All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records (2015)

'All Things Must Pass' is a documentary that explores the rise and fall of Tower Records, and its legacy forged by its rebellious founder, Russ Solomon.

Director:

Colin Hanks

Writer:

Steven Leckart

Stars:

Russ Solomon, Chuck D, Chris Cornell

Cast

Credited cast:
Chuck D	...	Himself
Chris Cornell	...	Himself
Heidi Cotler	...	Herself
Rudy Danzinger	...	Himself
Bob Delanoy
Mike Farrace	...	Himself
David Geffen	...	Himself
Stan Goman	...	Himself
Dave Grohl
Chris Hopson	...	Himself
Elton John	...	Himself
Steve Knopper	...	Himself
Steve Nikkel	...	Himself
Ken Sockolov	...	Himself
Russ Solomon

Storyline

Established in 1960, Tower Records was once a retail powerhouse with two hundred stores, in thirty countries, on five continents. From humble beginnings in a small-town drugstore, Tower Records eventually became the heart and soul of the music world, and a powerful force in the music industry. In 1999, Tower Records made $1 billion. In 2006, the company filed for bankruptcy. What went wrong? Everyone thinks they know what killed Tower Records: The Internet. But that's not the story. "All Things Must Pass" is a feature documentary film examining this iconic company's explosive trajectory, tragic demise, and legacy forged by its rebellious founder Russ Solomon.

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Plot Keywords:

1960s | san francisco california | 1990s | 1980s | 1970s | 

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Taglines:

The doors are closed, but the legacy lives on.

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Genres:

Documentary | History | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Trailer

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

All Things Must Pass

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,001, 16 October 2015, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$166,872, 6 December 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Company Name

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

To promote the release of the film, the still empty building which once housed the Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood had its facade repainted to appear as it once had. This lead to rumors that the store may reopen, but in fact the building had been sold to Gibson Guitars in 2014 with the intention of opening a guitar showroom, while preserving the historic building itself. Not yet ready to open their showroom, Gibson worked with the documentary makers to repaint the building to display the Tower facade. The repaint was planned to be taken down after the premiere party was held inside the empty building, but remained up for over a year while Gibson continued to plan their new store.

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Goofs

In the closing credits the Japanese Translator, Kyoko Nishijima, is listed twice.

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Quotes

David Geffen, Himself: If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear flowers in your hair - it was like that, you know. You walked through the streets of San Francisco and there were people, you know, smoking pot and having little daisies in their hair and hanging out and the Fillmore was packed and, you know, it was a change. People were against the war and against segregation and there was a lot of political feeling in the world and a lot of it was centered in the change that was happening in San Francisco and ...

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Connections

Referenced in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Carol Burnett/Colin Hanks/Baio/Abe Laboriel Jr. (2015)

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Soundtracks

New San Antonio Rose
Written by Bob Wills
Performed by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
Courtesy of Columbia Records Nashville

User Reviews

Entrepreneurial Vision

They call it luck, but it takes a particular type of wisdom to be at the right place at the right time. Russ Solomon had this in spades, when he branched out from his entrepreneurial father to expand into records. This movie is a blueprint of how to start a great business. First of all, have the vision. Secondly, get great people, give them freedom and back them up. Sounds simple, but very few businesses actually do this. In the movie, various key employees are interviewed and they all basically tell the same story. That is that they were given a chance to prove themselves and they rose to the challenge. Russ also realized that he could tap into the collective wisdom of all his employees and this he also did, especially with advertising and the Tower Records publication Pulse! It is refreshing to see the 60s again, the hope and the freedom. Russ also realized that he was not a financial type, so he hired an excellent money manager in Bud Martin. The demise of tower records was quite sad, but technology replaces one thing with another, so it was a tremendous ride.