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Goodbye, Tower Records


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Goodbye, Tower Records
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colivigan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
 
2006-12-11, 09:26

Just in case you didn't already know, the entire chain is shutting down.

I have to confess, I haven't set foot in a brick-and-mortar "record" store in years. But I can't help but feel a fair amount of nostalgia for many happy hours spent thumbing through the stacks in places like Tower. Saving my nickels and dimes as a teenager for the next trip to the record store. As a poor college student, wondering just how many albums I could get away with buying on my university charge card and still passing them off as "books" to Mom and Dad.

I just might have to run over there after work to see if the "Snakes on a Plane" soundtrack is still available!
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2006-12-11, 10:00

Wow, that's an institution (isn't it?). I'd never been to one until I moved to SoCal in late '93. We used to go to the one in Tustin Marketplace all the time. But it's been years since I've gone into an actual record/CD store myself. I used to go to the Tower in Nashville all the time too, when I lived there.

Makes me wonder if, in five or so years, we'll read the same thing about Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, etc. Between PPV, digital cable, DVR, video-on-demand and the growing "movie download" thing (which will only become more common and widespread in the coming years), I can easily imagine a time when places like Blockbuster will cease to exist too.

Kinda sad. Half of the fun is getting out, milling around a music or video store, stumbling across something you weren't really looking for, bumping into a friend and catching up, etc. Now we're just going to sit at home at our computers or on our couches and have all our entertainment downloaded and piped in at the touch of a button.

Not sure I'm 100% into that...it loses something.
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2006-12-11, 10:28

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
Kinda sad. Half of the fun is getting out, milling around a music or video store, stumbling across something you weren't really looking for, bumping into a friend and catching up, etc. Now we're just going to sit at home at our computers or on our couches and have all our entertainment downloaded and piped in at the touch of a button.

Not sure I'm 100% into that...it loses something.
There's always going to be a place like Rasputin's in Berkeley and SF, which have a ton more atmosphere than Tower ever did. Same deal with bookstores...some little ones boarded up when they didn't embrace their service based allure, but there's enough still around. Cody's Books, another Berkeley staple, just opened a large new store right across from the Apple Store in SF for example.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2006-12-11, 11:14

True. We've got a few little funky record/CD stores here in town too, and they'll be around, I'm sure, long after Tower, Sam Goody, Wherehouse(sp?), etc. all go the way of the T-Rex.

But it's still strange to see it change that way. Places you just assumed would be around forever suddenly not.

Music-wise, I prefer the smaller, funkier and independent joints (I'm not a Top 40 hound in ANY genre, so I'm not going to haunt a Sam Goody's for hours like a would some place with obscure, nutty stuff).

But book-wise, since I'm more into magazines and tech/trade books than classic literature or fiction, I don't ever want to see Barnes & Noble or Borders go away! You can't always get some of those nice British Mac magazines (or Scott Kelby Photoshop books and other similar offerings) in some of those smaller, niche-y hipster book places (maybe some, especially in the Bay Area, surrounded by Apple and Adobe culture, or larger cities...but not here where I live). I know when I walk into B&N I'm going to have an awesome, reliable selection...
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Stone Of Love
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Detroit City is the place to be...maddog town gonna set you free
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2006-12-11, 11:32

Our home town record store was Boogie Records.

Great place, once upon a time it doubled as the local head shop.

I'll never forget the night in HS we went in to buy a new 8 track for the car, and I suggested this album called Dark Side of the Moon. Well, my buddy was the one with the money, and he wanted to look around some more... the guy behind the counter must have heard us, cuz the next thing we know its "thump thump, thump thump, Ahhhh, ahhhh,, ahhhh, Breathe, breathe in the air...." When stopped laughing, we bought that 8 track and had one of my more memorable nights as a teenager!!

Different Strokes, for Different Folks.
And So On and So On, and Skoobie Doobie Doobie.
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Rabbit
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: R.I.
 
2006-12-11, 11:46

Quote:
Originally Posted by UncleJohn View Post
Just in case you didn't already know, the entire chain is shutting down.

I have to confess, I haven't set foot in a brick-and-mortar "record" store in years. But I can't help but feel a fair amount of nostalgia for many happy hours spent thumbing through the stacks in places like Tower. Saving my nickels and dimes as a teenager for the next trip to the record store. As a poor college student, wondering just how many albums I could get away with buying on my university charge card and still passing them off as "books" to Mom and Dad.

I just might have to run over there after work to see if the "Snakes on a Plane" soundtrack is still available!
It's sad. I remember my more "youthful" days trekking into Boston just so I could go to Tower records. Man, that place was always hip and full of college kids...including me! Well, I guess Amazon and iTunes finally killed it off. It was a great record store in its' day; they always had the albums you could not find anywhere else.
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Ebby
Subdued and Medicated
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Over Yander
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2006-12-11, 15:12

I rarely visited Tower Records, but the last time I did, I bought a DVD. It was $27 and wasn't close to a new release. OUCH! I didn't go back.

Before that, I looked up 3 CD's I wanted to buy on their web site and headed to the store. They didn't have any in stock (not really surprised) but the most important one couldn't even be ordered! I mean it was one their site for crying out loud! Lots and lots of frustration. Too bad music prices are so gosh-darn high.

If I were tower, I'd take what I had left and sue the ass off the RIAA for fixing prices and all sorts of crap if just to make a statement. But that is just me.

^^ One more quality post from the desk of Ebby. ^^
SSBA | SmockBogger | SporkNET
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hiltond
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Tampa Bay and CNJ
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2006-12-11, 15:21

It is sad to see Tower Records go but the level of selection and service at the surviving records stores in my area is outstanding. The Princeton Record Exchange and Vintage Vinyl are still very busy and well stocked. I guess it is just a case of the little guy being able to be more responsive to local tastes.
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World Leader Pretend
Ruling teh World
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Boston, MA
 
2006-12-11, 16:52

My town is dotted with smaller stores, along with a Hastings and BB.

My favorite place to visit is SoS music.

They specialize in Indie, and carry a surprising amount of vinyl - even from current albums.
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