Tower Records: Gone but not forgotten

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

It's some kind of weird contradiction, but for some reason I really loved Tower Records. I say that because I have a long standing thing about indie record shops, and I never bought much at Virgin or HMV, but when Tower opened its two Manhattan stores I became an even bigger vinyl junkie. I lived just a few blocks away from the uptown one and would spend many nights there just looking at music and talking with music buyers. The social scene was part of the trip.

Tower's two gigantic shops were initially filled with groovy records, and later in the 1980s the CDs started to eat away, aisle by aisle, at the vinyl paradises. It must have taken three or four years before CDs occupied most of the bins. Granted, vinyl's decline was mostly market driven, but remember CDs typically sold for double the price of LPs, so Tower, like most stores figured that even if the vinyl title was still available they'd rather you bought the CD. If the LP wasn't there you'd have to pony up the extra dough for the CD. During that time I'd get my vinyl from indie shops.

One rainy spring day walking through Central Park I was listening to a classical radio station when they played Aaron Copland's "Concerto for Clarinet, Strings, Harp and Piano." It so perfectly framed the misty day and green grass I had to buy the music. I exited Central Park, walked a few blocks over to Broadway and bought the CD. That was twenty years ago and I still have the CD to trigger those memories.

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

I also have to put in a word about Tower's staff. The rock guys were never especially good, but the jazz and classical staffs were tops. They knew the music and we'd get into great conversations about whatever was happening at the time. Some guys were there for decades, and made sure not just the big sellers were in the bins, but the really obscure music as well.

The first Tower Records store was opened by Russ Solomon in 1960 on Watt Avenue in Sacramento, California. Tower was gone for good in late 2006 and now when I find one of their bright yellow plastic bags I take a little trip down memory lane.

Were you a Tower customer or employee? Share your stories here.

[Jay M]

Nice piece on Tower Records. I was on the opening staff of Tower Records in Boston, back in 1987. As I remember it now, those were the final years of great record stores, with staff (clerks and buyers) who actually knew and cared about the music. We were there because we loved the music and we loved records/ CDs. It was still an exciting time, to see the great recordings of the past reissued on silver disc. I always think of the late 80s as a kind of Golden Age: there were probably more recording available during that period than at any other time, between the CD boom of new recordings (which included a huge amount of previously unrecorded works) and the flood of reissues. If you were a music addict, working in Tower could be overwhelming at times, keeping up with all the releases (domestic and imported). We were lucky to have access to an enormous recorded repertoire from all periods in classical, and I haven't even mentioned jazz, which appeared to be experiencing a comparable effusion of new releases and reissues. I guess because of this abundance, the social aspect of working in Tower was at a peak as well. In previous record store jobs, I had made a lot of music-fanatic friends, and at Tower I met even more of them. But nothing lasts forever. I have often thought about what happened with the classical recording market. It seemed to weaken even before Internet sales and downloading started to take their toll. Was the Golden Age of the late 80s too much for us? I know there is still a healthy, if smaller, market for classical today, but many younger buyers will never know the wonders of browsing the bins of Tower Records at its peak.

[bob.mcclenahan]

Through most of the '90s, I'd head over to nearest Tower Records/Video/Books (on Broadway in Sacramento) on a weekly basis. In the last few years, however, I went less and less and bought more and more of my music on iTunes. Apparently, I wasn't the only one, since Tower is no longer.

[minimalist]

Tower was my Mecca throughout the late 80's and much of the 90's. It was always such a scene on Sunset in Hollywood. You'd always bump into slumming celebrities there at 10pm on any given night. The had a much better selection than the HMV's and Virgins of the world. Virgin always seemed too slick for its own good. Tower was the real thing.


But alas Tower ignored the rise of mp3's at its own peril. Even in the late 90's when their profits plummeted the founder reportedly dismissed mp3's as a "fad". Ouch. I'm not sure they could have saved the stores but if they had started thinking about it before all their profits vanished by 2001 and Napster ruled the net they might have had a fighting chance.


Now few stores can command the 17.99 and 18.99 sticker prices that Tower once charged. But some record stores like the fantastic Ameoba Records in Hollywood and San Francisco carry on the ethos of Tower while selling CD's for prices that give iTunes and Best Buy a run for their money.

[make_or_break]

9AM to Midnight, 365 days a year. Man, I never realized just how much I would miss that.

.

Tower opened their first store here in Seattle in the mid '70s. Boy, were they ever aggressive on pricing. Until they rolled into town, the typical music shop had a relatively sparce selection. Tower changed all that. Their competition either folded under the pressure, or got bought out. Others like Peaches followed, but none had the formula down pat like Tower did. When the CD era started Tower was right there; most was European imports but it always seemed like Tower's buyers were aggressive and wanted as much product as possible to fill their racks. I remember many times being the only shopper in the CD section in those early days; then when CDs overran vinyl and cassette, Tower did try to maintain an LP section, which was perfect timing for me as I was fully committed down that slippery slope of being an audiophile. Even took care of my reading material when they dabbled in the book business.

.

But then things changed. Tower went the way of Sam Goody and the other chain stores and I assumed at the time started bowing to the music industry. Gone were the everyday discounts that they had been known for; instead they charged the same bloody high prices that the mall stores charged. I slowly stopped going to Tower, preferring instead to shop at locally owned shops like Silver Platters. Hey, if I'm going to have to pay full list, at least it should benefit the local guys. Then Best Buy and Circuit City blew into town and the rules changed again. Their selection wasn't as complete, but hey, there was those old Tower-like prices again. When Amazon started carrying music that was the final nail for me; Tower's B&Ms were now petrified amongst the rest of the dinosaurs (I did continue to shop at their online store, and still do on occasion), it was time to move on. But I admit I do miss that old Pulse magazine of theirs.

[Taylor McLaren]

They're still around in Japan, though the stores are struggling -- the best one in Osaka, a four-storey beast with phenomenal jazz and classical sections and the best selection of reggae I've ever seen outside of a specialist shop, closed down about two years ago -- and it's kind of sad to see them running co-promotions with Napster as a way of staying afloat. With CD and record prices printed right on the packaging here, they aren't able to offer any real discounts, but they wrangle more premium goodies out of all sorts of labels and musicians than any other chain store I've ever known: CD-Rs of in-store performances, baggies full of badges, the occasional T-shirt, etc. Their selection has definitely taken a hit recently, and only one store still has a jazz/classical/opera section that's worth anything, but I'm perfectly happy to shop there for stuff that my regular independent haunts aren't going to carry anyway.

[jcorkrum]

From 1960 to '63, I lived two blocks from the Watt Avenue store. It became a regular hangout for me, not only then, but until they closed...and in stores all over the US and the world. I had occasion to be in Sacramento a few months ago, and drove by the old location. The sign was still there, along with another sign, "Thanks for the Memories." No. Tower, thank you.

Most of my many hundreds of CD's and vinyl were purchased at Tower, not only in Sacramento, but in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and even London...to name a few. When I moved to the Pacific Northwest in '92, I moved to a small town about three hours from Seattle. My trips to the Emerald City always included visits to Tower to purchase CD's to take back to our little town.

Never, before or since, have I ever had such a close relationship with a retailer like Tower Records or Tower Books. I miss them a great deal...and you are right...I never met such experts in music than the folks that worked at Tower, especially in the Jazz and Classical sections. The Tower on Watt Ave. actually had a separate, walled off section for Classical Music so classical buyers would not have to listen to rock music blaring in the main area. That's classy.

By the way, I think (but am not 100% sure) that the first store was not on Watt Ave, but rather on the other side of town on Broadway, right next to the Tower Theater, where the company acquired its name. Thanks so much for writing about the greatness that was Tower.

[Mattshaps]

First of all I would like to commend you on your novel pieces, and audio related reviews/works. You do a great job writing about what matters to me. I personally do not have a tower records in my area; however, have had quite a few memorable experiences there. Being from the millenium generation, I have never known a t ime where the employees at a record store were knwoledgable not only about product placement but regarding the product itself. Having said this, I found Tower records to be just the right size, with friendly employees, a great selection, and a great place to hang out. It pains me to see any brick and morter record store close, but thanks for all the years Tower Records

[Alba-tross]

Russ Solomon is back in business (after bankrupcy).

http://www.tower.com/

[rocksinger45]

Sorry Tower was a rip off that when I was working there (Sunset Strip ) in the early 70's had a record resealer and use to repackage used LP's and sell them as new. Paid there employee's crap all under the Hippy banner of Peace and Love. Yeah we came from San Francisco to open a store in L.A..