![]() ![]() Today it’s owned by Adherence Capital Management, which they bought in 2016 for a mere $35 million. The building on Horn is 8,990 square feet and was once named “the largest record store in the world by The Guinness Book Of World Records. Tower Records stores, 235-250 worldwide, (depending on who you talk to) opened its doors in 1960 and lasted until 2006. Then there was the time David Lee Roth, (soon after leaving Van Halen), propelled himself down the side of a fake mountain constricted on the roof to promote his 1988 album, “Matterhorn.” Grace Slick signed copies of her autobiography that drew grateful Jefferson Airplane fans. Aerosmith, James Brown, Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey, to name a few, all had album signings in the store. Whenever Elton John was in town he could be seen rifling through the records there. When John Lennon was plugging his solo album, he made a recording played on radio stations that also plugged Tower Records as the place to get it. Stars such as Robert Plant, Stevie Wonder, Robert Stigwood, Ella Fitzgerald, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Elvis Costello, actor and Paramount Pictures head Robert Evans, Smokey Robinson and even George Burns, (before he was God), going through the endless stacks and rows of records just as you or I might. In the early days when Tower was open every day, until midnight, you could see stars shopping like we normal people. But they paled in comparison to the concert given by Lady Gaga and Elton John, in 2016, that closed down that part of The Sunset Strip.ĭave Grohl was a Tower Records employee for 2 months in 1990 before joining Nirvana. But those were minor complaints when you weigh them against hearing a concert from Rod Stewart, (as in 1998), or David Cassidy, (at the height of his “Partridge Family” fame), singing songs from his upcoming album. Then there were the endless hours of sound checks that blasted music throughout the neighborhood. There were many times when the traffic on Sunset Boulevard was bumper to bumper due to big trucks with equipment preparing for a concert or from the influx of music fans flocking to the store or parking lot, a block away. Living a short block from Tower Records, for 25 years, has made it a part of my life and the surrounding West Hollywood neighborhood.īut having Tower Records just outside my window and in view from my balcony was not without its drawbacks. It’s used as a point of reference that everyone knows. The Tower Record Building is as much a landmark as the Capitol Records building, Paramount Pictures Studios gate or The Chinese Theater. The owner of Tower Records, Russell Solomon, who died at the age of 92 in 2018, realized his vision but Tower Records on Horn and Sunset Boulevard has had to carry on without him. Tower Records arrived on The Sunset Strip in 1971. ![]()
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