Tower Recs sold a lot of underground zines, not just music. In some ways that's the real casualty.
For example, pretty underground-ish zines like _Maximum Rock n Roll_, _Under the Volcano_, etc. Stuff like that. MRR had a recent column about how Tower's demise would provide less opportunity for folks to read them and other local zines. And since MRR is a pretty grassroots DIY outfit, ironically, Tower's demise probably means less customers for them. The music Tower offered was usually not that great -- but the magazine rack had some absolute gems, including locally made music zines. In an urban sprawl hell like Dallas, that could be a goldmine.
On the other hand: During their liquidation sale, I got a double 12" blue marble vinyl version of Killing Joke's _Hosannas from the Basements of Hell_, beautifully full-color packaged in black slipcases, for $11, when the normal list price was about $25. I also got a DVD, _Burnt Ramen_, about the contemporary Bay Area punk scene, for $9, when it was normally closer to $20 list price at their store. Tower should have tried to price things like that all along.
-B.
Doug Henwood:
>
>
> In the abstract, maybe, but I'm one of those bad
people who don't buy
> CDs very often - I download stuff, lots of it legal
even. And when I
> do want a CD, I get it from Amazon. I'm what killed
Tower, and I
> don't feel too bad about it.