Russ Solomon, the man who founded Tower Records, died yesterday while watching the Academy Awards. His son, Michael, told the Sacramento Bee, “he was giving his opinion of what someone was wearing that he thought was ugly, then asked (his wife) Patti to to refill his whisky.” When Patti returned, he was dead.

Tower’s been out of business since 2006, but it once was a major presence in Chicago. The company’s Midwest flagship store opened in Lincoln Park (2301 N. Clark) in 1991. Tower went out of business in 2006.