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Tower Records Documentary

RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
edited August 2015 in Strut Central
I miss Tower. I'm glad a worthy documentary is to be released.




  Comments

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I'd see that.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    I'd see that.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Looks really well done.
    Hopefully it touches on some things not in the trailer.
    1) Great thing about Tower is that besides being in "NY LA Tokyo London", it was also in Portland, Tulsa, Syracuse.
    2) Before digital music killed Tower, Tower and the majors killed the independent record stores.

    Hopefully the movie touches on how Tower was great for the common Joe in the secondary market.
    Hopefully the movie is truthful about Towers negative impact on smaller stores.
  • soupsoup 69 Posts
    Did tower actually kill smaller stores? They were pretty far into their downward spiral long before digital dedicating most of their counter space to pokemon, pewter star wars toys and similar crap. I know at least in the bay they couldn't compete with the used cd businesses down the street and am curious what happened elsewhere?
  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    soup said:
    Did tower actually kill smaller stores?

    I can't speak in general, but they definitely did in NYC. It didn't kill all of them, but a good handful of established record stores closed within 6 months of Tower opening. This included the great Soho Music Gallery, which they specifically targeted.

  • soupsoup 69 Posts
    Interesting. Many of the west coast stores were more established so I had never thought they tried to Barnes and Noble their way into the spot but I guess it's hardly surprising.
  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    I thought this thread was going to be about this.

  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    Tower in London was the first big store I remember being open until midnight. We'd roll out of a soho bar at 11 after several pints, then spend an hour flicking thru the racks over three floors circa mid-late 80s.
    Groundbreaking.
    And come away with the latest BAD 12 or some such.
    In hindsight, got swayed by trivialities such as re-sealable plastic covers and the like.
    Shit was unheard of back then.
  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,960 Posts
    I welcomed its Import section, whereas your local independents were getting by pushing chart fodder.

    I do also recall having to pay thirty+ sterlings for a new import CD - probably some Casio fuzak - so not missing those days.
  • dukeofdelridgedukeofdelridge urgent.monkey.mice 2,453 Posts
    This better be really good because Chet is killin it
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    J i m s t e r said:
    I welcomed its Import section.

    Yes.

    I wouldn't have been able to cop UK Soul back in the 90's w/out Tower.

  • kalakala 3,362 Posts
    my pals all worked at tower downtown in nyc a few in management and lets just say ....shrinkage was at a premium
    shopping trips were a lot of fun and FREE
  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
    Finally got to see this.  It just hit iTunes.  Worth the hype.
  • djtopcatdjtopcat Seattle WA The 206 312 Posts
    Is Itunes the only place to watch this??
    I don't do Itunes
    Can't believe it's not on Netflix,Redbox yet? not even listed on KAT,IPT
  • willie_fugalwillie_fugal 1,862 Posts
    https://weshare.me/d7cfc368e6c0e27c?_page_url=d7cfc368e6c0e27c

      
    RAJrcwinkly
  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,905 Posts
    Tom Hanks son did a good job on this one? Wonder what drew him to the project.
  • NoRecordSnobsNoRecordSnobs Victoria, BC, Canada 7 Posts
    willie_fugal said:
    https://weshare.me/d7cfc368e6c0e27c?_page_url=d7cfc368e6c0e27c

      
    Thanks for the download link. 
  • djtopcatdjtopcat Seattle WA The 206 312 Posts
    Really well done doc. I used to work at a Tower Records in Seattle right out of high school. The store manager was a fucking asshole, but all the employees were laid back stoners,played in bands or just music freaks. I knew when I started seeing the fancy multi level stores going up they were going to crash hard eventually. 
    At least ol' Russ gets the joy of seeing the Japan ones still around. Somehow they survived.
  • Fred_GarvinFred_Garvin The land of wind and ghosts 337 Posts
    djtopcat said:
    Really well done doc. I used to work at a Tower Records in Seattle right out of high school. The store manager was a fucking asshole, but all the employees were laid back stoners,played in bands or just music freaks. I knew when I started seeing the fancy multi level stores going up they were going to crash hard eventually. 
    At least ol' Russ gets the joy of seeing the Japan ones still around. Somehow they survived.
    Mercer or the Ave? I frequented both, but the Mercer one especially.
  • white_teawhite_tea 3,262 Posts
    Enjoyed this, and thanks to whomever set up the DL link!

    Couldn't help but feel that a lot of those early clerk dudes who ended up as VPs just rode the gravy train, probably to the detriment of the company. If you're bloated with mad middle-management of course you're not going to be nimble enough to change with the times and these dudes didn't exactly seem like seasoned businessmen - and, uh, could have gone without the mild sexism pertaining to woman charged with cleaning up the mess, as difficult as that probably was to deal with for all.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    white_tea said:
    Enjoyed this, and thanks to whomever set up the DL link!

    Couldn't help but feel that a lot of those early clerk dudes who ended up as VPs just rode the gravy train, probably to the detriment of the company. If you're bloated with mad middle-management of course you're not going to be nimble enough to change with the times and these dudes didn't exactly seem like seasoned businessmen - and, uh, could have gone without the mild sexism pertaining to woman charged with cleaning up the mess, as difficult as that probably was to deal with for all.

    It's funny how the flick made a point of emphasizing the lack of a dress code at Tower...yet the lone female interviewee stresses how she had to wear short skirts when she first started working there.

    I should mention that in the 90s, one of the two Tower stores in Chicago was noted for being one of the few mainstream places that would hire people with weird body piercings or outlandish tattoos.
  • GibboGibbo 124 Posts
    There's still two stores in Dublin, Ireland. Are these the only ones left outside Japan? I know one of the stores in Dublin has a whole floor dedicated to vinyl. Pretty well stocked across the board from what I've seen in there.
  • djtopcatdjtopcat Seattle WA The 206 312 Posts
    Fred_Garvin said:
    djtopcat said:
    Really well done doc. I used to work at a Tower Records in Seattle right out of high school. The store manager was a fucking asshole, but all the employees were laid back stoners,played in bands or just music freaks. I knew when I started seeing the fancy multi level stores going up they were going to crash hard eventually. 
    At least ol' Russ gets the joy of seeing the Japan ones still around. Somehow they survived.
    Mercer or the Ave? I frequented both, but the Mercer one especially.

    The one on Mercer, I worked there for 6 months until I rolled my Scirocco in a nasty accident on the 520 offramp to I-5. 

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