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: Artists were in California and in Los Angeles, would go into Tower Records to find out where their records were and if there was a pile of Elton John and there wasn't a pile of the Eagles, the Eagles weren't happy or vice versa.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Dakota Johnson/Colin Hanks/UB40 (2017)

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Soundtracks

On the West
Written and Performed by Tommy Guerrero
Courtesy of Galaxia

User Reviews

What should a documentary be?

1. Entertaining, as it seems we do everything either for our entertainment

or we do something to get something we can trade for entertainment,

Like money or free time. 2. Informative, so we can come away thinking about something. 3. Well crafted, so the flow is not broken by subtext's material that

may apply to a character, but not relevant to the subject.

This documentary is very entertaining, and is a wonderful window into history, albeit a small one. It is human, and very honest. During the time of Tower, the world had space for crazy, human, amazing stuff. The documentary illustrates this very well. Right time, right place, right guy, right idea. It was about freedom then, doing your own thing, being and loving what you do, and the film displays this very well. RUSS SOLOMAN VS. STEVE JOBS...now there is food for thought, although the food might come in a paper sack. We want entertainment, and we are getting it in spades. Was tower depicted as a phenomenon of the times it flourished? Sure, and what evolved from that, and all those young people who had the power of Tower? Whoops.