All Things Must Pass

A loving look at an old store and its impact with lots of warm thoughts and good thoughts. Might not be much for people who didn't live it, but for anyone that remembers that era it's going to be worth seeing. Will definitely make you miss record stores and long to go to Japan.

The "Rise" portion was nostalgic and interesting. The second half was a load of self-serving baloney: Russ Solomon admitting he made a few mistakes but, if the banks had only continued lending him money without telling him what to do, all would have been well. A bunch of longtime employees kvetching about losing their jobs, but not ONE SINGLE WORD about all the labels and distributors who got royally screwed and are still trying to cope with their losses to this day. I started out as a specialty music retailer in 1974 and, thankfully, am still going strong. I well remember Tower's predatory greediness, demanding ridiculous terms from labels and distributors: six months dating, 100% return privileges. Finally, the labels and distributors had to say 'no' to getting in any deeper. The fact that this painful fact wasn't even mentioned, reminds me of the 'ServPro' motto, "Like it Never Even Happened".

Unlikeable men fall into a CANNOT LOSE business (baby boomer, rock buying generation) and milk the customer dry for decades. Despite making millions, and eventually billions, this is not enough for these offensive parasites. These supposed "businessmen" (actually simple-minded drunkards and coke heads), fail to see digital coming and greedily refuse to offer their goods at reasonable prices. Now that these people are exposed for the lowlife scum that they are, they can only weep at the loss of their jobs (and at the loss of a fellow drunk, a gentleman who hilariously, literally wears a lampshade on his head. What a cutup! This, and the David Crosby / walrus-mustachioed Cletus are these people's idea of interesting people.

Despite each working for decades, adding up to centuries worth of experience, in a music-related field, it is notable that music - remember music? - is never a discussion point for these selfish greed heads, only the good times they enjoyed and the incredible profit they were making, both at the customer's expense.

Tower Records was a good store in spite of these people. Everyone loves music, all you needed to do was sell it to them at a reasonable price. See the Beatles' Apple Records for a similar example of what happens when you put burnt-out hippies in charge of your business. It's a shame alright, shameful actions.

It's a great documentary, especially for those of us who remember a time before iTunes, when you had to go to a store to buy new music. It's very meaningful even for those like me who Tower Records was not the friendly neighborhood "supermarket" of music. I remember the Tower Records that was very close to me, but I went to another store, a store which probably had the same story (or at least the same ending to their story).

Actor, Collin Hanks directs this documentary of the rise and fall of an important landmark in music history, from behind the scenes (as we all are most likely familiar with the surface of the story (especially it's end).

The interviews and narrative take me back to the days when you could not download a single, and had to go into a store to buy an album. Watching footage of rows and rows of albums and CDs fills me with the memories.

And the documentary truly points out what an interesting place Tower Records was and how interesting the people who worked there are, as they talk to people who were either there from the beginning or started out as a stock clerk at the original store and worked their way up to VP of something. It felt like the cool place you wish you had a job at.

Especially if Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl was a fellow Stock Clerk. He and Bruce Springstein and Sir Elton John told about their personal experiences at the store and showed their love for it.

It seems so recent, but Tower Records is now just a part of music history. This doc did a good job of showing that history from beginning to end.

Just saw this today at Ground Zero, Sacramento's 75 year old Tower Theater that had right next door, Tower Drugs where the founder, Russ Solomon, started what became a world-wide musical empire.

I was not surprised at the influence Tower had on the recording industry, particularly after they opened up their Sunset Blvd store in Los Angeles. Didn't realize though that many big recording stars such as Bruce Springsteen and Elton John shopped there.

It's a fascinating look not only at the rise and fall of Tower Records, but the recording industry's changes over the years.

You'll even see how the Beach Boys changed their sales focus.

If Tower Records was in your life, and chances are if you are over 30 it was, this is a must-see.

Kudos to Colin Hanks, who spent seven years on this project.