The Power of Tower -

The Power of Tower -
The chain of record stores run by Russ Solomon, who died on Sunday at 92, defined the retail music
business in the predigital era, with stars and fans embracing its slogan: “No Music, No Life.”
Russ Solomon, who died on Sunday at 92, created what for many music fans was the ultimate music emporium: Tower Records, whose yellow-and-red color scheme, “No Music, No Life” slogan,
and wide aisles stocked with LPs and CDs defined the retail music business in the pre-digital era.
Workers left a message outside the first store, in Sacramento: “All things must pass.”
Sales of physical albums in the United States, which peaked at 785 million in 2000, fell to 103
million last year, according to Nielsen, as music consumption shifted to digital formats.
“All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records,” a 2015 documentary, includes footage from the 1970s of Mr. John briskly walking the aisles
and tossing brand-new vinyl records into a cardboard box.
Starting at his father’s drugstore in Sacramento, where he sold used jukebox records as a teenager, Mr. Solomon built a retail empire
that became known as much for its selection — vast by brick-and-mortar standards — as for the culture that surrounded it.
Bruce Springsteen and Bette Midler were regular visitors,
but Tower’s most famous patron was Elton John, for whom the Hollywood store would open early.
Mr. Solomon relied on debt to fuel Tower’s expansion, creating a burden that weighed heavily on the company’s finances by the early 2000s.