By Louie Ferrera

On a typical day at Tower Records there was sex, there were drugs and there was most definitely rock and roll. Rock stars and movie stars were regular customers, members of the San Francisco Giants and 49ers could be spied browsing the racks. Famous bands would make in store appearances to promote their latest records. There was coke, weed and everything in between. You never knew which couple you’d stumble upon grunting and groaning in one of the many hidden nooks in the backroom. I was 22, on my own for the first time, living the California dream and working at the best job I ever had.

Being from New Jersey, I had never heard of Tower Records. When I arrived on the West coast in 1979 Tower had yet to expand nationwide and only had stores in California. My college friend Kenny and I washed up in the Bay Area fresh from a two week cross country odyssey, decided to stick around and needed to find jobs. Someone told us to head over to Tower so we did. We walked into the store one at a time and walked out with jobs. I actually had a resume and handed it to the gruff, bear like manager. I think it was all he could do to keep from laughing in my face and throwing me out of the store. He must have been in a good mood that day because I got hired. I still remember my “interview”:

Me: “I’m looking for a job.”

Manager: “Ever work in a record store?”

Me: “No, but I know a lot about music.”

Manager: “It’s minimum wage, lots of nights.”

Me: “I don’t care, I need a job.”

Manager: “Come in on Monday.”

On our first day of work we received our “training” from flamboyant Assistant Manager Randall. This guys wasn’t much older than Kenny and me, maybe in his late 20’s. and unabashedly, openly gay. In New Jersey most gays were deep in the closet so to meet someone so open and unapologetic was a revelation. While showing us around the store, Randall treated us with thinly veiled contempt, telling us that if we wanted to do drugs, to do so “across the street.” Thankfully, the days of drug tests and zero tolerance were still a few years away. If random drug tests were even conducted at Tower back then, virtually every employee would fail, including the managers, especially the managers! 

There was a lot of drug use at Tower. Most of us were between the ages of 17 and 25 and into experimentation. Pretty much any substance you wanted was available. This was the cocaine era, so there was always lots of that going around.  Since I was making minimum wage and barely getting by, I rarely bought it, hoping instead to occasionally get my nose packed for free. One guy almost aways had an ounce or two of mushrooms in his locker. Up until my Tower days I had only smoked low grade Mexican marijuana, since that was the only type available on the East coast. I soon became acquainted with a fellow employee named Travis, an ultra-mellow dude who grew his own weed. He never sold it, just got his friends high. I quickly discovered the many virtues of California marijuana. “Trav weed” became the stuff of legend at our store.

Tower was the greatest record store in history. They were a deep catalogue store, meaning they carried every title that an artist had in print. If it was an official release, Tower had it. They were open 9am-midnight, 365 days a year so if you were a music junkie you could alway get your fix. Kenny and I had no idea what we were getting into and had no idea how totally cool Tower was. When you told someone you worked at Tower Records you were treated kind of like a rock star. At work we’d sometimes even cop rock star attitudes, treating the customers with smug indifference while at the same time availing them of our musical expertise. One day a customer complained to Randall about the music he was playing. His response? “If you don’t like it, go to Sears!” During your eight hour shift you’d be responsible for a two hour stint running the front register. You could play whatever music you liked at basically any volume you liked. You  ran the show and set the tone for the store during that time. On nights when customers were lingering too close to closing time we’d play some late period atonal John Coltrane or Hendrix at ear splitting volume in order to flush them towards the exit. It almost always worked. Tower was THE place to go, everyone knew it. If you wanted to shop there, you played by our rules.

One of the best aspects of Tower was the people who worked there. Yes we definitely could cop an attitude now and then but we were also extremely knowledge about music. On any given day there was always someone on hand who could help a customer find a record or answer a musical question. We worked there because of our passion for music, not for the $3.10 per hour. Of course there were other perks; the promotional copies of records and free concert tickets helped to supplement the minimum wage. Tower employees were better than Spotify or Pandora will ever be, we were human beings who lived and breathed music, not a  algorithm.

Tower Records existed in an analogue world, albums and tapes that’s what we sold. If you wanted to hear new music or were curious about a band you had seen live or heard on the radio, you’d most likely find their music at Tower. You had to get off of your ass, drive to the store and interact with an actual person. A human connection would be made, especially if you and that employee had a mutual affinity for that artist. Music wasn’t available at the touch of a screen, it took some effort on your part, you had to earn it. One night Kenny and I rushed to the store right before they closed because we absolutely had to hear Stop Your Sobbing by The Kinks. Of course Tower had it. When a much anticipated new album by a popular artist dropped at Tower, people would be waiting outside before we opened. They’d gleefully snatch up their copy, holding it in their hands like a treasure.

Simply stated, Tower Records was about the power of music and the joy that it brings to people. I’m grateful to have played a small part in that. My time at Tower was a watershed event and served as a springboard to the rest of my life. It was without a doubt the best job I ever had.