All Things Must Pass

Actor turned filmmaker Colin Hanks chronicles the story of Tower Records, a giant music/entertainment retailer and tastemaker that appeared to be unstoppable—until it collapsed, seemingly overnight, in the early years of the 21st century. Founded in Sacramento as a humble scheme to sell used jukebox 45s in a Tower drugstore, the chain grew by leaps and bounds at prime vinyl locations on the West Coast. CEO Russ Solomon ended up steering creative industry choices, and his L.A. emporium even observed special hours to accommodate star shopper Elton John (interviewed here, as are Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl). Solomon also supported the new CD format and other technological advances. But the advent of MP3 players and shifting demographics led to customers widely abandoning the buying of physical albums. Moreover, the company badly overreached in overseas ventures (a surprising exception is Japan, where an autonomous spin-off of Tower still thrives). By 2004, the ax was out for longtime staff (a never-interviewed bank-appointed hatchet woman, nicknamed Betty Boop, is slammed here—a bit too easily—as a convenient villain), and the once-mighty Tower finally fell. What's remarkable—and sad—is the way that Tower vets still speak fondly of the sheer joy of coming to work, a sentiment that is rarely expressed in retail (of course, drugs in the 1970s helped). Extras include extended interviews and nostalgic reminiscences about yesteryear's music biz. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)