All Things Must Pass-The Rise and Fall of Tower Records

[Mister Triscuits]

I am shocked to see that Recycled Records on Haight St. is still in business somehow. This one clerk who apparently still works there (and may be the current owner) regularly treats his customers like complete crap. I just don’t get it. Is it like a French restaurant, where the rude headwaiter is part of the whole experience?

Huh. I was there a couple of months ago; first time I'd set foot in the place for over 15 years. I thought the owner was nice. He complimented me on my Ege Bamyasi t-shirt.

[mnprogger]

It always bugged me that we never got a Tower in Cleveland. Watching the documentary, it looks like there was one in every other major city in America, except Cleveland (or maybe Cleveland isn't a "major city").

Minnesota never had a Tower Records either.

We had Media Play, Musicland/Sam Goody, etc, but I suspect per that co owning this market, Tower nor the Virgin Megastore never ended up in my hometown either.

I suppose per Cheapo/Applause being somewhat prominent in Minnesota, it didn't help.

[paythesnuka]

Tower was one of my go-to places for music back in the '90s. It was at the Lincoln Center one where I discovered most of the CDs on the Cyclops label. It was at the West 4th Street one where I attended a Marillion in-store appearance, and also once bumped into Henry Rollins in the World Music section.

And, then there was the Westbury, LI, store, which I probably visited once or twice a week just after college.

The Wiz was also a go-to place on both Long Island and in Manhattan. I went to the one on Broadway in the Village to wait on line (!!!!) in the store to by Pink Floyd's "Pulse" CD, only to be mistaken for a shoplifter when some a-hole on line behind me put a pack of batteries on top of my knapsack.

After the Towers went down (pun intended) and the Wiz fizzled out, Best Buy was the go-to chain, but that slowed down when I found the online sites, and NYC and Philly area record shows (Bob Wolf at the former and Laser's Edge at the latter). I'd leave the shows with around 10-15 CDs at a time!

Best Buy's CD section has dwindled down to practically nothing these days. I went to the location here in Boynton Beach, FL, and they had just one rack in the back of the store for CDs.

[happytheman]

I obviously missed this thread when it was posted in '17. It just popped up on my Youtube feed. Looking forward to viewing it today. I only visited one Tower Records location in D.C. We had a Peaches in Richmond that I frequented when I was visiting my sister. Typically supported (and still do) our local Plan 9 store that is still going. Times have changed. They now stock more vinyl than CD's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH-Y3WiwUXQ

[Garyhead]

A high school friend worked at the local Tower Records in the 70's. They still annually get together for an Employee Reunion. Tight bonds were made at that franchise as seen in this movie.