All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records (2015)

★★★
I lived in Hawaii in the mid-‘90s and there was a Tower Records store in Pearl City. I only went there a few times. I remember the wide selection of music. There was even a section for video rentals, where I rented and watched Last House on the Left for the first time. (I saw a copy of Edward Penishands on the shelf, though I declined to watch it.) I never purchased any music and the store never became a hangout spot for me. I was a budding film buff, and music held nowhere near the interest I had for movies. Indeed, my musical tastes are still stuck in the early ‘90s when I was in high school in Pennsylvania, in a rural area with no Tower Records stores nearby (the local mall had a National Record Mart). I would have had to travel to Pittsburgh to visit one, but that was too far out of my reach and video games held my attention anyway. My brief stop in Hawaii was the only time Tower Records and I crossed paths.

I reminisce about this because the influence of Tower Records cannot be overstated. It revolutionized music sales. It became ingrained in pop culture. Even someone like me, who had no access to Tower Records and purchased music from the local shopping mall music store, eventually encountered the trademark yellow and red signage when I moved out into the world. While I don’t feel I missed out on anything, I can still recognize the passing of an era, one in which I lived and will never come back. Colin Hanks’s documentary, All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records, chronicles the rise of Tower Records, from its humble beginnings as a single store to the international brand it later became. Founder Russ Solomon started his experiment in Sacramento and expanded into San Francisco. By the end of the ‘90s, Tower was raking in massive profits. It all came crashing down in 2006. Napster and downloadable music, as well as competition from big box retail chains, put too much pressure on Tower. While the documentary doesn’t draw parallels with other industries, it does draw attention to the internet as a game changer, one that gave rise to numerous outlets that had wide-ranging impact on our shopping habits. Amazon (which dealt the deathblow to Sears and other similar stores) and Netflix (bye-bye Blockbuster and Hollywood Video) are the most notable examples.

Russ Solomon discusses his creation in detail, and many of his colleagues chime in to offer their perspective on the company and how it grew, and why it mattered to so many people. The narrative follows a traditional arc. The success of the store is widely discussed, moving forward in time and covering expansion into Japan and other markets. The expansion into Japan was critical. The Japanese stores tapped into a burgeoning interest in American culture. Management tactics and consumer interests were also on a whole other level. This is important because when trouble began to arise back home, the Japanese version would be shielded from the coming storm.

The documentary explores the reasons for the company’s demise. The internet played a role, but other issues are discussed. Overconfidence in the brand certainly contributed to the decline of Tower. Expansion into Mexico City, Bogotá and other Latin American cities turned out to be busts. Soon costs had to be cut. Pulse magazine, the store’s print publication, ceased production. Executives who had been with the company for years—many of whom started out as clerks—were released to cut salaries. Other management shakeups occurred that spelled doom for the company. What was once an iconic symbol of the American landscape gave way to abandoned stores, shells of their former selves. Like Blockbuster Video, a former Tower Records store can still be spotted here and there. Each store has it own stories to tell. Couples met while browsing its endless aisles of records and C.D.s. Random customers could talk about common interests and recommend albums to each other. It wasn’t just a place to shop. Tower Records was a social gathering place.

All Things Must Pass is an apt description of what started out as brilliant concept that grew and grew thanks to an owner with the foresight to see something that works and develop it and nurture it. Russ Solomon was a visionary. There’s no doubt about that. This movie is as much a tribute to him as it is towards his creation. Near the end of the movie is a hopeful and joyous occasion. Years after the last Tower Records closed, Solomon visits Japan. It is an amazing thing for him to see his baby still thriving somewhere in the world. The Japanese chain, sold off to independent stakeholders in 2002 in an effort to stabilize the parent company, is a smashing success. There is poignancy here. Russ walks through its aisles and listens to music at its sampling stations. He knows his legacy will continue, if not at home then at least on these islands thousands of miles away, where his vision is faithfully followed. In the end, he is pleased.

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