All Things Must Pass (2015)

ALL THINGS MUST PASS: THE RISE AND FALL 
OF TOWER RECORDS  (2015)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Colin Hanks
There used to be a Tower Records store on the Ave in Seattle. I've still got most of the music I bought there, cassettes and CDs and vinyl albums. I've even got a few of the bright yellow plastic bags I brought the music home in. This documentary tells the story of Tower and its irrepressible founder, Russ Solomon, who started out selling used 45s out of his dad's Sacramento drug store, created a billion-dollar empire based on a sense of fun and a love of music, and saw it all crash around the turn of the millennium when downloading changed the landscape forever. It was a great ride while it lasted, 40 years that defined what was arguably recorded music's golden age. The witnesses here include Dave Grohl, Bruce Springsteen and Elton John, who claims he spent more money at Tower Records than anybody else in history (and he's probably right). Another thing about that Tower Records on the Ave. That was where you bought your Grateful Dead tickets when the Dead came to town. You'd get there real early on the day they went on sale, wait for hours in a line that went down the street and around the block, and you'd buy your tickets in person right there in the store. Then you'd browse through the record bins, and if something caught your eye that you felt like taking a chance on, you'd buy that, too, and take it home in one of those bright yellow plastic bags. Ancient history, as those things go. R.I.P. Tower Records. All Things Must Pass.