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Russ Never Sleeps...Sharing Memories of Tower Records

The other day I heard that Tower Records founder Russ Solomon had finally decided to retire at age eighty-four. After the chain he founded in 1960 was liquidated back in late 2006, he had been running the R5 record shop in Sacramento at one of his former locations. Last May he decided to throw in the towel and sold it off to Dimples Records whose owners threw Russ a retirement party on July 17.

If I was a real writer or journalist I'd probably say something here about the history of Tower, how they grew from one store in California's state capitol to an international iconic retailer of music and lifestyle products, and then explain how their world came crashing down. But I'm not so I won't.

I'll guess that almost everyone here at No Depression has been touched in some way by Tower...either as a consumer, an artist, a former employee or business partner, a magazine publisher, whatever. And I'd venture to say that all of us misses the opportunity to head over to one of their stores for browsing, listening, learning, people watching and knowing that you were in a space surrounded with other people like yourself, who value and support music.

Before Tower spread it's wings and flew beyond the Golden State, there were a few regional stores that also offered the size and selection. In New York and other eastern cities we had the (original) Sam Goody chain which had similarities in offering customer service albeit while wearing white shirts and ties. Down in Atlanta Peaches was a store noted for a more organic feel with their unpainted wood shelves and crates, and a laid back staff. And there were others. But as time went on, only Tower Records was able to survive as a stand alone privately held company of it's size, and it resisted becoming a cookie-cutter rubber-stamped retailer which was simultaneously their greatest asset and liability.

Russ has often been identified as a "music man"...which carries the implication that he cared more about his customers, his employees and the music that sat on his shelves than he did about making a buck. Now while that may not be completely truthful, I'd say that Russ always has exhibited a passion for music and all other art (he is a collector who also ran a gallery or two in his time) that set him apart from other executives. He'd rather talk jazz than spreadsheets. And if you ever showed up in his office wearing a tie, he'd get up, come around the desk, take a scissors and cut the damn thing off.

Most of my memories of Tower were as a business partner. For many years I called on dozens of their stores as a salesperson representing hundreds of independent labels, and later moved into a corporate position that took me often to their headquarters in Sacramento. More than any other client, the Tower folks were just plain fun to deal with. There were days where I'd laugh to myself because I actually got paid to have such a good time; where I got to travel, hang with good people, break bread, share laughs, hear new music and usually come home with a yellow bag filled with new tunes.

Today as a consumer, I'm fortunate to be only ninety minutes from Amoeba in Hollywood if I need that non-online experience. And when I'm down there it's great to see so many former Tower employees still in the game (as well as folks who worked at Virgin, Arons, Rhino, Music Plus, Wherehouse and all of the other retail dinosaurs). And as much as I love Amoeba and Waterloo and Music Millennium and Electric Fetus and the rest of the survivors, it was that first Tower store opened in 1960 in Sacramento that set it all in motion. I miss them.

And so it seems like a good time to say "thanks Russ...enjoy that retirement". We'll see if this gets anywhere, but perhaps if you have a Tower story or memory to share, you can feel free to add a comment.

Tags: Russ Solomon, Tower Records

Comment by TenLayers on July 22, 2010 at 11:32am: I was so sad when Tower decided to close. Back in the day when they had the store on Columbus St in North Beach, SF it seemed they were never closed and you could decide at 11PM you needed something. And you weren't the only one that at 11 o'clock needed to shuffle through the racks.
And always great music playing (as does all record stores).
And the huge airbrushed art outside hearlding the latest releases.
I still get an ache when I happen to go by the old place.

Comment by Craig Young on July 22, 2010 at 1:46pm: I remember the Tower in New Orleans on N Peters Street. Every time I was in the City That Care Forgot, I always went to the record store that cared about New Orleans music. The New Orleans music section, if you can call it a section, was more like a New Orleans music store inside the Tower store. It had it's own room! In there, one could find anything from Louie Armstrong to the Wild Tchoupitoulas R&B to Garage Rock. They always had the best selection in town from hard to find releases as well as the latest.

Comment by hombre on July 22, 2010 at 9:37pm: nice peice...i have alot of vinyl on shelves in my living room that came from the downtown Tower on broadway in Manhattan....lots of time spent sorting through bins and flipping over album covers...hauling finds back on the Long Island Railroad...

Comment by Mr Edyoulis on July 22, 2010 at 10:57pm: I frequented Tower in the 80s because they carried so much small label indie stuff. Finish hardcore fanzine for 50 cents? Tower stocked it. Original pressings of small label hardcore punk (now worth a bundle), Tower had them. They were smart enough to dig deeper into the punk subculture to draw people in. Now the location (Mountain View) is Rasputins. Amoeba still the king.

Comment by Amos Perrine on July 23, 2010 at 4:54am: I spent many enjoyable Sunday mornings at Tower on Broadway & 4th in New York. Why Sunday morning? It was the only time it was not wall to wall customers, browsers & tourists. And it was enjoyable because they had EVERYTHING and the staff was extremely knowledgable. I'm glad I picked up all that Japanese vinyl back then.

Comment by denton fabrics on July 23, 2010 at 6:07am: I liked to shop Tower at the corner of Newbury and Mass Ave, pick out what I wanted, and then go next door to Newbury Comics and buy it. Why? 'Cause Newbury was cheaper, they were indy, and cute 20-year-old Tami Heidi (who grew up to become the KROQ DJ) used to work the register there!

Comment by Kevin Driscoll on July 23, 2010 at 8:10am: Tower was great. I loved the in-store performances. I saw the Iguanas in New Orleans. How cool is that? Seeing a pretty big-time band in a record store is so exciting. They are right there in front of you. I saw Ashley Cleveland in the Nashville store and got to meet her afterward. I miss Tower. We have Sound Garden here in Baltimore and it is fantastic as well. There was something about Tower thought that was different. It was corporate but not. The people there always had a great knowledge of all music and they were always cool. And that goes for all the stores that I went to in different cities. It attracted cool people.

Comment by Angela Easterling on July 23, 2010 at 10:45am: Oh, the hours I spent at the Tower store on Newbury St. in Boston when I was in college! Probably more time than I spent in class. It was only a few blocks from where I lived. We used to go at midnight on Mondays and buy the new CD's the minute they were released. I feel sad every time I'm in Boston and I see that building...no more Tower.

Comment by Shane on July 23, 2010 at 10:59am: Spent many an hour in the Tower Records store in Rockville Md. Used to meet a music buddy of mine there and we would spend hours looking for that gem of a deal.

Comment by Ron Frankl on July 27, 2010 at 5:54am: I was a frequent customer of their NYC stores in the '80s and '90s. Their stores were a destination location, a way for a music junkie to spend a good chunk of the day, or to find that one title that you need to have asap. It was the perfect meeting place for friends before going out to eat, hear music or just about anything else. It introduced most of us to the concept of listening stations, a concept that lives on, in a limited way, on the web. It was a terrific resource and a constant temptation, and it was all under one roof.

It seems remarkable that a retailer that was such a big part of all our lives has disappeared, and that the social component to music shopping has largely disappeared as well.