First I will present Steve's blog, followed by my response to the blog as it appears at the bottom of his blog on CNet under user's comments.
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REMEMBERING TOWER RECORDS: GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
By Steve Guttenberg
It's some kind of weird contradiction, but for some reason I really loved Tower Records. I say that because I have a long standing thing about indie record shops, and I never bought much at Virgin or HMV, but when Tower opened its two Manhattan stores I became an even bigger vinyl junkie. I lived just a few blocks away from the uptown one and would spend many nights there just looking at music and talking with music buyers. The social scene was part of the trip.
Tower's two gigantic shops were initially filled with groovy records, and later in the 1980s the CDs started to eat away, aisle by aisle, at the vinyl paradises. It must have taken three or four years before CDs occupied most of the bins. Granted, vinyl's decline was mostly market driven, but remember CDs typically sold for double the price of LPs, so Tower, like most stores figured that even if the vinyl title was still available they'd rather you bought the CD. If the LP wasn't there you'd have to pony up the extra dough for the CD. During that time I'd get my vinyl from indie shops.
One rainy spring day walking through Central Park I was listening to a classical radio station when they played Aaron Copland's "Concerto for Clarinet, Strings, Harp and Piano." It so perfectly framed the misty day and green grass I had to buy the music. I exited Central Park, walked a few blocks over to Broadway and bought the CD. That was twenty years ago and I still have the CD to trigger those memories.
I also have to put in a word about Tower's staff. The rock guys were never especially good, but the jazz and classical staffs were tops. They knew the music and we'd get into great conversations about whatever was happening at the time. Some guys were there for decades, and made sure not just the big sellers were in the bins, but the really obscure music as well.
The first Tower Records store was opened by Russ Solomon in 1960 on Watt Avenue in Sacramento, California. Tower was gone for good in late 2006 and now when I find one of their bright yellow plastic bags I take a little trip down memory lane.
Were you a Tower customer or employee? Share your stories here.
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Jim's Reply:
From 1960 to '63, I lived two blocks from the Watt Avenue store. It became a regular hangout for me, not only then, but until they closed...and in stores all over the US and the world. I had occasion to be in Sacramento a few months ago, and drove by the old location. The sign was still there, along with another sign, "Thanks for the Memories." No. Tower, thank you.
Most of my many hundreds of CD's and vinyl were purchased at Tower, not only in Sacramento, but in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and even London...to name a few. When I moved to the Pacific Northwest in '92, I moved to a small town about three hours from Seattle. My trips to the Emerald City always included visits to Tower to purchase CD's to take back to our little town. Never, before or since, have I ever had such a close relationship with a retailer like Tower Records or Tower Books. I miss them a great deal...and you are right...I never met such experts in music than the folks that worked at Tower, especially in the Jazz and Classical sections. The Tower on Watt Ave. actually had a separate, walled off section for Classical Music so classical buyers would not have to listen to rock music blaring in the main area. That's classy.
By the way, I think (but am not 100% sure) that the first store was not on Watt Ave, but rather on the other side of town on Broadway, right next to the Tower Theater, where the company acquired its name. Thanks so much for writing about the greatness that was Tower.
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