OT (sort of): The Tower Records Story - All Things Must Pass

[Cauldronics]

I just watched a documentary about how Tower Records came to be and its whole story. The main thing I took away from it was that TR had a huge impact on the music industry and culture, and not just in America. The extent of their impact was greater than I knew.

It gets a little over-talkie for a bit and then gets better and better. I have several friends who worked at Tower over the years and I don’t know if the band I’m in now would exist without them having met at TR.

Anyone else watch it? I thought it was very well done and worth seeing.

 

[blikum]

Yeah, I watched it a while back. Enjoyed it very much. I spent a lot of time and money at Tower.

 

[hsosdrum]

Saw the show a while ago; it made me realize how much the product of a specific time and place Tower was. I always felt that my local Tower had what I called a "buying atmosphere". The way it was lit so brightly and the whole vibe of the place made it impossible for me to walk out of there without at least three or four CDs (earlier it was LPs). I always fantasized that when I won the lottery I would go through Tower with a shopping cart and fill it with anything that struck my fancy even a little bit.

I miss the days when people felt that music had monetary value. (*SIGH*)

 

[Deafmoon]

Did not see the show, but I bought a ton of music from Tower over the years. They were my go-to store. The Tower Records on 4th Street in NYC was an event. I would plan a trip and drop hundreds to stock up on stuff I could never find in my local record shop. The younger generation that has grown up on MP3’s will never know the full joy of Tower, HMV or Virgin. And the shops or Discogs online is just not the same.

 

[Mcjnic]

Loved the documentary. Watched it twice.
I spent so much time in the TR in Texas. Just amazing stores.

 

[shilohjim]

I loved the TR in Philly (with the TR Bookstore across the street). Really have no reason to visit South Street now that TR and the Philadelphia Record Exchange are gone.

 

[LRod1707]

I never saw Tower Records in Florida and visited one for the first time in L.A. back in 1990. I had to go in and check it out because I had heard so much about it. It was cool to experience it for the first time. In Florida and the east coast we had Peaches Records & Tapes which was pretty big. Interestingly enough, Tower reopened 2 months ago as an online store:

Tower Records

Tower Records is back and online! Swing by TowerRecords.com where you can find over 350,000 Titles on Vinyl LP, Cassette Tape, Compact Disc, Exclusive Merchandise + More!

towerrecords.com

 

[Drums]

Thanks for posting. I'm watching as I write this. I lived a few blocks west of the San Francisco, Columbus and Bay St. store back in the 80's and visited the store many times. Ah, the memories...

 

[Cauldronics]

Thanks for posting. I'm watching as I write this. I lived a few blocks west of the San Francisco, Columbus and Bay St. store back in the 80's and visited the store many times. Ah, the memories...

That was my store too. I’d go all the way across town to Tower on Columbus even though the one by Market and Sanchez was much closer. The North Beach store was the real deal.

Sonic Youth played a show in the parking lot. That was cool to see.