Today I found myself wandering around Atlantic Station aimless wondering what I used to do on Saturday Afternoon. Atlanta is one of those cities where there is seemingly nothing to do except shop and eat. Interestingly enough we are leading the nation with our obesity and debt percentages. Ironic.. As I laughed to myself, a group of Georgia Tech Student's walked passed singing some parody of the Cheers theme song... Where Everybody Knows Your Name by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo...
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows Your name.
Good stuff! Suddenly I remembered what I used to do. I used to go to Tower Records on 3232 Peachtree Rd NW in Buckhead (Atlanta, GA.) The last time I heard some live music at an actually music store, it was a promotional set by PJ Morton for his Emotions album. As they wrapped up, the band began to freestyle and Zeb Ellis and Josiah Martin transitioned into Where Everybody Knows Your Name. Takes me back! You just cannot get that in Atlanta anymore.. unless you're willing to pay $10-15 OR $25 at the door!
Tower Records was great! It was like this warehouse structure with new and used cassettes, CD's, LP's... even 45's. They had everything! I've always been pretty eclectic, but meandering through Tower Records, I noticed interesting cover artwork, genres I'd never heard of. I spent so many hours and sooo much money there over the years. There's no longer anything like it anywhere.. apparently, the whole company went bankrupt and had to close all of their US based stores. The irony is the loss of stores like Tower Records and HMV (used to be in Lenox Mall where the BeBe Store is) has given rise to Kazaa, Limewire, and other Peer2Peer sharing sites that allow people to, often illegally, share music. People like me who would gladly buy music, much of which is out of print and commerically unavailable, cannot.
We have Apple's Itunes.. but there is something different about going through the stacks.. there is something different about tripping and falling over something you never even knew existed and finding a new love. Apple's Itunes library is limited and often you have to know EXACTLY what you're looking for..
Tower Records, and stores like it, are gone. While their web presence is still in operation, Tower Records filed for bankruptcy for the second time and they were unable to recover this time and will close its doors. Perhaps forever. Admittedly, their new music was sooo expensive. I could get better deals at Borders with their incessant 30% off email coupons or my Barnes & Noble discount card and who can compete with Target or Wal*Mart?? With all the music enthusiast, musicians, and singers I know, I am waiting on the entrepreneur who is going to bring us the next incarnation of a "tower records" instead of another restaurant, barber shop, or urban wear store.
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