"All Things Must Pass"-Tower Records Documentary

That was a great Tower Records, Czarivey! And, it had a great sound system, too.

I haven't seen the doc yet, so don't know if the following is covered in it. But I can tell you when I knew Tower was heading for big trouble, if not complete failure. The chain was always privately owned by Russ Soloman, the company borrowing it's operating capitol every quarter from it's bank, the loan being paid back from the profits from that quarter. This business model worked well the entire time Russ ran Tower. Soon after he retired (turning over the operation of the company to his son), however, Tower defaulted on it's loan, not showing enough profit in one quarter to repay the loan. When it happened a second quarter, then a third, the bank was legally entitled to take over management of the company, which it did.

First, employee hours were cut from 40 hours a week to 35. Then, the completely independent buying ability of each Tower store ended. Partial central buying was instigated, someone in Sacramento, rather than the buyers in each store, deciding which new releases, and how many copies thereof, were sent to each store. Having independent buyers in each store, buying only for the store he or she worked in, is what distinguished Tower from all other record chains.

The bank then, and IMO most importantly, asked for 365 days dating from all independent distributors, up from the industry standard 90 days. Dating is how long a company has to pay it's suppliers for the product sent to it. 365 days dating is a trick to enable Tower to pay for independent product only after it has sold. How so? The price tag on each piece of Tower merchandise included a date code which let the store buyers know when each piece was received. One of a Tower buyer's job duties was to go through the racks and pull all product that had been in the store, unsold, for a given length of time, that length left up to the discretion of the store. Some chose three months, some six. But NO store would keep an unsold piece of product for as long as a year. So, with this new dating demand, Tower would return every piece of independent merchandise before it would have to pay for it. What independent distributor can stay in business if being paid for product it sends to a retailer only after an entire year?! Many of the indi's refused Tower's demands, there product then disappearing from Tower stores. What good is a Tower record store without the product of independent record companies? None!

The Sunset store had a wonderful catalog of great jazz and classical records. It was about an hour trek down the I-5 for me.The Topanga Canyon store was really good too but not as good as Sunset. Amoeba is the same distance and a real trip in more ways than one. Some of the weirdest people haunt the Sunset area and they all seem to collect themselves at the Amoeba store. Now if only they would get a customer restroom! Old guys have needs.

I worked at the London store in Piccadilly Circus early 90s. It was a great time for British music, just a short time before the Britpop explosion of Pulp, Suede, Blur, Oasis, etc.At the time, the scene was still indie, with most bands playing Brixton Academy, Town and Country, etc. I was fortunate to see the Fall, Wedding Present, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, early Blur, Dino Jr., Mary Chain, Nick Cave, etc.I also lived above a pub near Marble Arch, and worked a deal where all my fellow Yankee students would drink there on a regular basis, in exchange for room and board and drinks for me! I gained 50 lbs from shephards pies and Guiness! Lol! However, the Tower there was massive 3 story structure that really didn't feel like an independent store.However, I mainly worked there to meet chics and get promo cassettes! They also had a bunch of old/used equipment in the basement, and I was able to assemble a meager system featuring some early BBC monitors. I mainly dealt with cassettes due to cost, and the manager let me dub anything I wanted. Not sure about the other locations, but only the managers worked full-time/8 hr shifts. Most did it to have access to music, meet people, etc. Some great memories as this was a 24/7 store during my tenure. Although a huge store as I mentioned, the management had a laid back style, with informal staff meetings @ local Pubs.Miss Tower, sausage rolls, and curry!

Every week I took at least one trip to the Tower on the upper west side NYC and once there, would usually spend an hour looking and listening. Hard to walk out without buying something. Saw many Broadway performers, tv stars and rock luminaries shopping there among them:
Paul Simon
Stevie Wonder
Elton--who, as I recall they closed the store for. Great memories. Now I go to numerous smaller record stores downtown such as Other Music or In Living Stereo. For a big selection it's Rough Trade in Brooklyn but the whole experience is just not the same.