Remembering Tower Records
The Legendary Past and Celluloid Future of Tower Records on the Sunset Strip
Photo: Robert Landau
It’s impossible not to think of Tower Records when referring to the Sunset Strip. It’s even more impossible to accept that the beloved store once located at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Horn Avenue is no longer in business.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 
💔 signing autographs at Tower Records in Los Angeles, 1976
💔 signing autographs at Tower Records in Los Angeles, 1976
I recently had dinner with a friend not too far from the old Tower location. As we were paying our bill, we discussed what we should do next. I joked that we should walk down to Tower Records and browse through rows and rows of LPs and cassettes, then head across the street to Tower Video to rent the latest release (most likely on VHS).
I wish it wasn’t just a fantasy. You see, Tower Records was more then just a record store, It was a musical rite of passage. It’s where kids graduated to die-hard music fans. I spent my very first allowance money on Blondie and Devo records. I’ll never forget the anticipation of rushing home to get them on the turntable! My friends and I would remove the cellophane from new records before we even got to the car. Even the store’s parking lot had its own identity. On weekends, there was so much pandemonium that fistfights broke out over available parking spots. It was the hub of the Strip, located directly across from the original Spago and a few blocks east of the Rainbow Bar and Grill and the Whisky a Go Go. It’s where rock stars mingled with locals and tourists; it wasn’t uncommon to bump into Robert Plant, Stevie Wonder, Robert Stigwood, Ella Fitzgerald, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Elvis Costello, Robert Evans, Smokey Robinson or even George Burns in the aisles. I once witnessed Valerie Bertinelli (who had just married guitarist Eddie Van Halen) turn Van Halen’s “JUMP” record around to reveal her hubby’s photo, and I eavesdropped on David Bowie discussing English imports at the info booth that doubled as a DJ station at the center of the store. John Lennon even recorded a voiceover for this Tower Records commercial:
Tower Records Sunset Strip Circa 1980
Tower Records, Sunset Strip in 1981. Photo Courtesy of Billy Vera
Tower Records was a music business melting pot. But the employees (some of which were in soon-to-be-famous bands themselves) were the main attraction. They knew everyone’s name, what music they liked, and what car they pulled up in. Axl Rose, a Tower Video employee, once shoved a flyer for his new band Guns & Roses, which was playing down the block at Gazzarri’s, into my bag. In 1976 Elton John told Playboy that if he weren’t a rock star, he would have wanted to be a Tower Records alumni.
Elton John shopping at Tower Records
The Sunset Strip, the year Tower Records opened. You can also see Classic Cat Strip Club on the far left which later became University Stereo and then Tower Video. The next Block. Tower Classical would eventually open up next door.
The latest LPs arriving at Tower Records Sunset
Peter Criss and Paul Stanley of Kiss in 1974 on Sunset Strip
Some of us teenagers dropped by five times a week since the store couldn’t keep the latest singles in stock. Prince’s “Purple Rain” was consistently sold out, but if you were in with one of the employees, they would hold a copy for you. I also remember waiting in a huge line in the parking lot awaiting U2's "Joshua Tree" release and then walking across the street to Ticketron (located inside Tower Video) to purchase tickets for their world tour. Next door to Tower Video was the Tower Classical Annex which had some of the greatest classical selections in the country.
Purple Rain display at Tower Records in Westwood
Tower Records, which stayed open until 1 a.m. on weekends, was a music venue, too. Hundreds of musicians including Rod Stewart, Randy Newman, and XTC performed live inside the store, and thousands of fans wrapped around the L-shaped parking lot to get in when Aerosmith, Keith Richards, Dolly Parton, James Brown, Duran Duran, and Brian Wilson stopped by to sign records. David Lee Roth shut the Strip down for several hours when he rappelled down a replica of the Matterhorn built on the record store’s roof to deliver his album “Skyscraper.” Alice Cooper drove up in a huge trash truck to deliver “Trash.”
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY DEBBIE ROSZKOWSKI
The music mecca shaped my youth and will always be a part of my soul. It’s hard not to get misty-eyed thinking back on it now. (Thankfully, I saved a dozen of my Tower Records red and yellow vinyl bags. Today they are about as desirable as collectible records.)
Even God had the 'uncontrollable Urge" to shop at Tower Records. (George Burns)
Warner Bros./Reprise chairman Mo Ostin checks out his label's best sellers at Tower Records on the Sunset Strip. (photo: Esquire Oct. 1972)
Joey Ramone stands outside a massive painting of the cover of the boy's debut album in the window of the famous Tower Records store on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles
Ticketron located at Tower Video across from Tower Records on Sunset Strip. Love seeing the old circular driveway to the right.
That’s why I am personally relieved and thankful to Colin Hanks for making a feature documentary that will always help keep the Tower Records’ legend alive. His film, All Things Must Pass examines the iconic company’s rise and fall and profiles its rebellious founder, Russ Solomon. After watching an exclusive cut of the film in 2015, I can say it’s the closet thing to a Tower Records time machine. The images and archival footage are spellbinding. I could almost smell the vinyl through my screen. In addition to bringing the store back to life, the documentary taught me its backstory: Tower Records began in a Sacramento drugstore owned by Russ Solomon’s father, and Solomon opened his second outpost on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco in 1968. Two years later Tower Records opened on the Sunset Strip, taking over the site where “Madman” Muntz had sold the very first car stereos. Solomon eventually opened 189 stores around the world, and the franchise made $1 billion dollars by 1999. Then things took a dramatic turn: In 2006, the company filed for bankruptcy. Some blame the internet, among other things, for Tower's demise. Itunes, the Illegal downloading of music, and Youtube most likely also contributed to the record store chain's closing. I do understand that times and technology change, but to those of us who grew up in the prior century, Tower was more than just a "record store". It was part of our lives. I personally LOVED opening an album. The cover art and liner notes back then were just as important as the music. Downloading today just seems very impersonal. The day Tower closed a piece of my soul went with it
Tower Records founder Russ Solomon at the Tower Records store opening in New York in 1983.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY “ALL THINGS MUST PASS.”
Below is an aRchive of my interview actor and film maker, Collin Hanks in 2015
Colin Hanks and Alison Martino at tge Grammy Museum during a screening of, "All Things Must Pass".
Every time I post photos of Tower Records on my Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page I receive an emotional response. Why do you think that is?
Every time I post photos of Tower Records on my Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page I receive an emotional response. Why do you think that is?
Everybody has his or her own emotional connection to music. At its height Tower was a place you bonded with friends over music, and people’s fond recollections are the residue of those relationships. It was one of those places that transcended being a normal record store. They accepted everyone. It didn’t’ matter how you looked. It didn’t matter how you dressed. It didn’t matter what you sounded like or what music you liked. Everyone was welcome.
How did the documentary get started?
I had a very similar emotional response [to the store’s demise] since I grew up in Sacramento and Tower originated there. I was having dinner with a family friend in 2006 when the stores were closing and I was living in New York at the time. My friend walked by the Lincoln Center store on the way to meet me and we got on the subject of Tower Records closing. At the end of the conversation she said, “Hard to believe it all started in that tiny little drug store,” and I said, “Excuse me? What are you talking about?” She filled me in on Russ Solomon and how he started selling used 78’s out of his father’s drugstore in the ‘40s and ‘50s and a light bulb went off. The story starts there and ends with him closing all his stores four decades later. That’s a pretty amazing journey for one guy. I’m also a huge music fan and have my own personal recollections of going into Tower and applying to work there and not getting the job. I remember seeing 50 applications in front of mine.
I had a very similar emotional response [to the store’s demise] since I grew up in Sacramento and Tower originated there. I was having dinner with a family friend in 2006 when the stores were closing and I was living in New York at the time. My friend walked by the Lincoln Center store on the way to meet me and we got on the subject of Tower Records closing. At the end of the conversation she said, “Hard to believe it all started in that tiny little drug store,” and I said, “Excuse me? What are you talking about?” She filled me in on Russ Solomon and how he started selling used 78’s out of his father’s drugstore in the ‘40s and ‘50s and a light bulb went off. The story starts there and ends with him closing all his stores four decades later. That’s a pretty amazing journey for one guy. I’m also a huge music fan and have my own personal recollections of going into Tower and applying to work there and not getting the job. I remember seeing 50 applications in front of mine.
It just seemed like an interesting story for a documentary. I didn’t know who the characters were, I didn’t know what the real story was, but it seemed like a place to start.
Tell us about the process of getting this film off the ground and your seven-year journey making it.
It’s been a long journey, that’s for sure. We started gathering money to shoot stuff in 2008. I went up to Sacramento on a lark to talk with Russ and asked him if he would tell us his story, and I drove by the old Tower Records store at the corner of Watt Avenue and El Camino Avenue. The sign was still up and all the racks were still inside. It was basically still intact, just without the records! I frantically gathered as much money as I could so that we could at least shoot the store and the first round of interviews. Then I spent a great deal of time trying to raise funds to finish the film. We were politely laughed out of rooms—well, not really—but we did have a few pitch meetings with production companies and financiers. Companies like Lehman Brothers and were going under because the recession had just hit, so nobody wanted to make a documentary about a business that declared bankruptcy when pretty much everyone was going bankrupt. So I put the project on hold until Kickstarter came around. That really saved us!
It’s been a long journey, that’s for sure. We started gathering money to shoot stuff in 2008. I went up to Sacramento on a lark to talk with Russ and asked him if he would tell us his story, and I drove by the old Tower Records store at the corner of Watt Avenue and El Camino Avenue. The sign was still up and all the racks were still inside. It was basically still intact, just without the records! I frantically gathered as much money as I could so that we could at least shoot the store and the first round of interviews. Then I spent a great deal of time trying to raise funds to finish the film. We were politely laughed out of rooms—well, not really—but we did have a few pitch meetings with production companies and financiers. Companies like Lehman Brothers and were going under because the recession had just hit, so nobody wanted to make a documentary about a business that declared bankruptcy when pretty much everyone was going bankrupt. So I put the project on hold until Kickstarter came around. That really saved us!
I can’t wait to hear about the stories you documented.We spoke to so many people—former employees, musicians, artists. What’s a bit unfortunate is a lot of these great anecdotes you hear about Tower Records are personal stories, and you can’t make a movie of just hundreds of those. You have to find the narrative. You have to find your characters. The film is about the family that came together around Russ to help make Tower what it was.
Last year a few friends of mine were on a crusade to turn the Sunset Strip location into a Sunset Strip museum while you were filming.We were there! We even filmed the City Hall meeting. But we couldn’t work that footage into the movie. I think Gibson [which will be over Tower Records’ old Sunset Strip site] is going to be really great torchbearers for that location. We have been speaking to them quite a bit and they’ve been very helpful. Having them take over that scared space is exciting and makes sense.
How do you think younger generations, who aren’t growing up in record stores, will respond to your film?
I don’t know, because I think this is the moment were the rubber meets the road. I have to embrace the fact that I’m of an older generation now. But there’s always going to be those “cool kids” that collect records and pass them along. Good music always finds its way into the hands of the people that want it. There are some really awesome records stores out there like Amoeba and some smaller boutique ones around town. I think as long as people support record stores, that’s the key.
I don’t know, because I think this is the moment were the rubber meets the road. I have to embrace the fact that I’m of an older generation now. But there’s always going to be those “cool kids” that collect records and pass them along. Good music always finds its way into the hands of the people that want it. There are some really awesome records stores out there like Amoeba and some smaller boutique ones around town. I think as long as people support record stores, that’s the key.
How does it feel to be premiering your movie at South By Southwest?SXSW was always where we wanted to premiere the film. They had a popular Tower Records [in Austin], and I’ve always dug the festival. We saw a window of opportunity and knew we needed to finish the film so we could get it there in time. I just can’t wait for the film to finally be seen!
The Grammy Museum screening in Los Angeles is really going to be fun. We have some very cool things planned for that. I want fans of music to be able to see this movie. I hope that everyone who went to Tower and has their own connection with it enjoys it. And I hope that everyone who worked there is reminded of good memories. Hopefully we were able to capture the essence of what Tower was really like.
Micky Dolenz and Alison Martino
Tower Records Sunset Strip during the early 70s.
The Tacoma Tower Records Store on 38th Street wasn’t just a store, it was a scene. Complete with cutting edge finds, knowledgeable staff, colorful displays, and intriguing people, music-hungry teens combed the aisles in search of new treasures.
Sunset Strip, 1970s
Westwood location
Russ Soloman at the Fresno location in 1972
Tower Records La Mesa 1980
Tower Records Mountain View
Promotion for Pink Floyd's THE WALL at the Sunset Strip location
Panorama City, CA, 1980
Tower Records Manhatten 1983
Tower Ahaheim.
Tower Records at the West Covina Fashion Plaza. One of the last locations to close to 2006
Tower Records closes on Sunset Strip in 2006. END OF AN ERA
Tower Records closes on Sunset Strip in 2006. END OF AN ERA
This makes me so nostalgic for the 70's to the aughts. Every trip to a city with a Tower records store ended up with me buying tons of records to take home. I was so happy when they came to Hawaii in the early 80's, but visits to Towers around the world was a must.
ReplyDeleteWhile I certainly visited the Sunset Strip location quite often, I lived in San Diego from 1980 to 1998 and would frequent both the location near SDSU on El Cajon and the Sports Arena branches and that's where I first got into music collecting. Bought my first LP at the SDSU in 1982 - Men At Work - Business as Usual. Don't have it anymore, nor do I have most of my vinyl or a record player even. But I have memories. I used to read the Tower PULSE magazine religiously, had Tower calendars on my wall, and one of my closest friends ended up working for the Video side, so used to get all sorts of free crap and rentals.
ReplyDeleteThe day the Towers closed was the official end of my childhood (even though I was in my 30's). The Strip isn't the same of course. And my fondest memory? Winning a radio station contest in San Diego that got me and a friend a limo ride (with other winners) to meet and greet Oingo Boingo in 1995 who were signing at, where else, Tower on Sunset. All my Boingo CDs are autographed by the entire band, and that was a blast.
Thankfully I do still have one memory on display, I bought a 12" Cylon action figure from Battlestar Galactica there in the waning years and he's on display on my entertainment center, so whenever I look up I can think of Tower.
I saw Sly....of Sly and the Family Stone, at the Tower on the strip
ReplyDeleteAlthough Tower records made a foray into the Canadian market way too late to be a player, we had our own version of tower records here in Toronto called "Sam the Record Man".
ReplyDeleteIt was located on Yonge St in the heart of downtown Toronto and with its iconic neon signs it was THE place to go for vinyl, concert tickets, and to meet band members for autographs. There were many a night I slept outside on the sidewalk (along with hundreds of others) waiting to buy concert tickets for Queen, Styx, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, etc. etc. etc.
When it closed I felt the same many of you did when Tower Records closed; that my youth officially ended and that a way of life ended for good. Sad.
Tower Records on Sunset was incredible - I went almost every night for 30 years to collect rare 12" vinyl pressings and UK imports. I was fortunate enough to see Duran Duran, Tears For Fears as well as the The Moody Blues perform live for about 200 of us in the store.
ReplyDeleteLike so many things, it was but a brief and amazing moment in time.
What a wonderful article chronicling a rock and roll era that has long passed. As I read it and looked at the photos, I almost felt like I were standing between those record bins, finger running over each plastic-sheathed album trying to choose between Cheap Trick and Cheech and Chong. In the background I hear the Ramones latest album as punks mingle with surfers, long-haired teens, and a few moms with Farrah-feathered hair. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI lived in Fresno, Ca from 1978 until early 1982. The Tower Records branch on Blackstone was my own personal Holy Shrine. I spent 3-4 hours daily checking all sort of albums, 12 inch releases, UK imports and singles. I bought approximately 2000 albums and 1500 singles. I still own this collection to this date. The time I spent in Tower Records was the best unforgettable time of my life.
ReplyDeleteThey're still in Japan, which helps take the sting off a little bit. And they sell logo buttons, pens, and still have the bags!
ReplyDeleteIn '84-'85 I worked in the 9000 Sunset building and frequented Tower on Sunset at least once a week for work. The Strip was hopping then, of course. It was a musically and personally formative time for me and I'll never forget it -- Tower Records was a big part of that chapter for me.
ReplyDeleteI spent SO MUCH MONEY in the one on Sunset :D
ReplyDelete