A donation at this level allows us to preserve photographs of the Tower Shibuya store grand opening in archival sleeves!

In appreciation of your gift at this level you will receive*:

• A Tower Records Project commemorative sticker

A donation at this level allows us to preserve issues of Pulse! magazine in archival quality storage boxes!

In appreciation of your gift you will receive all the benefits of a Vinyl Record (Single) gift plus*:

• A Tower Records Project 2013 commemorative wall calendar
• Acknowledgement on Tower Records Project website homepage

A donation at this level allows us to preserve Tower Records t-shirts from Sacramento, New York, L.A. – Sunset, and Japan in archival quality textile storage boxes!

In appreciation of your gift you will receive all the benefits of a Vinyl Record (Album) gift plus*:

• A Tower Records Project commemorative T-shirt

A donation at this level allows us to digitize Tower Records radio advertising spots, including a 1973 commercial voiced by John Lennon!

In appreciation of your gift you will receive all the benefits of a Silver Record gift plus*:

• A Tower Records Project commemorative tote bag
• One 8×10” photographic reproduction from five photographs handpicked directly from the Tower Records Archive and signed by Russ Solomon, founder of Tower Records

A donation at this level allows us to preserve the Tower Records calendars by artist Frank Carson in an archival 5-drawer flat file cabinet!

In appreciation of your gift you will receive all the benefits of a Gold Record gift plus*:

• One 16×20″ reproduction from five graphic illustrations handpicked directly from the Tower Records Archive and signed by Russ Solomon, founder of Tower Records

A donation at this level allows us to preserve the original Tower Records neon sign in an archival storage crate!

In appreciation of your gift you will receive all the benefits of a Platinum Record gift plus*:

• One vintage Tower Records poster signed by Russ Solomon, founder of Tower Records

Create kick-off event to announce the project, website, and fundraising efforts.

Create an online community where former employees and fans can share their personal stories, experiences, photographs and mementos about the world’s first music superstore.

Process and catalog over 200 linear feet of archival records and hundreds of artifacts in the Tower Records Collection and the Russ Solomon Papers.

Perform preservation work and rehouse collection for storage at the Center’s climate controlled facility.

Migrate film/video and audio material from “dead media” to an accessible format.

Digitize selected posters, photographs, business records and correspondence, and transcribe interviews for online access.

Open collection for research, viewing, and listening to interested scholars, fans, and the public.

Conceptualize and plan a nationwide traveling exhibit on Tower Records, debuting in Sacramento in 2015 and traveling to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New York and other cities.

Create partnerships with allied institutions to implement exhibit plan and select host sites.

With that statement, Tower Records declared itself more than just a music store. From its founding in 1960 until its closure in 2006, Tower was a gathering place, a library, a barometer of cultural trends and one-time icon of the U.S. retail market.

Ultimately, the Tower Records business model—large stores with deep music catalogs—couldn’t compete in the age of digital downloads and discount retailers. But the spirit and history of this pioneering music store can live on. In fact, an effort to preserve the Tower experience is currently underway in Sacramento, California, the birthplace of Tower Records.

In 2009, founder Russ Solomon donated over 200 boxes of Tower-related history—artwork, photographs, memorabilia, awards, business records and correspondence, office furnishings and even the neon signs from the first stand-alone store—to the Center for Sacramento History. The Tower Records Project, a campaign to fund the preservation of Russ’ gift and make it publicly available, has kicked off.

But this project will not succeed without your help.

In the coming months, we’ll be asking for more than your financial support. We’ll want your Tower experiences, photographs and mementos to round out the story of Tower Records. Whether you worked or shopped there, we want to hear from you. Your invaluable contributions will help paint a complete picture of Tower as it was: a cultural epicenter, an extended family, a way of life and a scene unto itself.

For more information please contact the project organizers: info@sacramentohistoryfoundation.org

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