something people carry with them for years.

The Music Beneath the Landmark

The tower would be interesting even if it were only architecture.

But downstairs is where the building becomes part of music history.

Capitol's recording studios were built as state-of-the-art facilities, and the names associated with recordings there read like chapters in American popular music: Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Dean Martin and The Beach Boys, among many others.

That contrast is what I love about the place.

Outside, tourists recognize the tower instantly.

Inside, the real work has always been sound.

Can You Tour the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood?

The Capitol Records Tower is a working music-industry property, not a regularly open public sightseeing attraction. Visitors should not assume they can enter the tower or tour its recording studios without authorization.

You can appreciate its distinctive exterior from public areas around Hollywood and Vine. The tower stands at 1750 North Vine Street, and its rooftop beacon is best noticed after dark.

For most visitors, the experience is simple: look up, watch the flashes and remember that Hollywood's name is being spelled out above the street.

The Los Angeles Conservancy has more on the tower’s architecture and history. For another look at Hollywood’s architectural past, explore the historic barn that helped build Hollywood.

Hollywood has landmarks that announce themselves with enormous signs.

Capitol Records does something more subtle.

It waits until night.

Then a little light at the top begins blinking.

H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D.

Once you know what it's saying, I don't think you'll ever look at the tower quite the same way again.