Tower Records Files For Bankruptcy

[steadyb]

Tower

[Geoff Grace]

D

[kylen]

End of an era IMO...they served up a very wide variety of pop culture as well as seperate jazz and classical spaces. When I lived near one it was not necessary to order online...now out on the perimeter I really miss Tower and Ameoba and Rasputin.

 

There's 2 things that sell out here - whatever [most] kids listen to and whatever [most] Christians listen too. It is not a variety by any stretch. Instead of touching beautiful vinyl and/or physical CDs I have to shop in virtual stores that serve up rotten mp3's...

 

...Haha - poor me right, things are always worse somewhere sometime someplace else

 

Thanks Tower! Hope you can get back up again

[steadyb]

I'll miss Tower Records.

 

I love going in and killing an hour or more looking at all the different artists and music. Things you'd never stumble across browsing online.

 

There is something about holding an album (or CD) in your hands and checking out the artwork, credits, etc.

 

I've discovered more music that I might never have known about while visiting Tower Records.

 

I think I'll pay a visit to the one by my house today, while I still can.

[spokenward]

 

Originally posted by steadyb I'll miss Tower Records. I love going in and killing an hour or more looking at all the different artists and music. Things you'd never stumble across browsing online. There is something about holding an album (or CD) in your hands and checking out the artwork, credits, etc. I've discovered more music that I might never have known about while visiting Tower Records. I think I'll pay a visit to the one by my house today, while I still can.

 

 

That about says it for me too. I can't think of another record retailer that is left to cut the ties off visiting label guys.

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

I loved that store on sunset, the jazz departments was great, poor KC if he still works there

 

.

[monstermaker]

Great selection. High prices.

[Geoff Grace]

I remember having mixed feelings when Tower Records came to my town back in the 70s. It was massive compared to the smaller record stores I used to love to shop at, but it also drove them all out of business within a few, short years. I loved Tower, but I missed the specialty stores that couldn't afford to stay in business after Tower arrived.

 

Similarly, I now have mixed feelings about the competition for Tower. Tower's selection may have been massive compared to the mom and pop stores it drove out of business, but it pales in comparison to the Internet. I love using Internet search engines to find obscure albums to buy, but I'll miss being able to rifle through CDs at Tower Records.

 

With Tower Records' arrival and departure, we've witnessed the end of two eras.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[steadyb]

Yeah, I miss the brick and mortar record store in general. It has always been a cool and inspiring place to hang out and check things out.

 

Whene ever I'm in San Francisco, I try and set aside a half day of so (not always possible) to head over to Haight Ashbury and visit the record shops there.

 

 

[Raymar]

I used to live near a Tower records in Anaheim back in the 70s. They seemed to always be packed back then. Good place to go for music mags too. For a short while before the CD came along they sold one off vinyl recordings that were first takes of orchestras that were 'direct to disc' or cut directly while recording without an acetate. I never bought one but they cost alot more for the audiophiles. They were also one of the first record stores to feature videos. For a short while before new wave happened a friend pointed out the difference in artwork on the imported rock LPs from Europe, very extravagant and artsy.

 

Prior to Tower I remember going into a part Head Shop/part record store called Licorice Pizza also in Anaheim a few times in the early 70s. Tower today has alot fewer customers especially in the Classical/Jazz room, you can hear crickets in there now. A few years back I bought a double Bartok CD set featuring the Julliard String Quartet for $8.

 

Steve

[Magpel]

The first few times I went to the Tower Records on Broadway and West 4th im NYC, I was in heaven. The range and depth of the selection was like nothing I'd ever seen upstate.

 

I remember well the first thing I bought there: 25 O'Clock by the Dukes of Stratospheare.

[frogtone]

I am going to miss Tower Records. The last cd I bought was Yo Yo Ma's Brazilian disc. I was just walking through the classical section on the way to browse some jazz. I saw a bunch of classical guitars and I was hooked.

I already don't buy much music because of lack of funds, but without Tower, I will probably buy even less. I am not an Ipod person, so a good local source of tunes will be missed.

[steadyb]

Originally posted by Raymar Prior to Tower I remember going into a part Head Shop/part record store called Licorice Pizza also in Anaheim a few times in the early 70s.

 

I remember Licorice Pizza.

 

Also a record store I spent the most time in was called The Wherehouse, on the original Northridge Mall (it was completely destroyed in the 1994 earthquake).

 

Also went into Spencer a lot.

 

Man there was nothing like being 11, 12, 13, 14 yrs old in the mid 1970's in southern California, riding your bike or taking the bus to go check out records.

 

I think musically those are some of the best years of your life between 12-16, when you're discovering new music all on your own, not just what your parents might be listening to at home.

 

It's so new and cool to you, and you feel like you've come across something no one else has ever seen or heard before.

 

Of course throughout life as a musician, we're forever looking for music that is new and exciting to us, but even part of that holds the hope of re-catching that first musical "buzz" that your early teenage years have.

 

I think that's because those first records and first concerts hold, in addition to the excitement of being new to you, a bit of fear of the unknown that enhances the whole experience.

 

 

Think about the first concerts you went to on your own, everything you saw from arrival until you went home, you weren't completely sure what to expect. And that's what made it even more fun.

 

Becoming jaded, even a little bit, kinda sucks.

[Geoff Grace]

 

Originally posted by steadyb: Man there was nothing like being 11, 12, 13, 14 yrs old in the mid 1970's in southern California, riding your bike or taking the bus to go check out records. I think musically those are some of the best years of your life between 12-16, when you're discovering new music all on your own, not just what your parents might be listening to at home. It's so new and cool to you, and you feel like you've come across something no one else has ever seen or heard before. Of course throughout life as a musician, we're forever looking for music that is new and exciting to us, but even part of that holds the hope of re-catching that first musical "buzz" that your early teenage years have.

 

 

Man, that really resonated with me, steadyb. In my case, I rode my bike to the record stores that surrounded the Arizona State University campus; and I was that age in the early 70s; but my set of circumstances was close enough.

 

That experience was greatly aided for me by a Phoenix radio station called KDKB. I first heard Gentle Giant, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Genesis, and Captain Beefheart on their airwaves; but they weren't limited to progressive rock. They also played records by artists as diverse as Jerry Jeff Walker, Sly and the Family Stone, Keith Jarrett, Jethro Tull, Milt Jackson, and Fleetwood Mac.

 

I bought many of the records I heard on KDKB at those mom and pop records stores; and since they were too small to have classical and jazz sections, they also played a diverse list of music. I first heard Gustav Holst's The Planets and one such record store and Gentle Giant's The Missing Piece at another.

 

Where can anyone become exposed to that kind of diversity in one place nowadays? I wish I knew.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Professor Tom]

 

Originally posted by steadyb I'll miss Tower Records. I love going in and killing an hour or more looking at all the different artists and music. Things you'd never stumble across browsing online. There is something about holding an album (or CD) in your hands and checking out the artwork, credits, etc. I've discovered more music that I might never have known about while visiting Tower Records. I think I'll pay a visit to the one by my house today, while I still can.

 

 

I agree with you 100% there's nothing like browsing through the racks and finding something special. You can't do that online.

If I can't buy albums in a shop, I won't buy anymore, ever !

[songrytr]

Originally posted by steadyb Man there was nothing like being 11, 12, 13, 14 yrs old in the mid 1970's in southern California, riding your bike or taking the bus to go check out records.

 

You really captured something special there.

 

The Wherehouse by me opened in the summer of '72. Big row of pinball machines across the back wall. A well stocked cabinet of head supplies.

 

*sigh*

[UstadKhanAli]

I rode my bike to the record store also (Moby Disc, in this case). Lots of fun. We did this fairly often.

 

I still regularly shop at Aquarius Records (see it online) and Amoeba Records. Fantastic shops.

[Magpel]

I too was moved to a state of hazy nostalgia and loss by steady's bit. Might be the longest post of your illustrious career, dude!

 

The funny thing is this: my main childhood record store--after the Rexall Pharmacy where I bought my first Beatles vinyl--was a gift and card store called Book and Record--a gift and card store! But Ben Johnson, the manager, a transaplanted southerner, was a total music geek and had that small record section fit as a fiddle. I never remember feeling there as something I couldn't score there, whether it was Gentle Giant or Television or Terje Rypdal.

 

And it was a frickin card and gift store!

 

But, in a small town, I had to play the field. The college book store had a pretty good selection. This gnarly old junkie opened a very decent used and specialty music shop downtown for a while. When I reached legal age I would often hitch rides to a very good record store (Record City) in a very bad part of Poughkeepsie. I'd walk nervously past the extensive bong and dildo collection to get whatever rarity i couldn't get in NP. Then eventually Rhino Record put one of their stores here--still open.

 

But I must say, there's also something pretty cool about sitting around listening great Internet radio (say, Pandora.com), with Allmusic.com open so you can research the stuff you're hearing, and amazon open so you can buy it if so inclined.

 

The magic is indeed gone, but the reach and access are better now.

[HCarlH]

Originally posted by steadyb Whene ever I'm in San Francisco, I try and set aside a half day of so (not always possible) to head over to Haight Ashbury and visit the record shops there.

 

 

The corner that now has The Gap.

 

$$$ makes the world go 'round.

[MorePaul]

 

Originally posted by kylen now out on the perimeter I really miss Tower and Ameoba and Rasputin.

 

 

don't forget DBA brown in that area - great shop!

[echoshock]

I hadn't been in a Tower (records that is) for years. I went back in recently and couldn't believe the CDs were still $19. So I checked out some stuff, made my list and ordered the CDs on amazon.

[NewYorkDave]

Originally posted by Magpel ...was a gift and card store called Book and Record--a gift and card store! But Ben Johnson, the manager, a transaplanted southerner, was a total music geek and had that small record section fit as a fiddle. I never remember feeling there as something I couldn't score there...

 

I registered for the express purpose of responding to this post, because this is the only reference to Book and Record I could find on the web. (Googling "book and record" is a fairly futile exercise in the first place, since it's such a generic term).

 

The B-and-R in Hyde Park was my main record store during those crucial teen years. Like you say, it was a small store, but the selection was superb and I always found what I wanted there--and, in those days of five-dollar LPs, I'd sometimes take a chance on a record just because it "looked cool", often with very gratifying results. Sometimes I'd only have a couple of dollars to spend, so I'd walk out with a 45 and some Droste chocolate

 

Was there a B-and-R in New Paltz? I was aware of branches in Hyde Park, Poughkeepsie and Wappingers. I visited the Poughkeepsie (Main Mall) store on occasion, and scored a great deal on some Devo LPs at the Wappingers going-out-of-business sale.

 

When I reached legal age I would often hitch rides to a very good record store (Record City) in a very bad part of Poughkeepsie. I'd walk nervously past the extensive bong and dildo collection to get whatever rarity i couldn't get in NP.

 

I remember Record City very well, although not with as much fondness as B-and-R. In 1985 or thereabouts, I worked as a grunt at the Civic Center and every week, I'd stop into Record City and blow my whole paycheck. I was by no means a "valued customer" though. I'll put it this way: when was the last time a sales clerk mocked your choice of merchandise--that is, when he could be bothered to wait on you at all? Such {censored}ty attitudes were commonplace at Record City, at least toward male customers. Attractive young female customers received due deference, of course.

 

I didn't shed any tears when the place closed down. But I admit, I did score some great records there over the years. It's funny you mention the dildos and the drug paraphernalia--everyone who ever set foot in that store remembers that, it was impossible not to notice!

 

Buying records via the Internet is indeed convenient. But sometimes, I miss the way it used to be.

[rasputin1963]

The LP jacket used to be such a work of art, no? Kids today are pretty much deprived of that.

 

And then we have to wonder if watching a music video (where the band's artistic ideas are fully explicated for the end user) are superior to sitting at home with just the vinyl LP, letting you mind create its own "visuals" with the music....

 

Whatever the case, people love their computers and iPods, and bricks-'n'-mortar is going the wayside in MANY departments of mercantile life...

[the stranger]

 

Originally posted by echoshock I hadn't been in a Tower (records that is) for years. I went back in recently and couldn't believe the CDs were still $19. So I checked out some stuff, made my list and ordered the CDs on amazon.

 

 

Bingo. See my thoughts in the 2007 Trends thread.