Label Guide: Tower

Named after Capitol's headquarters building, Tower Records was formed as a subsidiary of Capitol Records in 1964. In 1966, the label gained what could be called a "future cult" status, becoming one of the premiere purveyors of what would later be called garage rock.

Tower released the first recordings by Pink Floyd in the U.S. in 1967 without success after acquiring the rights from EMI's UK Columbia label. After Capitol shut down Tower Records in 1970 the Pink Floyd albums were re-issued on another Capitol/EMI subsidiary, Harvest Records.

Tower labels from 1964 to approximately 1968 had a solid brownish-orange color. This design was used for both singles and albums. Starting sometime around late 1968 or early 1969 the design was changed to a multicolored stripe label, and again, the stripe design was used for both singles and albums. The stripe label lasted until Tower ceased operations sometime around 1970. Tower releases have numerous many small variations of label type for stereo and mono releases and re-pressings. Minor label variations also sometimes make it possible to determine which of the three Capitol Records factories manufactured each copy.