Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Tower-ing Inferno


Finally got around to seeing "All Things Must Pass," Colin Hanks' documentary about the rise and fall of Tower Records. The film tracks the course of the chain's humble beginnings in founder Russ Solomon's father's Sacramento drugstore to its heady days of mega sales, cocaine and over-expansion  -- and ultimate post-Napster implosion. It's a small film, mostly comprised of single-camera interviews with former employees and the occasional superstar fan (Elton John, Bruce Springsteen). But it packs a strong punch, seeing how much this chain -- and record stores in general -- meant so much to so many people, doubling as a hangout for misfits. To that point, I happened upon the famed, but long-shuttered, Sunset Strip location while I was in L.A. last week. As I plowed through Sunset Plaza, I wasn't expecting it to still be done up from the film's premiere party -- and I felt like I'd seen a ghost. 


1 comment:

Bob K said...

It was a haunt for me, later a five minute walk for 20 years. Fuck the jerks who made the chain tank -- a few stores could have gone on forever. When I was in low-rent Portland, there were several large record stores, because no one had bought them up and messes with them.