By Kevin Johnson
Mayor of Sacramento
Archaeologists will one day trace the origins of “Sacramento cool” to the corner of Broadway and Land Park. That’s where Russ Solomon invented a style and substance that spread around the world, in bright yellow bags with red letters.
The power of Tower Records isn’t what it used to be, but the man who created Tower is as cool as ever, celebrating his 85th birthday. Russ is a Sacramento icon, representing the best of what Sacramento stands for.
From Tower’s heyday to today, Russ has never been a guy to brag about his accomplishments.
But his accomplishments, from humble origins with a drug store record rack at the Tower Theater to international musical taste-maker, are huge.
As an NBA player in the 1980s and ‘90s, I loved visiting Tower stores in New York and Los Angeles. They were crossroads of culture in those culture-filled communities, drawing the coolest people and selling a variety of music impossible to find elsewhere.
There were Towers in Tokyo and London and all over the globe.
Every time I saw a Tower Records, I knew Sacramento was making its mark on the world, thanks to Russ’ vision and energy.
It’s impossible to overstate the contribution made to our community by Russ Solomon. You can count on one hand the local companies that put their mark on the global cultural landscape.
The world changed. Records became compact discs, and compact discs became downloadable digital files. The brick-and-mortar world of Tower faded as the record industry evolved into something Russ and his colleagues never imagined.
But the flagship store at Broadway and Land Park – across the street from the Tower Theater where it all began – will continue to remind us of the time when the sun never set on Tower Records.
Dimple is taking over the store, which Russ personally operated after Tower’s domestic operations wound down.
Here’s an 85th birthday salute to Russ Solomon from the city that launched the Tower Empire. Russ represents everything Sacramento strives for: entrepreneurial spirit, vision and hard work, matched with humility and generous spirit.
Happy birthday, Russ!
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