2500 DelMonte Street: The Oral History of Tower Records

Megan Jasper grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts an industrial town, just an hour outside of Boston. Megan remembers it as a tough place to grow up. As a young girl, her family would travel to Boston and she and her sister would hit Newbury Comics when there was only one store. As a teen, she traveled to Boston for punk rock shows. Attending UMass, she was friends with J Mascis, a fellow student. When Dinosaur Jr toured Massachusetts in the early days Megan served as a roadie for the band. During a 1989 tour, they stopped in Seattle and that’s when she decided she wanted to make it her home. After landing in Seattle, she made her way to the Sub Pop offices. Megan started as a receptionist there, when the label was a tiny operation, constantly teetering on the brink of financial disaster. She took a job with Caroline Distribution and called all the Tower Records stores in the Pacific Northwest. When Nirvana led the music explosion of the early 90’s, the New York Times came calling to do a feature on the music culture of Seattle. Interviewing Jonathan Poneman, he referred the Times to Megan, now working for Caroline Records. The Times was looking for slang expressions Seattle kids used around the city. Megan made up a series of “grunge terms” she didn’t think the Times would believe were real. They did, they didn’t fact check and they ran it as a “Lexicon of Grunge”. After a time working for ADA Distribution, Megan went back to Sub Pop in a variety of roles (Marketing & Distribution) and worked her way up to the role of CEO where she resides today. Bright, quick, smart, and funny, you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sub Pop’s Megan Jasper.

“He [George Scarlett] said that someone had suggested me for the position [Administrative Assistant] because I looked so intense when I worked. I don’t know what that really means. I guess it’s a good thing” And thus, another Tower career was born. Renee Tyler spent 12 years working as George Scarlett’s Administrative Assistant in Record Division. When she came to work at Tower’s corporate office Renee didn’t know what Tower Records was about. Like many before her Renee started in Sales Audit. She eventually moved to billing in the Advertising Department. It was working in the Record Division with George and all the women (Sunita, Karen, Wendy) that the Tower world opened up for Renee. In this week’s episode, Renee tells us about working for a mover and shaker like George Scarlett, her musical evolution, fun times at Tower’s Annual Conference, large cardboard cutouts of Canadian men, leaving her position working for George, and a whole lot more.

While Chris Hopson was putting together Tower Records’ in-house advertising agency, in a parallel universe, or at least somewhere else in California, Steve Nikkel was doing the same for a small independent chain of record stores called Eucalyptus Records, based out of Fairfield, California. When an opening became available, due to Mike Farrace starting up PULSE! Magazine and Terri Ball heading to New York City, Jim Swindel set up an interview between Nikkel and Hopson and Steve became a Tower-lifer. Join us this week as we walk through Steve Nikkel’s Tower career, his appearance in the Tower Documentary “All Things Must Pass”, his attending some truly historic concerts, and the task of managing the Tower Advertising Department.

Joy Slusarek Proft spent 15 years working for Universal Music Distribution. Like many before her, she started as an FMR (Field Marketing Rep), and like few, she ended up as the Vice President of Sales located in Los Angeles. While calling on stores in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska, Joy found herself with a new band called Weezer in her car, taking them to visit mid-west indie accounts. In true 90’s fashion, Joy ended the day by taking Weezer to see “Pulp Fiction” shortly after it opened. From 1996-2001, Joy was a Sales Rep in Philadelphia calling on Tower Records, The Wall, HMV and National Record Mart in Pittsburgh. After finishing her career with Universal calling on Circuit City in Richmond VA and as Vice President of Sales in Los Angeles, Joy headed for a quiet part of the country in the great state of Vermont. There she found herself back at WEQX radio, where she had spent some time previously. Joy currently has the mid-day slot at WEQX and enjoys turning her audience on to new music, as well as hosting the Retro Lunch, spinning “alternative oldies” each weekday between 12noon - 12:30pm. Spend an hour with a woman who lives and breathes music.

Matt Lavelle used to listen to music with his grandfather. No talking. No commentary. At a very young age, Matt simply observed how the music moved his grandfather and it had quite an impression on him. As he got older, after making regular visits to the Jazz Department at Tower 4th & Broadway, Matt took a job in Nanuet under Store Manager Bill Duffy. Years later Matt moved into the city and worked at Tower Lincoln Center eventually working up to the position of Head of Receiving, but his heart was always in the Jazz Department. Eventually, Matt was both the Jazz Buyer and Floor Manager of the largest Tower Records location in the US. Working with a cast of characters to rival modern-day comedy, Matt had his work cut out for him. Throw in a declining CD customer, filing for bankruptcy and the changing music retail landscape and Matt had to be resourceful. He put together a weekly live Jazz series in his jazz room, drawing customers into the store. These days Matt lives in the 6th borough (Philadelphia) and is an active musician with his project The 12 Houses. Join us for a conversation about Matt LaVelle’s time at Tower Records.

Fuzzy Swing never worked for Tower Records, but he worked at Tower Records in San Francisco as an inventory rep and sales associate on behalf of RCA. In addition to Tower, he had several mom & pop independent stores in the Bay Area. In later years Fuzzy was promoted to sales covering the Sacramento area stores Tower Broadway, Tower Citrus Heights, Tower K Street, Tower Stockton, Tower Chico, and Tower Fresno as well as calling on Tower International and working with the team at Corporate. Fuzzy eventually moved over to CEMA, later EMD holding the position of Regional Director where he came into contact with many more Tower stores nationally. Not bad for a guy who started his retail career in North Carolina in 1970, working for several indie record stores, focusing as a singles buyer, and managing the rock and roll band Frog Level. On this week’s episode, Fuzzy walks us through all of this and more. We talk about his visits to Tower Annual Conferences, the annual Halloween parties CEMA threw at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, Fuzzy’s interactions with Russ Solomon and his famous nephew Adam Lambert of American Idol and Queen fame. And as we mentioned at the top, though Fuzzy never worked at Tower, he ended up marrying Tower...he'll explain it all to you in this episode.

On Friday February 16th, Kevin Cassidy passed away. We are rerunning our episode from September of 2022 featuring Kevin, along with a short introduction. Once we receive information about a Memorial Service for Kevin, we will post it on the "2500 DelMonte Street" Instagram and Facebook pages.

Long before she became the face and voice of NPR Music, Ann Powers was just a Catholic school girl and new wave music fan who in 1979 was guided on a musical journey by Chris, an influential Tower Mercer Street clerk. Chris regularly assisted and turned Ann on to some great groups and albums at Tower Seattle's landmark location. On today’s episode Ann tells us about her roots in writing about music and culture, the amazing local Seattle scene of the late 70’s and early 80’s, Catholic folk masses featuring little known Elton John songs, the joy of being a Beatles fan in the early 1970’s, why straight up indie stores like the iconic Celophane Square initially scared Ann, perusing the Tower racks for British music magazines, getting a job at the Columbus and Bay Tower Records store in San Francisco while attending college in the mid 1980’s and how her writing career took off while in San Francisco. In addition to working for NPR Music, Ann writes about music and culture for the Los Angeles Times. Previously Ann wrote for Seattle’s The Rocket, The New York Times, Blender Magazine and The Village Voice. Ann has authored five books. Her last one was “Good Booty: Love & Sex, Black & White, Body & Soul in American Music”. On June 11th her new book “Travelling: On The Path of Joni Mitchell” will be released. Join us for a fun, informative conversation with Ann Powers.

“I remember thinking, if the light turns red, I’m turning in the parking lot and I’m going to do a bagcheck. If it’s green I’m going to sail on through and I’m going home. And sure as heck, it was red and I turned in [to the lot] and I’m going to do the bag check” It’s in moments like these that you make your mark. Only five days earlier, Carl was sitting in Bud Martin’s office listening to him go on about the financial bleeding of the Tower Outlet store and the need to find out what was going on internally. As a result of that bag check and the recovery that took place, Carl made an immediate impression upon Bud and the members of the Sac Loss Prevention team. Carl went on to be Loss Prevention Manager in Hawaii. But paradise isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Island fever took hold and Carl made his way back to Sacramento as Loss Prevention Manager. He ultimately became Regional Loss Prevention Manager and Territorial Loss Prevention Manager. Carl tells us abou this time at Tower, his first encounter with Regional Manager Randy Mendonsa, working with Matthew Koenig & Wayne Ennes, meetings with Bud Martin asking for more resources and then trying to hold onto the resources he already had, helping to plan and coordinate Tower Marathons and Metallica In Stores and a whole lot more.

MTS Not the company, the man. Michael T Solomon sits down with “2500 DelMonte Street” to discuss it all; his time with Russ & Doris, Tower Records, Bud Martin, Sunday school with Stan Goman, chauffeuring The Rolling Stones around town before their show in Sacramento, starting out at the Tower Drug Store, working at Watt Ave, Columbus & Bay and Berkeley, working as Tower legal counsel, presentations at the Tower Annual Conference, taking on the CEO position, scouting locations in Russia, South America, Canada, the end at Tower and the legacy as portrayed in “2500 DelMonte Street” documentary. It’s all here, this week on “2500 DelMonte Street: The Oral History of Tower Records”

Darrin Roberts grew up in Southern California with a “Kevin Arnold-Wonder Years” type upbringing. After a neighbor suggested his mother take her 3 year old to a recently released “war movie”, he became obsessed with all things cinema. After getting his degree at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts he began working on a series of music film projects as both a camera operator and a film editor. In May of 2014 an Oscar winning producer suggested he meet with Colin Hanks and Sean Stuart regarding a documentary about the rise and fall of Tower Records, a film the two had spent several years making. As a customer of the El Toro Tower Records, it was a dream job. On today’s episode Darrin walks us through much of his process working on “All Things Must Pass” and gives us some insights as to what made the film, what didn’t make it and why, the relationship between a film editor and a director, how much film and audio he waded through to cut the “Tower Doc” down to a tight, cohesive 95 minute film, the aftermath and the opportunities presented to him since completing that project. We also spend a nice chunk of time talking about Darrin’s latest project “Thriller 40”, a documentary he edited with famed music critic Nelson George directing. “Thriller 40” sheds all of Michael Jackson’s personal baggage (hard to do) and focuses on the early to mid-80’s when Michael and Quincy Jones were at the top of their creative powers. An interesting through line to the film is the Grammy Awards virtual snub of “Off The Wall” and how it drove Michael Jackson to create “Thriller”. Like “All Things Must Pass”, “Thriller 40” is a tight 90 minute story that tells a fascinating behind the scenes story of a cultural zeitgeist, the likes of which we may never see again.

“I knew quite a bit about [Tower]. I knew Sunset was the mecca. So I just popped in one day and that’s how it all started” says this week’s guest Marty Bender Sobolweski. From his earliest memory of his grandmother pulling out a record player to his mother coming home from her temp job at Capitol Records in Cleveland with a box of free records, Marty has been a life long music fanatic. An early record store job at Ohio’s Audio Buff Records (which sold a lot more than its narrow exterior suggested) to becoming the Midwest Promotions and Marketing Director for Peaches Records, prepared Marty for the bright lights of Hollywood. But nothing could prepare him for a constantly crowded store featuring the likes of Andy Kaufman, John Belushi, Robin Williams and a very inebriated Tom Waits wanting to shop after closing time. Covering charts reporting for a vacationing employee led to Marty being hired by Cashbox Magazine, Billboard Magazine’s prime compeition. Marty takes us through the process of putting together a chart with detailed chart information (see our Instagram account), how albums gained or lost a bullet and what led to so many pages of ad buys in a music magazine. From there Marty set out to the world of radio, working simultaneously at KROQ and KNAC before moving back to the Midwest as on-air talent, Music Director and Program Director for a number of stations. It was in Cleveland that Marty tells us he conceived of the “Classic Rock” format of radio and all that followed. Join us for a wide ranging conversation about music, record stores, music mags and radio with our guest Mary Bender Sololweski.

Our guest this week, Cathi Ronnenburg, remembers being on the phone with the Manager of a neighboring location when men in black suits swarmed her store. No, it wasn’t a Tower Records she was running at the time, but being busted by the FBI for the bootleg albums she and her company were selling is a pretty exciting start to record retail and Cathi’s professional story in general. Cathi followed that up working for Strawberries, owned by the infamous Morris Levy and run for a short time by the now departed Jose Menendez. Cathi said Tower felt like home when she got there and after the shenanigans of her previous workplaces, Tower must have felt like a walk in the park. Ronnenburg started at Tower Records Cherry Hill NJ after moving to the area for a personal relationship. When the opportunity arose she became Head of Receiving for Ted Putman, who often took her to label lunches so Cathi could both eat and pay her rent each month. Besides her career with Tower, Cathi tells us some incredible stories about following bands on the road using AAA’s trip ticks (remember those) and what happens when you end up having breakfast with one of your musical heroes on the road. Join us for a wide ranging interview that you’ll be sure to enjoy!

Not many people are “One Degree of Separation” from Kevin Bacon, but this week’s guest, Jason Sumney is. Growing up in Pittsburgh, PA, the son of a rabid record collector, Jason started his retail music career while in HIgh School at National Record Mart, a locally based, national chain that at its peak had 175 stores in 30 states. Knowing all of the latest releases and the camaraderie he felt with his fellow employees made working in a record store the perfect job for Jason. It was after meeting someone who loved Prince’s “Lovesexy” album as much as he did, that Jason made the move to Manhattan. Hired by Tim Devin, Jason got a job at the Tower Records at 4th and Broadway, which set off a ten year stint with Tower, all in Manhattan. Throughout our conversation Jason talks about many of the well known New York Tower folks; Steve Harman, Hedi Kim, Ryan Bland, Suzanne Barnett, Mark Yarabino, Arnie Lewis and many, many others. After working in the store for a spell, Jason moved into the unique position of 4th & Broadway’s Payroll and Human Resources clerk, making sure hundreds got paid correctly every other week and assisting the managment team with the myriad of Human Resource issues that would arise. A stint in Steve Harman’s Regional Office, followed by time working at Tower Lincoln Center took place before settling back in the Regional Office again with Tim Devin. Jason tells us about his happy, jovial Robert Smith encounter, an invite only Madonna performance, Joan Osbourne in “writing mode”, helping Shock G of Digital Underground (Humpty Hump) find records, staring at Paul Simon going down an escalator and mailing director John Waters his lost credit card to an address in Baltimore, Maryland. Join us for a wonderful episode about Tower life in the 90’s and beyond.

Rob Chapman likes The Rolling Stones. Wait…check that. Rob Chapman loooooves The Rolling Stones. Not only that, but he regularly corresponds with a couple of the guys in the band. Several years ago Rob wrote a book about a very interesting period in the band’s history, Ron Wood and Keith Richards’ side project The New Barbarians. Rob went deep on this project and the result is the book “New Barbarians: Outlaws, Gunslingers and Guitars”. So what does this have to do with Tower Records, you’re asking? It just so happens that Rob Chapman called on many of the Sacramento and South Bay area stores as a rep for Navarre and then MCA Records from 1993-1997. Rob quickly learned to pop into Sacramento’s main office to get to know the players there and to make himself known to the people who can help rally support behind a project. This week’s episode covers alot of the daily goings on of working the Sacramento market, the feeling of coming into Sacramento as an outsider, being taken in by Watt Avenue’s Mike Jerrick only to experience his passing away as Rob was leaving the area and the many trials and tribulations of being a Sales Rep calling on the Tower accounts. Rob also takes behind us behind the scenes and into the world of Ron Wood and Keith Richards while he worked on his New Barbarians book. We discuss actual riots in the midwest when suggested “friends” like Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger didn’t show up to play with Ron & Keith. The book comes with a live CD of New Barbarians performances from the 70’s. Rob explains why some songs made the cut and others didn’t. We loved talking to Rob and think that you’ll enjoy this episode immensely.

Bob worked for Tower Records 18.5 years. Washington DC, Seattle, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia and Lincoln Center NYC. He loved working for Tower so much, he made a podcast about it. After multiple requests, he’s being interviewed for his story today. Our guest host/interviewer needs no introduction; that’s why we’re not going to tell you who it is unless you listen. In keeping with previous, lengthy Thanksgiving week episodes, today’s podcast is as long as the Taylor Swift movie, with just as many costume changes and half the entertainment value. We still hope you listen.

“The goal was to work at a record store and then everybody eventually wanted to work for a label. I envied the label guys and then I went and married one.” If the name Betsy Altomare sounds a bit familiar, there’s a reason for that. Back on episode number 33 we interviewed her husband Keith Altomare, who told us how he and Betsy met while she was the Night Manager at Tower Records Sunset in Los Angeles. Today we get to hear Betsy’s side of this story. Before signing on at Tower, Betsy previously worked at three LA record stores and a courier service that dealt primarily within the music industry. So when she applied and was hired under Bob Delanoy, Betsy came to the job armed with a lot of knowledge. Working at Store #131 she worked with veterans Joel Abrahmson, Howard Krumholtz, Store Managers Debbie Pollay and later Dennis Lefler. Oh yeah, she also worked with one guy named Axl and one guy named Slash. More on that in the podcast. Betsy tells us about some of her memorable customers including Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Bruce Springsteen and Rick James. Now the owner of a movie theatre in Orgeon, Betsy tells us about some of the similarities and differences between both businesses.

Mike Pompei grew up in a big Italian family just outside of Buffalo NY. His family was very musical and it seemed to rub off on Mike, who currently plays wineries and breweries throughout Sacramento. At the age of 12, just as his generation of pop music was becoming a priority, the Pompei family moved to the sunny enviorns of Sacramento, California. Following in his older brother’s footsteps, Mike eventually went on to work at Tower Records Watt Avenue where Ken Sockolov was the Store Manager. Alternating between working at Tower Records locations and Tower Posters, Mike found his niche. Running the Tower Posters store on the 3rd floor of the Westwood (L.A.) location, Mike received a call one day from Dick Harris, the Division Manager for Posters. Told to “shut it all down” and ship the posters product back to Sacramento, Mike wasn’t told what his future was. It was then that Westwood Store Manager Chris Hopson told Mike to stay and work with him. When Chris Hopson left Westwood to start up Tower Advertising in Sacramento he took Pompei with him, where Mike worked for 18 years. On this episode Mike Pompei tells us the various roles he assumed in Tower Advertising, the stress of meeting deadlines, dealing with newspapers and radio stations, his travels visiting stores and media markets, meeting face to face with record label brass at NARM and a hilarous enccounter with a member of Aerosmith at one of the Tower Annual Conferences.

Christina Sharpe grew up in New York City, mostly on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Growing up in a household where music was always being played and appreciated, Christina took her love of jazz and soul music and added twists of Duran Duran, Level 42 and early 80’s East Coast Hip Hop to her repertoire. Christina started her Tower career at the 85th & 3rd Avenue location with General Manager Mike Tannen. From there she worked at 4th & Broadway and ultimately finished her time with Tower at the Lincoln Center store in 2006. During her time at Lincoln Center every day was an adventure. There was the night she oversaw the filming of the Hugh Grant/ Drew Barrymore film “Music & Lyrics”, being recruited by Tower’s then-CEO E. Allen Rodriguez to represent Tower Records on the ABC Eventing News, encountering her musical hero Roberta Flack who was shopping for an as yet unreleased track by The Beatles and one of the largest instores of the time, Kanye West’s day of release instore for “Late Registration” in 2005. But most important to Christina’s daily experiences were her relationships to the Tower staff. Throughout our conversation she regularly talks about the people who made Tower run; those who are still with us and those who have passed on. Join us for a refreshing conversation this week with Christina Sharpe.

When The Beatles hit America, it came at about the perfect time for Joe Medwick. Just months earlier, when he was 7 years old, his father had passed away, a crushing moment in young Joe’s life. But it wasn’t as though The Beatles were his introduction to music. Joe had older brothers and sisters with album collections he borrowed and pored over. Joe says he felt like music being a central part of his life was preordained. Playing in bands at a very young age and listening to a diverse Top 40 radio (both US and Canadian based stations) helped build Joe’s music knowledge and tastes as he set out into the world. Attending San Francisco State University, Joe did a short stint at Rainbow Records before getting hired at the Columbus & Bay Tower Records in 1980. Like many before him, Joe remembers the key players and personalities of that store at a particularly memorable time. Joe started making moves in his Tower career on the Video side, first transferring to the Sherman Oaks store as an Assistant Manager and then to Concord as the Video Store Manager. In the mid 80’s taking on the position of Video Store Manager for NYC’s Lincoln Center store and then as Regional Manager for Tower’s East Coast stores filled up Joe’s professional time, while catching shows at legendary music haunts like The Lone Star Cafe took up his evenings and early mornings. All the while, Joe was also writing for PULSE! magazine when the assignment hit him. A move to West Sacramento to as head of the Video Division and running TVID started out well, but ultimately it didn’t fulfill Joe. Listening to offers from LA-based headhunters, Joe took positions at a varitey of southern California entertainment companies and publications. The people Joe worked with or ran into during the time were quite different than the familial Tower vibe he was used to. These days Joe Medwick concetrates on his music career. His two most recent releases are available to listen at joemedwick.com. You can also find upcoming tour dates there, too. Join us for an entertaining, exhaustive look into the career of Joe Medwick.