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Watched this tonight from Netflix. It's fascinating history and highly recommended.
"To Learn Who Rules Over You, Simply Find Out Who You Are Not Allowed to Criticize."
-Voltaire
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I assume you got a DVD mailed from Netflix as it isn't on their streaming service. But it is available from Showtime, if you want to join. Apparently they have a 30 day free trial.
When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it. ~ Bernard Bailey
I saw an early screening of ATMP about a year ago at the Arclight theaters in Hollywood, with the film makers and Russ Solomon himself there, in a great Q&A after the movie. --Very good doc., though I was a just a bit disappointed and perplexed by the lack of mention of Tower's competition in the 70's and 80's, especially The Wherehouse record chain, as well as Licorice Pizza, etc. That competition was at least one of the important factors that contributed to Tower's eventual downfall. --Granted, I'm biased, as I worked for Wherehouse records in the late 70's.
Never heard of them, and they certainly didn't exist in New York City or elsewhere in the Northeast. Were those chains on the West Coast?At its zenith, Tower had 3 big stores within a two block radius in Greenwich Village and another huge store on the Upper West Side. There were also Tower stores in the NYC suburbs (I once spied Tom Gillete AKA Stereophile's "Sam Tellig" in the magazine section of the Stamford CT Tower).
Edits: 07/22/16
We had three Tower Records in San Diego by the '80s. But also other "major" chains such as several Wherehouses and at least a couple of Licorice Pizzas. Plus there were many independent stores selling new and/or used records and cassettes. By mid-decade add CDs, and major retailers such as Target and WalMart expanded their music sections.
But no doubt Tower ruled. They had the largest selection and usually had staff in each section who were knowledgeable and helpful, whether for newbies or dedicated shoppers looking for rare finds. They remained the busiest and frequently had lines at the registers.
It couldn't have been simply competition or the strongest would have survived. So other factors - failed business management? over extended financially? expansion of the internet and online shopping? changing tastes in the market? No simple answer I'm sure.
"The piano ain't got no wrong notes." Thelonious Monk
Chula Vista, El Cajon Blvd, and Sports Area. I used to go to all mostly the El Cajon Blvd one. Sometimes you would even get to see some artist there signing autographs.
I still remember the day I walked into the El Cajon Tower records and all the Lp's were gone. Just in one weeks time. I was like "What the F".
Sony and all the rest of the major record labels decide to stop making LP's in favor of pushing the new format CD. So Glad the LP has made a come back.
What the record companies didn't know was that LP's were still selling in the USED record store market and could never see the actual numbers of LP sales.
No competition really played a big role. Yes there was Napster and I lived rural by then and was buying mostly online so the net had more effect than other retail competitors.
Must have been great to be at that screening. Russ is an icon.
ET
"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936
from within. The Columbus Ave. shop was also a one-stop and the many times I purchased
LPs there for resale I know nothing was rung up when paying cash. Also, if you knew anyone
working there at the registers, the discount was almost... embarrassing.
Alas, almost every record shop I ever bought records from had similarities, but
that was usually used records so the mark-up was good and the discounts appreciated.
Tower on Columbus was a jewell through the 1970's until the advent of CDs,
Heaven on Earth for music lovers.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
I'll never forget sitting on the floor six feet away from Cowboy Junkies doing an in-store there.
That was always a stop for me when I'd buzz up to the City.
See ya. Dave
Poo-Bahs. On Walnut Ave. Talk about eclectic selections!
. . . he related the story of some precocious kid who told his dad that he knew why the store was called The Wherehouse: "It's because you have to know where it is before you can go there."
Good show.
I had my library order the DVD. It is an amazing documentary. I was never close to a Tower Records growing up. Would have been nice to frequent one of their stores.
We music lovers need more of these Documentaries. I would like to read/watch stories about the major Record chains that have come and gone over the years.
I don't see it listed..
Their software for looking up stuff sucks. Try all things must pass: the rise and fall of tower records. The full title.
ET
"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936
Edits: 07/18/16
Might be disc only. Doesn't seem to be available with streaming.
.
Yes its great and on Showtime this very minute. This is the third thread or so on it. Definitely excellent. Looks like a pair of JM Labs behind Vucivich.
ET
"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936
Your Voltaire quote is incorrect, and a commonly made misattribution.
In fact, believe it or not that 'quote' comes from a 1993 radio broadcast by a little-known American racist, Kevin Strom, and not Voltaire. Look up Kevin Strom on Wikipedia for verification (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Alfred_Strom).
I regularly have to correct people on this. You are not alone, even some prominent professors have mistakenly proclaimed this as fact, which I find highly amusing.
But no, Voltaire did not say that. He should have, though.
Because regardless of who said it, the fact remains that it is basically a true statement.......
Oh, and Tower Records was a major source of happiness for me growing up in Los Angeles in the 60's and 70's, especially Tower's "Classical Annex" on Sunset Boulevard.
"Those were the days, yes they were, those were the days...... "
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value - zero." (Voltaire, 1694-1778)
The Chinese {who invented paper money} know this all to well... hence their massive investment in currency of intrinsic worth... Gold.
Ft. Knox supposedly contains all the gold of America representing our wealth... confiscated by the treasonous FDR in 1933 from the American people. Enough of the facts... here is speculation... I believe there is NO gold @ Ft. Knox.
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
Laughing...
I am amazed that there are still 84 Tower record stores in Japan
Alan
Yes they were always more profitable and then we're sold off before the bankruptcy. In the end they couldn't even make the debt payments.
ET
"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936
I have some friends that are kinda high-end stereo geeks in Japan & China. They keep sending messages to me, to buy and send vinyl and Audiophile CDs to them.
Stuff that is mastered in Japan, but somehow not readily available to them.
8^)
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