Movie: All Things Must Pass - The Rise and Fall of Tower Records

Over on my music board somebody posted a link to this new documentary by Colin Hanks, Tom's son.  I hadn't heard about it before.

Just watched it on PPV.  Tower's rise was fueled by youth and enthusiasm and freedom to do whatever crazy things the store managers wanted to do.  Managers were promoted from within, and everybody had a stake in the success.

And successful they were.  In fact, too successful -- rapid expansion, especially into Latin America and Japan, stretched their debt and when the economy began hiccuping in the late '80s the interest payments became burdensome.  Add to that the rise of downloading, Napster, iTunes, the high price of CDs (when they're considerably cheaper to manufacture than LPs), and the future was set.

The banks brought in new managers who knew nothing about music or music culture, killing off the goose that laid the golden egg.  The new executive committee awarded themselves huge bonuses and liquidated the company.

Meanwhile, 85 non-corporate owned stores in Japan continue to thrive.

Great documentary.  Almost every principal is interviewed, and most end up in tears.

As did I.

Just watched the Netflix(!) documentary, "The Last Blockbuster."  It's about the rise and fall of Blockbuster Video, from 9500 stores down to one, in Bend Oregon.  Apparently it's still there.  As of now.

Very similar to "The Last Tower Records," very similar stories, same nostalgia, same stupid management.  Carl Icahn drove Blockbuster into the ground by putting them in huge debt, and when the debt crisis hit in 2008 there was no way to recover.

Makes me nostalgic too.

Although, I wouldn't trade my instant access to every album and movie ....