Let’s start the day off with my favorite rock star: Pulse Of Radio reports Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is interviewed in a new documentary called All Things Must Pass, which chronicles the history of the legendary music store chain Tower Records. Director Colin Hanks (actor/son of Tom) told Billboard.com why Grohl’s appearance was a good fit for the movie, explaining, “Dave Grohl knocked off two things: he works in the store before he is famous and he also gave us a great bit about his haircut, so that works with our bit on the dress codes at the time.” Grohl worked in the Washington D.C.-area Tower store when he was around 19, telling us in the past that he wanted to work there partially because you could get hired even if “you had a really funky haircut.” Another famous rock musician who worked for Tower — in their video department — was Slash: “I worked at Tower Video, but that was before Guns N’ Roses started. I’d gotten busted stealing records at Tower Records and it’s so funny because I became a manager at Tower Video. They just never remembered that I was that guy with the armful of cassettes and records that they caught me stealing.” Hanks began working on the film in 2008, but struggled to find money for it until a 2011 Kickstarter campaign raised $98,000. The film focuses on Tower founder Russ Solomon, who launched the first Tower store in Sacramento, California in 1960. The outlet later expanded to San Francisco, Los Angeles and locations all over the world, before eventually going bankrupt in 2006. Others featured in the documentary include Elton John and record industry executives David Geffen and Jim Urie, as well as Solomon and members of the Tower staff. All Things Must Pass premiered this week at the South By Southwest music, film and tech conference in Austin, and is seeking distribution. Russ Solomon got his start in the music retail business in 1939, when he sold used 78rpm records in his father’s Sacramento drug store. Tower Records was named after the Tower Theater, which was next door to that drug store. Solomon expanded Tower to San Francisco in 1967, then over the years opened more stores around the U.S., as well as in the U.K., Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Israel, Mexico, Colombia and many more. Arguably the most famous Tower Records outlet was the one located on the north side of Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, CA. In addition to CDs and cassettes, stores also sold DVDs, video games, accessories, toys, electronics and books. Debt from its expansion, competition from big box stores and internet piracy eventually led to Tower filing for bankruptcy in 2004 and again in 2006, with the chain closing for good that year. Meanwhile, you can find Foo Fighters:Sonic Highways out on BluRay and DVD soon, but sadly, not in Tower Records store, but you can find it online. www.tower.com. Speaking of Dave Grohl, he will be one of the performers this year at the 30th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, OH on April 18th. He is slated to appear, along with Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, Stevie Ray Vaughn‘s brother Jimmie*, Beck, The Eagles’ and James Gang’s Joe Walsh* and John Legend. (* = were featured in Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways.) As far as the presenters to the inductees, Fall Out Boy will induct Green Day, Paul McCartney will induct Ringo Starr, Patti Smith will do the honors for Lou Reed, Stevie Wonder will induct Bill Withers, Peter Wolf will induct the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and John Mayer will pay tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Not yet confirmed is who will induct Joan Jett* & The Blackhearts. (Hmmm, can we guess? Dave Grohl?) …Congrats to Korn drummer Ray Luzier on the birth of his second child. As a result, he did not perform with the band Tuesday night (March 17th) in Tempe, AZ. He’s on a leave of absence with family. Filling in behind the kit was Luzier’s former drum tech, Abel Vallejo. Fan-filmed footage of the band performing with Vallejo has been posted online (Thanks PRP)….Congrats also in order for The Beastie Boys, but not on a birth. Their classic 1986 debut album, Licensed To Ill, has been certified “diamond” by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 10 million copies, nearly 29 years after it was first released. The disc hit the magic number on March 4th and is one of just five hip-hop albums to do so — and the only one from the 1980s. Licensed To Ill was released on November 15th, 1986 and featured some of the trio’s biggest and most memorable hits, including “Fight For Your Right (To Party),” “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” and “Paul Revere.” It was certified platinum in February 1987. The Beastie Boys have sold more than 40 million copies of their albums. Their final release was 2011’s Hot Sauce Committee Part 2. The band came to an end with the death of founding member Adam “MCA” Yauch from cancer in May 2012. Surviving members Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond have no plans to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Licensed To Ill next year. The pair are working on a memoir for publication by 2017. Enjoy this little blast from your past! (thanks Pulse)…And it’s official, Christian Martucci will be the permanent replacement for Jim Root in Stone Sour….Danzig fans will be happy to know there is a new album in the works for later this year… Blabbermouth reports MOTÖRHEAD‘s Motörboat will embark on its second voyage September 28 through October 2, 2015 on Norwegian Sky, departing Port Miami, with stops in Nassau and the private picturesque island of Great Stirrup Cay in The Bahamas. The Loudest Boat In The World will feature performances from some of the greatest heavy rock bands in the world, including Slayer, Mötorhead, Anthrax, Suicidal Tendences, Hatebreed, Exodus, Crobot, Phil Campbell’s All Starr Band, Kyng, Fireball, Ministry, Huntress, among others. For more: www.motorheadcruise.com….And lastly, my shamelss promotion of the documentary I am featured in. Cruising In The Van Productions announced today that their award-winning documentary feature Life on the V: The Story of V66 will be sold on DVD exclusively at the popular New England retailer Newbury Comics starting on March 24, 2015, two weeks before MVD Entertainment Group’s domestic distribution on DVD. The DVD will be released everywhere else on Tuesday April 7, 2015. Digital distribution platforms will follow shortly thereafter. “Newbury Comics ran advertisements on V66 in 1985 and one of the featured interviews in the documentary is with Mike Dreese” says Life on the V director Eric Green. “So it’s really exciting to see the DVD will be available at one of the best music and DVD retailers in New England prior to the April 7 release!” Life on the V: The Story of V66 tells the story of V66, the hugely popular music video channel that was broadcast throughout the Boston area during the height of the music video craze in 1985-86, only to disappear from the airwaves after 18 months. 30 years later, the fans remain and memories of this channel have formed an important place in 80’s nostalgia. The documentary focuses on this music outlet that came out at a time when cable penetration was minimal in New England and when MTV was scarcely available. Told from the perspective of radio legends and channel co-founders, John Garabedian and Arnie “Woo Woo” Ginsberg, as well as a who’s who in the Boston 80s music scene, the film provides a comprehensive behind-the-scenes view of what it was like to be a part of the magic happening at this station that still brings back a flood of enthusiastic emotion for those fans who were glued to their TVs years ago. The documentary team tracked down and interviewed over 30 former V66 employees (executives, VJs, technical crew, interns, marketers, stylists, and editors), over 30 musicians who were either on V66 or influenced by V66 (including members of The Cars, The J. Geils Band, New Edition, ‘Til Tuesday, Extreme, The Del Fuegos, Puddle of Mudd, The Lemonheads, Dropkick Murphys and Morphine), and over 15 fans (including Newbury Comics CEO Mike Dreese). Interviews were filmed in people’s homes, workplaces, rehearsal spaces and music venues. In addition to Newbury Comics, you can also pre-order the DVD from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Heartland Music, as well as directly from MVD: http://seeofsound.com/p.php?s=MVD7129D. And hardDriveRadio listeners in Hagerstown, MD to 101.5 BOB Rocks, listen up! There’s a screening Saturday, March 28 at 11am: Life on the V is an Official Selection of Maryland International Film Festival Hagerstown! The festival (running from March 26-28) is now in its 4th year of bringing the good people of Hagerstown, MD the finest films from around the world! Life on the V will be making its MD Premiere on Sat. March 28 at 11am at Washington County Free Library in Hagerstown, MD. Following the screening will be a Q&A with director Eric Green and former V66 VJ Maribeth Cox-Livingston (AKA Tracy Cox)! I have to be in NYC that day to interview Breaking Benjamin, so I can’t make it down! BUMMER! If you go, say hello to Tracy for me!