On Friday, August 9th, Charles R. Cross passed away from natural causes. For those who knew Charley in the Pacific Northwest music community, the Springsteen community and in real life, it was a shock. Charley was only 67 years old and was in t...

When Greg Wallis was hired at Tower Tacoma by Dave Coker, Greg had never heard of Tower Records. It was simply the big, new record store to move into his town. When Coker left to open and run the Seattle U District store, Rob Bruce came up from...

Melissa Greene-Anderson grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Since high school she was a part of her family’s music business; Gotham Distribution, Collectables Records, and the direct-to-consumer website Oldies.co...

“Son, never trust us lawyers because we’re going to fuck you every time.” In 1991, how did Freddi Szilagi find himself face to face, hand-delivering a $10,000 check to Edwin Edwards at the Hotel Monteleone? In short, beca...

Just a quick check in with everybody on this hot & beautiful 4th of July week. Find out about some upcoming events and episodes, including an "Ask Me Anything" episode where you can ask any question about the Tower Records Podcast by sendin...

When Kat Gavin was born, her mother was only 18 years old. And as a result, Kat’s crib was right next to the stereo. So to say Kat grew up “with music” would be an understatement. After a stint working record retail in th...

“A month before my 12th birthday, I turned on the TV on a Sunday night and there were these guys calling themselves The Beatles…And after that, everything was different for people of my age. After that, music was our art form.”

Richard Leibowitz grew up in the Hudson Valley of New York to a father who listened to pre-1960s jazz and a mother who was more into folk music. Neither held much sway for young Richard, so he set out on his own and like a million other kids hi...

Serge Bielanko was one of the leading forces behind the Philadelphia-based rock & roll band Marah. Part Replacements, part Van Morrison, part Phil Spector, part Rod Stewart & The Faces, part Philly & Motown soul, for years they were...

Growing up in a small town 50 miles outside of Los Angeles, Denise McDonald has a very clear memory of getting her first library card at the age of five. For most of her life, Denise has been a dedicated bibliophile. In t...

“I remember standing on the sidewalk, talking to Rick [Briare] and telling him I was interested in going [to the new San Diego store] and he basically said ‘Well we don’t hire girls’. “Thus began Jennifer Birner’s journey, lea...

“ ‘There’s a place called Tower Records’ and the way that he described it, it was a supermarket of music! It’s got two stories. I was like, wow…I’ve gotta go there!” Not only did Pete Pataro *go* there, he had a 15-year career - starting in tha...

Kevin Winnick was working in Washington DC for a small chain of pop culture/entertainment-themed stores called Another Universe when he got a call from a headhunter saying a large company was looking to hire someone who could identify trends an...

Megan Jasper grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts an industrial town, just an hour outside of Boston. Megan remembers it as a tough place to grow up. As a young girl, her family would travel to Boston and she and her sister would hit Newbury Com...

“He [George Scarlett] said that someone had suggested me for the position [Administrative Assistant] because I looked so intense when I worked. I don’t know what that really means. I guess it’s a good thing” And thus, ano...

While Chris Hopson was putting together Tower Records’ in-house advertising agency, in a parallel universe, or at least somewhere else in California, Steve Nikkel was doing the same for a small independent chain of record stores called Eucalypt...

Joy Slusarek Proft spent 15 years working for Universal Music Distribution. Like many before her, she started as an FMR (Field Marketing Rep), and like few, she ended up as the Vice President of Sales located in Los Angeles. 

Matt Lavelle used to listen to music with his grandfather. No talking. No commentary. At a very young age, Matt simply observed how the music moved his grandfather and it had quite an impression on him. As he got older, a...

Fuzzy Swing never worked for Tower Records, but he worked at Tower Records in San Francisco as an inventory rep and sales associate on behalf of RCA. In addition to Tower, he had several mom & pop independent stores in the Bay Area. In late...

On Friday February 16th, Kevin Cassidy passed away. We are rerunning our episode from September of 2022 featuring Kevin, along with a short introduction. Once we receive information about a Memorial Service for Kevin, ...

Long before she became the face and voice of NPR Music, Ann Powers was just a Catholic school girl and new wave music fan who in 1979 was guided on a musical journey by Chris, an influential Tower Mercer Street clerk. Chris regularly assisted a...

“I remember thinking, if the light turns red, I’m turning in the parking lot and I’m going to do a bagcheck. If it’s green I’m going to sail on through and I’m going home. And sure as heck, it was red and I turned in [to the lot] and I’m going ...

MTSNot the company, the man. Michael T Solomon sits down with “2500 DelMonte Street” to discuss it all;  his time with Russ & Doris, Tower Records, Bud Martin, Sunday school with Stan Goman, cha...

Darrin Roberts grew up in Southern California with a “Kevin Arnold-Wonder Years” type upbringing. After a neighbor suggested his mother take her 3 year old to a recently released “war movie”, he became obsessed with all things cinema. ...

“I knew quite a bit about [Tower]. I knew Sunset was the mecca. So I just popped in one day and that’s how it all started” says this week’s guest Marty Bender Sobolweski. From his earliest memory of his grandmother pulling out a record player t...