Established in 1960, Tower Records was once a retail powerhouse with two hundred stores, in thirty countries, on five continents. From humble beginnings in a small-town drugstore, Tower Records eventually became the heart and soul of the music world, and a powerful force in the music industry. In 1999, Tower Records made $1 billion. In 2006, the company filed for bankruptcy. What went wrong? Everyone thinks they know what killed Tower Records: The Internet. But thats not the story. All Things Must Pass is a feature documentary film examining this iconic companys explosive trajectory, tragic demise, and legacy forged by […]
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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING MORRISSEY: Win Tickets To See Moz @ The Tower On Thursday
For the deeply devoted—and they are legion—there are but two periods in the history of mankind: The time Before Smiths and the time After Smiths. The years B.S. ended in Manchester one May afternoon in 1982, when Johnny Marr—his rockabilly quiff stacked high and retro, Brando-esque Levis cuffed just right—ambled up to 384 Kings Road and knocked on the door. One Steven Patrick Morrissey, terminally unemployable bookworm homebody, who at the ripe old age of 22 was beginning to get the distinct feeling that life had passed him by, answered the door. Marr did not bother with the inane […]
Win Tix To See The City And Colour @ The Tower
Of all the unapologetically stubble-faced folkies/flannel-clad lite rockists wearing thrift store fedoras at a jaunty angle to drop out of the Canadian indie firmament like October leaves, Dallas Green, who records under the moniker City And Colour, gets the essential ratios of prettiness to mopery and preciousness to true grit the rightest. “The Girl,” from 2008’s Bring Me Your Love is/was his Shins/”New Slang,” absent a poignant Zach Braff/Natalie Portman cinematic moment. Ever since the midnight bedroom folk ruminations of Bring Me Your Love, City And Colour records have ventured more and more into traditional electric rock arrangements. Compared […]
TONITE: Win Tix To See Flying Lotus @ The Tower
Boy, oh boy! You lucky ducks! The Tower just dropped into our lap a small chunk of tix to see sonic sorcerer Flying Lotus at the Tower Theater tonight. Time is short so we’re gonna keep this one easy-peasy. All you have to do is join our mailing list (at the bottom of the masthead) and then send us a note at FEED@PHAWKER.COM telling us you do so along with your full name and mobile number for confirmation and the magic words FLYING LOTUS in the subject line. Good luck and…er, what’s that? You have no earthly idea who […]
THIS JUST IN: Bryan Ferry @ The Tower 10/4
Illustration by BOWIEMANIAC Tickets go on sale HERE Friday, April 2th at 10 AM. ALL MUSIC GUIDE: While his tenure as the frontman for the legendary Roxy Music remained his towering achievement, singer Bryan Ferry also carved out a successful solo career that continued in the lush, sophisticated manner perfected on the group’s final records. Born September 26, 1945, in Washington, England, Ferry, the son of a coal miner, began his musical career as a singer with the rock outfit the Banshees while studying art at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne under pop conceptualist Richard Hamilton. He later joined […]
THIS JUST IN: Morrissey @ The Tower 4/6
Tickets go on sale Friday at noon. PREVIOUSLY: Morrissey first canceled concerts earlier this month, citing a bleeding ulcer and Barrett’s esophagus as the reason for his cancelation. “Morrissey thanks everyone concerned for their well wishes during this time and hopes for a speedy recovery,” a rep for Morrissey said at the time of the first cancelations. While he intended to resume his tour in El Paso on Feb. 12, that show was canceled and he announced that the tour would return on Feb. 21 in Denver. That show has since been canceled as well. A post on Morrissey’s […]
BEING THERE: Soundgarden @ The Tower
Chris Cornell, Tower Theater, last night by HOWARD GAINES BY JOE PAONE The Tower Theater’s iconic marquee read “SOUNDGARDEN SOLD OUT.” The WMMR Fun Times Party Van was out front. Shiny tractor trailers stretched as far as the eye could see. Middle-aged superfan rock dudes excitedly chattered about the latest projects from people like “Tom” (Morello). Silver-haired middle managers and salespeople roamed the venue with their uncomfortable-looking wives. Some people looked like they hadn’t been to a rock show since Eric Lindros captained the Flyers. And then there were the kids who weren’t even born during the height of grunge, […]
DEATH OF A SALESPERSON: 10 Things I Won’t Miss About Tower Customers
By SARA SHERR: 1.Mouth-breathers who hug the cart of refiles that I’m trying to put away. This is the same crap that’s been sitting in the racks for the last two months. If I put a bunch of Keak the Sneak CDs on a cart, does that make them suddenly more attractive and awesomely collectable? 2.People who ask stupid questions in order to make a conversation with me. Yes, we?re going out of business. Nope, there’s nothing left. Yep, that pesky downloading. 3.People who can’t read. I understand the Philadelphia public school system is in a shambles and it’s hard […]
EULOGY: Fair Thee Well Leaning TOWER of Song
KING BRITT REMEMBERS: Tower Records totally changed my whole life. I worked there in ’88, for four years. In high school I was a music nerd, so naturally I desperately wanted to work at Tower. I started as bag check dude, but moved up to 12″ singles buyer and New Age buyer in a matter of six months. Everyone who worked there were masters at their craft, and their passion for music was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed the “team work” vibe. We all went on to do great things. Renny Harris, a major choreographer and dancer; James Bond, who owns […]
MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING or How The TOWER Of Song Got Its Lean On
RICHARD KAUFMAN REMEMBERS: Tower Records, so many bittersweet memories. In those crazy go-go days of the early ’90s, there was so much optimism for the future. Papa Bush was imploding faster than a smart bomb, Fast Eddie was mayor, the Eagles had a mobile QB that would finally lead us to the promised land, and flannel-wearing rockers were starting to turn the rock world on its head. The word around the water cooler was that Tower was going public, and all of us smelly, underpaid buyers and clerks would get in on the ground floor. The Tower model seemed to […]
DEATH OF A SALESPERSON: My Final Daze Inside The Leaning TOWER Of Song
SARA SHERR REPORTS: We got the news on that fateful Friday, but that was only the half of it. Most of us went home thinking we were going to be working for mall record store behemoth Trans World Entertainment, and inexplicably, one of the last music retailers standing. Would we still have a good selection? Would we have to wear those dreadful polos? About an hour or two later, the Internet would reveal that Trans World would lose the auction by $500,000 to liquidator Great American, and we’d be out of work sometime in December. Ironically, the latest news is […]
IN MEMORIAM: The Devil And Daniel Johnston
Artwork by Daniel Johnston BY JON HOULON When I lived in Austin in the early 90s, Daniel Johnston hovered over the place like a ghost. He made his name there in the 80s but had since been institutionalized after clubbing a friend with a lead pipe or baptizing himself in a fountain on campus. Equally felonious, perhaps. But I didn’t know any of that back then as I puzzled over his hand-labelled cassettes in the local music section of Tower Records on Guadalupe. I couldn’t be bothered at the time. I wish I had. Like many, I found my way […]
UNDONE: The Complete Oral History Of Weezer
Artwork by Fuzzysocks102. EDITOR’S NOTE: A vastly shorter version of the following oral history of Weezer appeared in MAGNET MAGAZINE in 2014. In advance of Weezer’s performance at The Met tomorrow night, we are publishing the complete and unabridged version. Enjoy. “The best history of Weezer I have ever read.” — PAT WILSON, DRUMMER BY JONATHAN VALANIA This year the Blue Album turns 20, and Pinkerton is old enough to vote. Two decades-plus of being Weezer hasn’t all been Buddy Holly glasses and hash pipes for The Last Band Standing, Alt-Rock Class of ‘94. At various points along the way […]