Tower Records exists no more. The well-known music and record store has met its demise. It’s been in bankruptcy for quite a while, has now been auctioned off for $134.3 million, and will be liquidated immediately. (Source: AP.net)
This sucks.
I haven’t bought many albums from Tower Records because I don’t have any locations near me, but the few times I’ve been to Tower Records are quite memorable.
The first time was when I was in London, England, in the summer of 2000. My family and I were at a Tower store there. I didn’t have any cash on me, so I used an ATM machine to withdraw some British pounds (which actually took my account balance negative I found out later). I went inside and bought the brilliant green’s self-titled album. This was a huge deal for me because it was my first Japanese music purchase. Also, it’s a good album that I listened to many, many times over the next three years. I’ve still got the album now.
My second memorable visit to Tower Records was at its store in Utsunomiya, Japan, during the summer of 2002. I listened to many CDs at its kiosks on that day. Listening to American music helped remind me of home and my life during the two months I was in the country. I ended up buying MxPx’s compilation album “Ten Years and Running” featuring the best hits from their 10 years as a band. I rocked out to “GSF,” “Chick Magnet,” and “Move to Bremerton” all summer long.
Those are the two big memories. I believe we also drove by Tower Records when I was in L.A. for Spring Break in 2005 with Phil and Varv. It may have even been the store they in West Hollywood, California, that’s featured in the Wikipedia article (the image also attached to this post).
It is unfortunate this has happened, but this is the state of the modern recording industry. The good parts die, yet the record labels remain the same.
Tower Records, you will be missed.