Help Save Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard

laindependent.com/drive-launched-to-save-tower-records-building/

The one and only Tower Records on the Sunset Strip
seeing-stars.com

Hello Everyone:

It's time to beat the drum for a worthy cause, especially if you're a lover of any genre of music. One of the icons of the Sunset Strip may soon be facing the wrecking ball, Tower Records.  This past week an online petition was launch on www.change.org by West Hollywood resident and community activist Jerome Cleary and could be the famed record store's last chance at a reprieve from demolition.  SIGN IT.  Mr. Cleary said, "many music fans remember and know Tower record as the most famous record store.  Many others remember it as the place to be seen and experience live music events during its nearly four decades on Sunset Boulevard."

Punk rock comes to Tower Records
punkturns30.blogspot.com

 According to Mr. Cleary, last spring the West Hollywood Preservation Commission held two meetings and agreed that there were a significant social, cultural, and music history to the store.  However, the Commission got stuck on the aesthetics of the yellow and red paint and additional marketing and advertising.   Hmm, an administrative body getting hung up on stupid stuff, seems to be going around lately, you hear that Congress and California State Assembly.  The commissioners did recommend a plaque or possibly a music square as recognition.  A piddly old plaque or a neat little sign?  Please, insert eye roll.  The majority of music fans and preservationists, such as yours truly, want the full preservation of the location and structure.  This brings to mind the question of what's the highest and best use for the structure?  My suggestion would be a gallery dedicated to the cultural history of the strip and performance space for new and unsigned music acts of all genres.  Tower Records opened in November 1970 with no additional signage or advertising

Interior of Tower Records
corbisimages.com

The original applicant for preservation is historian and author Domenic Priore.  Residents and fans felt that the commissioner at last spring's meeting missed a great opportunity to preserve the location and site.  Yes, the real estate on that part of Sunset Boulevard is quite expensive and would turn a tidy profit for a developer but Sunset is more than shops, restaurants, and hotels.  Sunset has become an integral part of Los Angeles' cultural history.  Some of the legendary clubs such as the Roxy and the Whiskey A-Go-Go, which at one time hosted the Doors and Bruce Springsteen, continue to function as music venues.  Tower Records was part of that historic legacy.  Now there is a second chance for the "old girl" as the store is up for reconsideration with an appeal to the City Council.

Tower Records at night
willdnatureimages.com

Jerome Cleary has launched a fundraising event on the website www.GoFundMe.com in order to raise the funds needed to hire experts for the appeal set for 6:30 p.m. November 4, 2013. Please contribute, if you can.  Mr. Cleary encourages all of Tower's fans to attend the council meeting which will be held at the West Hollywood Library's first floor City Council chambers, 625 North San Vincente Blvd.  If you cannot attend, you can still make your voice heard either by email ccouncil@weho.org or snail mail: Stephanie Reich at 8300 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, Ca 90069.


Thanks for your support.

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