Danny, It's Alan and Lisa
Where are you?
We closed our studio and your old house # doesn't work.
We miss seeing you.
kb1knewbe@aol.com

i am sorry.but
i cannot follow your lead
i am so sorry but
i am sorry

Rasputins is moving into the Tower Records superstore here in Mountain View, which is beyond awesome and so exciting. A tiny independent record chain replacing a defunct large one; best I could've hoped for!

As for cheaper prices elsewhere and what you saw as a lack of service, yes, unfortunately, one can argue small technicalities about anything forever; in that case, you have to look at the entire picture. Conglomerates -- such as Borders, Barnes & Noble, the evil Wal-Mart, etc -- betting on the publics gullibility by offering cheaper prices over the independent stores/chains that often contribute about 95x more to the community is not progress; I am sorry, but it isn't. Supporting independent stores is good for the community, and serve as reminders of what once was and all that can be again; and if this according to some people is wrong, Wal-Mart, Borders and all those places have succeeded in brainwashing them into believing that their way is the only way; that cheaper prices are the "only" way to go.

This world has gone so downhill. I am sorry, but I personally woud rather live a life and in a world of morals and ethics than one that is based around the naive mindset of a disgustingly gullible public.

I have a firm commitment to "only" purchasing my books, music and movies from indie stores; and supporting local farms whenever I can (which are also dissapearing at a fast rate).

I believe in ethics, morals and principles. I believe in progress. I can only hope that everybody reading this will follow my lead.

Rasputin's Music is a mostly Used Music/Video store with some new stuff, however they are more eclectic in their selection than Tower. They are only second to Amoeba Music in selection. We are cdelebrating this news in Stockton. In fact our newspaper "The Record" had a front page article on Rasputin's coming to Stockton. Has The Fresno Bee done a story on rasputin's yet?

Regardless of the service or seemingly small selection (I think given the area we are in the selection was big enough) Tower was the sh!t. I had been getting those notices in my email from the CEO saying he's selling out or whatever. I couldn't help but think that leaves the market wide open for any decent store to go up in it's place. I'll be looking up Rasputin's now. This is great news. How do they compare to Tower?
Diablo

Does anyone remember Leopold's, Reckless Records, Rough Trade in the Bay Area, or even Fresno's Record Factory that carried some good stuff thanks to the infamous Danny who was manager and buyer before he started his own Danny's Records, it was over priced for this area, but the prices were no different than say Vinyl Fetish in Hollywood, or Bleaker Bobs. I'm sure some of you could list more forgotten Record shops that were located around this state.

It's good to hear about Rasputin's, now all Fresno needs is a medium sized venue to host mildly popular bands for a affordable enter ticket price... it's been over 10 years since a Cadillac club or a Wilson theater sized venue hosted any shows. it's either too big (save mart, selland) or to small (starline, club Fred, crossroads, etc..) and the Rainbow, William and Tower Theater just does not do enough rock music shows, too bad Fresno does not have it's own 'House of Blues'.

I was getting schlepped along the Haight yesterday evening (first time, I was impressed... San Francisco is a beautiful town,)
-And we went to Amoeba.. (quite the place, actually.)

And the friend who was introducing the place to me, was also talking about Rasputin taking over the old tower.
-Strangely enough, one of the fella's who works the door at Amoeba is an old Tower Guy from back in NYC.

Talking with the door guy about Tower's back East, and Tower here really cemented the differences between the towers I'd hit (be they on 14th street, or further uptown, or in Jersey or in outlying areas like Nanuet
---the selection was huge, the prices were good and when you went there to buy something, the staff not only knew their tunes, their movies, and their books and mags, ---but they had folks who were very up on whatever genre you wanted...

-So the guys who looked like they had been rolling in a tacklebox all afternoon who could find you themost remote NIN and blackmetal stuff were on good terms with the guy who still had dust on him and could find you better copies of Ella or Lionel Hampton, ---and both of those guys were cool with the classical and goat-roping folks...
--It was a good team of people who were into what they were into, and were great at turning you onto new stuff, -or help you find what you needed. (Like good librarians.)

-Unlike one of the the above post'rs who is no doubt from the '...swim with the sharks or die, PS: don't forget to shave first and get a nick or two...' school of hospitality,,, ---the staffs I dealt with back east were very helpful and friendly,

---and stuff was bought... lotsa stuff.

From what I hear, Rasputins is of that mindset.

This may be way cool.... (now if Tower, with their 'now up to 60 to 70 percent off,' ---still being more expensive than half the stuff I find in Borders... yeeeks,)
could drop their prices, and exit quietly and well loved,
-we could be in for a new era of killer tunage surrounded by autodealers on Blackstone...

....an, ya know? there's a lot of dope smokin' going on in the Haight/Ashbury section... (not quite sure why...)
-what a long strange trip it's been, indeed.

Maybe it'll actually turn into a nice store.

-s

Great News!!! Bay Area Based Rasputin's Music has bought the leases on Tower's Fresno and Stockton locations!!!

It's not anyone's fault but your own. Know your shit before you go look for it. I never walk into a store with my head up my ass and expect others to do my homework for me. So, they didn't have the info you wanted because they couldn't read your mind, tough fucking shit.

clearly recall seeing SparkleJet and Nino Moschella CD's for sale at Borders, (and they weren't from the back of a Nova in the parking lot, either.)

I'm more bummed out about the towers closing back east,,, again, the Tri-State stores were amazing and the staff knew their stuff.

Fresno Tower?
True Story:

Good:
-I was walking around one night, and hearing this incredible CD playing, hit the front desk, and the girl who threw it on identified it with this huge grin, 'Cyndi Lauper: (recent renditions of her earlier stuff, mostly accoustic.'
---It was not on heavy rotation anywhere, but this kid knew she had good stuff to sell, so she had it on... (niiiice, she was probably not even a gleam in her daddy's eye when Cyndi was huge and I was in ArtSchool.) I would have snagged it, but the price was a bit hefty, (still am going to get it.)

Bad:
another time:
I walk into Tower on Blackstone, like, dying to find a copy of the Soundtrack for 'Nacho Libre,' Not quite getting the title of the film right, but I was pretty close...

-The movie was coming out in, like two days, but the trailers were playing in all of the cinema's for months and months.

-I'm totally Jonesing, (no pun intended,) for a Beck Song that I've heard during the trailer. I was WILLING to pay the store price of like, (what twenty something dollars?) for the CD, if they had it...

-NOBODY on staff knew the name of the movie, (I was like: '...You Know, the New Jack Black Film....' (blank stares, like I was reciting Martian Poetry or something,)

-Finally, the guy who is loading up the posters (outside vendor,) after, like 4 different people are asked, says 'NACHO LIBRE.'
-I coulda kissed him. (well, you know, not really, but still.)

-Then they could find no release information on the Soundtrack.

Finally, I'm thinking, Okay:
I'll just find it on a Beck CD.
-Nobody knew how to do that either...

I totally would have understood if I was asking to find some obscure Swedish thing, but nobody having a clue about a Jack Black Film? (nor how to look it up?)

I almost bought a Tupac Door Sized poster off the vendor, just to thank the guy...
-then he realized I was an upstate NY hillbilly, and probably would have caused some sort of matter/anti-matter clash of tastes and screwed the feng-schwing of the town up and set off the San Andreas,,,
so we just shook hands instead.

Ain' never been back.

yeah, any criticism of Tower Fresno has to be weighed by the fact that the crumble has been happening for a few years now.----Tower's big SCHTICK was that they had 'deep catalogue'----you'd go in there and they'd have EVERY (well, that was the idea) album by your fave artist. As an article in the Bee pointed out, before them, it was your local drugstore[---in fact, didn't the first Tower in Sac grow OUT of a drug store? like Tower Drugs or something]---
but the last few years had seen a general streamlining....less Classical and other deepness etc.

And for Local Music---dang, the last few years has actually been as nice as I can remember it---a listening station, a top ten---I know Kat Jones (ex of Fresno) was responsible for at least some of these upgrades. So where's a local band to GO these days for a 'brick and mortar' store to hawk their goods?

and in response to Mr. Radka's Ghost, Walmart? how about Best Buy...that place is surely one of Dante's levels of Hell.

sad but true.. service nowhere near what it was in 80's Fresno. No more road trips to the big ones in LA & SF. Now it's BooBoo in SLO and Spinner's for anything like the old feeling. ..

Extremely high prices for digital music, and a staff who couldn't seem to order ANY requests, or anything current in my musical genre. I think I've bought MAYBE 4 albums there in the past 15 years. Can't say I'll miss it...

-s

Enjoy your trips to Wal*Mart!

I'm sorry to see Tower dive.

I'm used to the ones in Jersey, NY, and Manhattan, and they're massive in terms of selection and presentation, (Nothing beats their Jazz and Classical departments... whole floors of stuff.... (yah baby.)
(one Christmas, I was so busy, I did all my shopping in the Nanuet Tower, because they were open until, like 2am or something... (not too shabby...)
(I think it's the one on 14th street near Wash. Square Park that always has live shows, (like Duran Duran, etc.) for free. -Very impressive.

I've not shopped at Tower here in Fresburg all that much because their prices were a bit steeper, the selection was not doing so well, and the staff were sort of, (how do I say this,) clueless.

I usually know what I'm looking for when I head in for tunes, anyway, and
-I've been getting some great finds over at Warehouse in Clovis, (where you can rummage around through boxes and 'this just in,' bins and come up with some great stuff at killer prices, -(their 'used,' is good.)
-And Borders, (surprisingly,) has been doing some nice work for me in getting stuff that even has been considered out of print, the orders come in on time, the prices aren't bad, and you get cred. built towards Christmas shopping.

-(These ain't tower, but they're not so bad, either.)

Knew I should have gotten the bobblehead 'Buddy Christ,' when I had the chance... durn.

yeah, i'd heard a few years back that they were tanking, but they carried on. and then there was a bit on npr the other day about them tanking...but some hopeful bit....like the bit in the billboard article link posted above, about some chance of carrying on, but my son and i were driving on blackstone and the folks who carry those ad signs with 'going out of business sale' oh man....sad.
I could go on and on about what a destination "Tower Records" has been in my life. Mostly we're talking about the one over by what was the KMart shopping center, but now should be known as the Whitie's Pet Store shopping center, but even in recent years in it's 'near bullard' location.
I would ride up barstow from Hoover high on my bike after school if I happened to have $4.25 in my pocket for the 'new release' price of a record.
geez, i don't know where to start.
Searching through the imports for some word from abroad about the crazy powerful bands happening across the pond.
Looking at the boxes of records laying on the floor for cool new releases.
Kicking myself for not buying that 'cut-out' copy of the Great Lost Kinks Album or those autograph copies of the first Robert Fripp solo album.
and in later years combing the 'nice price' lps to fill in the gaps of my collection.
and ALWAYS running into a friend.
This was a premier meeting place for Music Freaks. Most definately.
Most definately.
[deep breath]
In recent years my music purchases have been divided between Tower Fresno and out-of-town fun places like various shops of Amoeba,
Rasputins, shoot, and in my grief I can't remember the name of the cool store in S.L.O.--but now Amazon has joined the fray, and maybe that was part of the wooden stake through their heart....
but for the BEST KNOWN record store in the world.....and from The CENTRAL VALLEY no less....ah....it's a bit of me gone.
And all my relatives who knew a Tower Gift Certificate was the PERFECT Christmas gift, will probably just give me fruit cakes now.
[sigh]

it will be a sad sad sad day for the city of fresno, my friends, when our venerable tower records closes its doors.

*sniff*