TOWER RECORDS - ALL THINGS MUST PASS

Established in 1960,Tower Records was a retail powerhouse with over 200 stores in 30 countries on 5 continents.From humble beginnings in a small town drugstore,Tower Records eventually became the heart and soul of the music world,and a powerful force in the music industry.In 1999 Tower Records made $1 Billion.In 2006 Tower Records filed for bankruptcy.What went wrong?Everyone thinks it was the internet that killed Tower Records.But that's not the story.It is the story of the owner and founder Russ Solomon,who started selling records in the back of his fathers drug store and steadily built a global chain of Tower Records outlets emblazened with trademark red and yellow signage.Each store was a mammoth musicplace where virtually every recording imaginable was displayed for easy browsing.

Elton John proudly states that he spent more money in Tower Records than any other human being.Another satisfied customer was John Lennon who actually cut a wacky radio commercial for Tower back in the day.Solomon shares screen time in the documentary with several former employees and associates,all of whom wax nostalgic about the wild and crazy early days of Tower Records expansion,when sales clerks hired off the street could work their way up to management positions,and lunch breaks often expanded to allow for excessive consumption of booze and drugs.

However,even before the the advent of Napster and other streaming services in the 1990'sTower Records suffered dearly for it's inability to adapt and evolve.The artificially high price of CD's along with the end of the CD single annoyed customers who refused to pay for tracks they didn't wish to hear.Also big box retailers like Walmart and Best Buys started using CD's as lost leaders.

The story of Tower Records is an all too familiar one - successful retail chains getting lost and through focus on past glory finding themselves trying to fix too little too late.This documentary is well worth a watch.....Dave Grohl of Nirvana speaks of his time at Tower Records.....because no one else would employ him with such long hair.All of this said...it is sad to see an icon who provided such great service to the music industry gone.

Tower Records can rise from the ashes....because people truly want it...but  people need to speak it with their feet and go into real record stores and enjoy their passion and buy music....and turntables....if you build it will come!

And I guess if you understand music it will truly pervade in whatever way it needs to....it will find a way...to invade and honour your soul ......and Tower Records did that for a significant while...but it needs a  resurection...and there will be one....