Tower Records Files for Bankruptcy

I'm not a huge fan of spending long hours in record stores but that Tower is completely amazing. I mean, just comparing their "AVANT" section (experimental, modern classical, noise) section, it's bigger than Aquarius' total inventory in entirety. They have more new CDs than any of the Ameoba's and they have lots of American stuff that's hard to find here.

PS: I was meaning to ask, are you in San Diego and have a incredibly massive cult video collection?

every article on the decline of the record store in the wake of bestbuy/walmart/amazon/downloading should be require to devote at least a hundred words to what amoeba is doing right.

Amongst a million other things.

Meanwhile, the Act 1/2 theater closed, and the other small theaters are increasingly showing mainstream fare and struggling nonetheless. The rock clubs are usually pretty sparsely attended. It's a rough time across the board.

They did this in SF with all but the Rock section. I haven't decided if I like it or not actually. It's a bit more one stop, but it increases your flip time if you don't care about the new stuff (which often I don't.)

They moved; the rent on University is a killer, especially so close to campus.

Wait the Amoeba in Berkeley is having problems?

They're by far the least profitable of the three, and still have a lot of staff to feed. I wouldn't say that they're struggling, but traffic is down quite a bit.

Well that makes sense. It's got the least profitable location, the least space and the least parking. But that doesn't mean it is in a bad way does it?

I'm assuming so, but mostly based on the fact that the three times I've been there, I was the only customer for the entirety of my stay. That was never true for me on University.

I doubt the rent is 1/4th. El Cerrito Plaza has Albany-esque rents.

I don't know for sure, but the rock section is the store's bread and butter, so the fact that they would cut it basically in half doesn't bode well, or at least signals that they're shifting even more toward DVD sales, which is not something I'm looking for in a record shop. Since all three are owned by the same people and the other two are so damned profitable, I doubt they'd ever sell the store, but I believe that particular store is going to grow increasingly irrelevant.... which sucks, because I hate going to that goddamned bowling alley in the haight.

Quoting their MySpace profile:
TOWER RECORDS is a LEADING specialist in MUSIC, DVD, BOOKS and GAMES Retailer based in DUBLIN and is wholly IRISH owned by RECORDS and DISCS Ltd since JULY 2003

Folks you can go leave comments on the Tower Records MySpace Profile for your town! Inc Tower Records Dublin, Calafornia. Wish them all well seeking new jobs!

Is the version of Shine A Light on there better than the Albert Hall one?

Rockaway was better when it occupied the entire building instead of the one-quarter or one-third that they have now. Rockaway is great because they are so completely myopic over '67-'71 era "Rolling Stone Magazine Rock" that they don't know/realize the other things that churn through the used bin.

That's how I got most of Flying Nun for a $1 each, etc.

Absolutely yes.

Second question: Is the FUI Medication better than the album version on Pure Phase?

Yes. However there are two even better versions... In order:

1. The live Glastonbury '93 one on the _Let It Flow_ CD EPs. Recorded when Darkside guitarist Kevin Cowen was in Spz. for a brief time, and it really shows.
2. The studio one on the _Medication_ EP.
3. _Fucked Up Inside_
4. _Pure Phase_

Elvis otm tho

My boss was in Tokyo and got me a bright yellow Tower Records Shubiya t-shirt (I guess the only remaining stores are in Japan?). Fun thing to wear...

I worked at the Tower at 4th and Broadway in Manhattan for a few months in the early 90s. As jobs go, it was easy, but paid almost nothing, especially for NYC. On the plus side, it was a great place for celebrity sightings, as well as in-store appearances. The highlight had to be an in-store performance by Nirvana just as Nevermind came out. They played for about 45 minutes, and the lasting impression I have of them was that they were really fucking loud.

Slash worked/shoplifted at tower

My boss was in Tokyo and got me a bright yellow Tower Records Shubiya t-shirt (I guess the only remaining stores are in Japan?).

I'm not very nostalgic about record stores but walking through Tower Records in Shibuya was awesome. Where I got my copy of Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana

On my first visit to Tokyo, I was delighted to have to walk past a mini Tower Records in the concourse leading to Shiodome Metro station every day for a week, it was very well stocked and I bought a bunch of Shiina Ringo there too!

I do have to say, I met Russ Solomon, and he was quite creepy.

Yeah, after listening to enough of these episodes I'm content to have been a happy customer