Alas, Tower went bankrupt in '06 and Sam's in '07. Video may have killed the radio star but internet killed the recording star!
Posted on 03/06/2018 9:24:38 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
Talk about the perfect coda: Tower Records founder Russ Solomon died with a drink in his hand and a smart-aleck remark on his lips.
The swashbuckling, visionary entrepreneur who built a global retailing empire and the most famous company in Sacramento history died Sunday night of an apparent heart attack. He was 92.
Solomon was watching the Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night at his Sacramento-area home when he was stricken, said his son, Michael Solomon, the former chief executive of Tower.
"Ironically, he was giving his opinion of what someone was wearing that he thought was ugly, then asked (his wife) Patti to refill his whiskey," Solomon said. When she returned, he had died.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Not a bad way to go. :-)
Growing up in Orange County California Tower Records was the place to go for music.
Pretty much, yeah.
A couple years ago, I was at a friend's house; he had a USB turntable for playing vinyl LPs.
I tried to cue up a track by hand and eye, and immediately discovered that I couldn't see the spaces between the tracks. So I tried just getting the needle to land on the outermost cueing band, and found that my hand wasn't nearly delicate enough to accomplish this either. After 40+ years of zero practice, my ability to do this simple task was completely gone.
“But it’s not what you’re thinking, it wasn’t the drinking- this man died of thirst!”
Gaelic Storm - Johnny Tarr
They watch youtube.
Anyway, the wife’s story sounds pretty con-VEEEN-yent! She been questioned? I mean, really questioned, like they do on TV?
But my real question is if this guy was so wealthy, why was he living in bloody Sacramento?!?
Is it hard to get the needles? I see the record players for sale around but I have wondered about buying the record needle.
I bet it was that horrid lace burlesque show dress that Lindsay Vonn wore. She looked like a bad knock off of Mae West.
I didn’t watch the Oscars and am alive today.
There are some memorable live performances that were free to the public recorded in Tower Records stores floating around on YouTube, even a whole series of them by Liz Phair.
Classic RDDB.
Certain audiophiles who dislike digital audio never abandoned vinyl, say it sounds warmer and less harsh, and the hipsters jumped on it years ago as well. They may not be as widely available as they once were but needles are available, if not at retail then for sure online.
There is a lot more of everything available in the last several years as vinyl returns to popularity.
There is just no substitute for analogue - I'd rather hear a few crackles in a vinyl "Dark Side of the Moon" than a pure digital version.
Some modern groups have held back releasing their albums because vinyl record production couln’t keep up with the demand.
“the perfect coda: Tower Records founder Russ Solomon died with a drink in his hand and a smart-aleck remark on his lips. “
The perfect coda?? Methinks not - that is a pretty low bar.
It’s not how I’d want to be remembered. And certainly not the ending I’d want when I go to meet my Maker...
Lindsey Vonn???
You betcha...I spent a lot of time there during the early 2000's.What a selection they had!
Then I discovered CD-Rs and my local library network...which has thousands of CDs from the 60's (my decade).And now I have a music collection of about 5,000 songs all for the price of gas (to get to the library) and the cost of blank CDs.
A couple of people I know tried to watch it and said it was so boring they had to turn it off.
Alas, Tower went bankrupt in '06 and Sam's in '07. Video may have killed the radio star but internet killed the recording star!
I have no idea what analogue is but I agree with you about listening to albums.
Plus I miss album art. CD’s are too small to appreciate anything on the covers and those plastic cases fall apart.
I regularly go to the old, original Tower Records building for lunch, and across the stree to where the first separate building was, to buy records/CDs.
It’s “Dimple Records” now, and usually full.
Also, the original building has a theater attached where one can see good movies and have a beer...at MLB prices.
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