"All Things Must Pass"-Tower Records Documentary

I liked the local (Austin) Tower store for its selection, its artwork on the building and its "instore" concerts (I took my kids to see/hear the Toeadies there). The store was in a building that housed a theater in earlier days (I saw "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" and "Stop Making Sense" in that same room). I miss it.

I lived on Broadway and 8th Street for 15 years and visits to that Tower Records store, as well as the used Record/CD shops on St Mark's Place, were essential parts of my week. Every week. Most days, in fact. It's a little sad that that ritual is gone forever.

I forgot about the in-store performances. I remember once seeing Marshall Crenshaw play a short set at my Tower location. That was very cool in every way.

at various times i lived or worked near the sf, chicago and broadway towers and they really were the epicenter of my existence. as a retailer, i always had my qualms--they were pricey and sorta big-box impersonal--but they had a fantastic selection and the in-stores were great. somehow i think they could have survived if they had been more customer-friendly and adaptable to the changing retail landscape--barnes and noble and best buy, for example, have hung in there by changing their model. in any case, tower's demise has left a big void--looking for musci on amazon or ebay just isn't the same visceral, tactile thrill.

I used to visit the store at Broadway and 66th street during my New York days and the Atlanta stores regularly after that. The video comments about the local buying of indie band records was interesting to me. I sought out the local indie records at Tower. In New York I got turned on to Winter Hours which turned into a favorite. In Atlanta, I was introduced to the Josh Joplin band and Soul Miner's Daughter (now Jennifer Nettles/Sugarland). Like the rest of you, I miss the serendipity of discovering something new that might have been playing when I walked in or talking to the people who worked there about new music. While "similar" artist software on amazon, Pandora, and such is fun, it doesn't replace the enthusiasm of talking to real people. If you want a laugh about music recommendations, check out www.drinkify.org. The Tower doc looks great by the way.