2500 DelMonte Street: The Oral History of Tower Records
Get the detailed story of the World's Greatest Record Store Chain, told by the people who worked and shopped in them.
2500 DelMonte Street: The Oral History of Tower Records
Ep. 103 Remembering John Fonvielle (Washington DC, Cherry Hill NJ & Paramus NJ)
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We just became aware of the recent passing of our old friend John Fonvielle. Please enjoy this repeat episode with one of the sharpest, funniest people I ever had the pleasure of working with at Tower Records.
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John Fonvielle grew up on the mean streets of North Carolina. Actually it wasn’t mean at all. It was idyllic. But then he moved to Washington DC in the mid 1980’s. Now those streets could be mean.
At a young age, looking up to his older brother - a world-renowned Beatles collector - John never listened to the radio much. He was obsessed with The Beatles' "Revolver" and The Band's "Music From Big Pink" when others listened to Top 40 radio. And though he was in the middle of North Carolina a lot of artists from the early 70’s played in or near where John lived.
When John moved to Washington DC to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, he had never heard of Tower Records. His cousin, a stockbroker, told him “On your way home, stop at Tower Records.” John couldn’t figure out why he was saying that at 11pm, but soon found out after visiting the store at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue.
On this week’s episode John and I discuss some of the characters that made that DC store so special. And while more than a dozen people who worked at the DC store claim to have been Dave Grohl’s boss, John, who was then the “Rock Floor Manager”, was actually the guy overseeing Dave and his small group of followers (yes, even in 1989). John left the DC store to pursue greater management opportunities in the New York/New Jersey markets. Making the opposite commute of living in NYC and working in Paramus NJ, John was privy to some very special concerts and industry events that he tells us about.
It was during John’s tenure running the Paramus NJ store that he dealt with a situation so incredibly bizarre you might not believe some of the things he had to endure.
Join us for a fascinating conversation about Tower Records in the 80s & 90’s.
