Groovy old 1970 pic of Tower Records, San Francisco, CSN&Y "Déjà Vu "just released, only $2.88!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Feb 6, 2013.

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  1. Jlbrach

    Jlbrach Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    I used to entire afternoons at the tower records in the village in NYC browsing the huge selection....now I click on amazon and order discs...not the same
     
  2. Runt

    Runt Senior Member

    Location:
    Motor City
    Believe it or not, we never had a Tower in metro Detroit until early this decade. They only lasted a couple years. Horrible location in a cramped suburban downtown area, no parking, etc.
     
    motorcitydave likes this.
  3. Destroyer

    Destroyer Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF, CA, USA
    HAHAHA - there is without question a direct correlation between the alcohol intake and the volume knob on those nights.
     
  4. musicfan37

    musicfan37 Senior Member

    Was there almost every week. I loved that place. After they moved to the other location, not so much. They charged to park in the lot. You had to buy a certain amount to get your parking validated.
     
  5. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    Now that I think of it, when I moved to San Francisco in 1988, I interviewed at the Bay & Columbus Tower and was offered a job. I declined because the pay was too low...
     
  6. SimplyOrange

    SimplyOrange Forum Resident

  7. musicfan37

    musicfan37 Senior Member

    Very true! People don't understand.
     
    Steve Hoffman likes this.
  8. Please...

    I understand nostalgia but to say that people today don't appreciate the album these days is silly.
     
    Pavol Stromcek and mando_dan like this.
  9. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Immortalized by the doll industry and in boots forever.

    hardrock_2_large.jpg
     
  10. RubenH

    RubenH Forum Resident

    Location:
    S.E. United States
    Looks like M. Fremer :D
     
  11. riknbkr330

    riknbkr330 Senior Member

    Nice shot of the Bay & Columbus store. Was in it once, 1993 and bought Squeeze's album at the time.

    Here are some shots taken at the Tower Records Hollywood when the Jam did an in-store meet and greet. LA mods thronged the place. May 29, 1982

    The Untouchables waiting to meet and greet....great party after this btw. LA MODS1.1.JPG LA MODS5.4.JPG
    The Jam J03.jpg J04.jpg J01.jpg
     
  12. riknbkr330

    riknbkr330 Senior Member

    One more:
    On the corner... LA MODS8.2.JPG
     
    kozy814 and hi_watt like this.
  13. vinylkid58

    vinylkid58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Victoria, B.C.
    She's a time traveler from the future, shopping for rare vinyl.;)

    jeff
     
  14. googlymoogly

    googlymoogly Forum Resident

    We didn't have stores like that in BFE, North Florida...I was gobsmacked when I first went to the big Peaches in Atlanta in the early '80s. I'd have expired walking into a record store as big and diverse as Tower! :eek:
     
  15. chewy

    chewy Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Coast USA
    what did they ever turn the famous Sunset blvd tower store into, today???
     
  16. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    I did not go to the Tower in San Francisco that often, but did spend a lot of time in the one down in Mountain View back in the 80s. When I was in my teens, my dad lived in that area, and when I would visit him every other weekend I always made a point of going to the Tower. They had a beautiful and fairly vast import vinyl section, and I recall scrounging and saving up every penny I'd earn from doing odd jobs (and even stashing lunch money) to buy records from bands like the Cocteau Twins. Their domestic vinyl section was pretty vast as well. But then their vinyl sections began to gradually but steadily decline in the 90s, and I eventually lost interest in the place.

    But to be honest, Tower was always inferior to places like Rasputins (and from 1990 onward, Amoeba) in Berkeley, since Tower did not sell used stuff. For that reason, Rasputins on Telegraph Ave was always the prime record buying destination for me and my friends growing up, at least until Amoeba came along. But when Amoeba opened, within a year it eclipsed and then surpassed Rasputins, to the point where Amoeba became the place we'd go to first.

    I always found it amusing that there was a Tower in Berkeley just around the corner from Rasputin's old location on Telegraph (where there is now an Adidas store). That Berkeley Tower was always quite noticeably inferior to other Towers, and my friends and I seldom went in there. That store was in such close proximity to such vastly superior places, like Rasputins, Leopolds, and later Amoeba, that it never stood a chance, although it did eventually move a few doors up where it swallowed neighboring Leopolds.
     
  17. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area

    Holy crap, these are awesome photos. Thanks for sharing! I love seeing all the mods.
     
  18. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    Strangely enough, the Rasputin's in Concord still has the Tower Records signage...

    [​IMG]
     
  19. SimplyOrange

    SimplyOrange Forum Resident

    Yeah, sounds like something Rasputins would do. I really love that company, I feel like their one of the few large music stores still around that has great customer service and selection. I'd love to see their main store.
     
  20. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley...

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I can see John Travolta on the left, behind the $2.99 sign and in front of the FBI looking guy in shades and stripey tie :)
     
  21. Dondy

    Dondy Forumaniac

    Hey, I was first (see my post #125)! And since I would have met her in the city's no.1 record store I would have dated her out to the Fillmore. Clever, eh? How could anyone top that in SF in 1970? :laugh:
    I just hope I'm not exactly Mr. Stripey Shirt.
     
  22. Music Geek

    Music Geek Confusion will be my epitaph

    Location:
    Italy
    Thanks for posting that picture. It brought back memories of my great time in California in the early 90s. I spent quite a few Saturday afternoons in that store, usually complemented by a dinner with friends in a nice restaurant near the Coit Tower. My routine was Tower in Mountain View during the week (being close to work) and Tower in SF during the weekend. I don't know how much money I spent on CDs in two years.
     
  23. uncle b

    uncle b Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northville, MI USA
    I used to drive out to my local Tower in Ann Arbor, MI just to pick up a copy of the new Pulse! magazine every month (coulda just subscribed, but it seemed weird to "pay" for a "free" magazine)! It didn't matter if I was in the market for any discs, I just wanted to make a half-hour one-way trip for a free magazine...though I'd usually lighten myself of a few bucks om CD's in the process!
     
  24. uncle b

    uncle b Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northville, MI USA
    You always knew what the biggest/most important new release would be that upcoming month, judging by who graced the cover of the latest Pulse! magazine. What a special place Tower was, I remember so MANY midnight sales at the Ann Arbor, MI store.
     
  25. moops

    moops Senior Member

    Location:
    Geebung, Australia
    Please forgive me if my recollections aren't quite accurate .........
    Myself and 3 mates came to the US for about 6 weeks back in '96. We had about 10 days in NYC at the end of out trip. We stayed on Broadway and if memory serves correct we weren't far from the Beacon Theater. Now if someone can confirm this for me, I think across from where we stayed there was a Tower Records ? It was a giant record store, I remember being in disbelief that a place such as this existed. The size of the place, the selection and the fact that if I was doing nothing at 10pm I could go there and browse. I had never seen anything like it before. Am I right in thinking it was a Tower Records ? We did all the usual tourist things when we were there, Disneyland, Vegas, Grand Canyon, Graceland, Statue Of Liberty, Empire State etc ......... but walking into that record store gave me a feeling that I wish I could have bottled.
     
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