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Growing up in the 1930’s in Cincinnati OH, Rudy Danzinger’s parents weren’t music listeners. Lionel Hampton was Rudy’s first major exposure to music and because of that single live performance he became a fan of big band music.
Moving to California, Rudy took a job as manager of a local record store, Marin Music, in Mill Valley CA. Rudy innovated early on; soliciting record orders from the area businesses as well as hooking up a speaker near the store’s front door causing customers to come in off the street asking what he was playing. Pretty heady stuff for the early 1950’s.
Rudy met Russ Solomon in 1958 working for Record Supply, a music distributor. It proved to be a fateful meeting that would pay off down the road when Rudy came to work at Tower.
Working in Book Division, Rudy found his calling. Partnering with publishers to get Tower Books some co-op advertising, Rudy soon became the conduit for Book signings that made sense for Tower. Musicians, athletes, and yes straight up authors were often greeted at a Tower book signing by Rudy Danzinger.
Rudy reminisces about some of the better signings that came Tower’s way. He also tells the story of a book signing Tower passed on, but brought the author to the Main Office to meet Russ Solomon, only to leave the Corporate office with 500 Tower employees lined up high-fiving and roaring their approval as he left.
Rudy Danzinger claims he’s the oldest living ex-Tower employee around. Whatever his status, you’ll enjoy our conversation with a man who truly loved his job and brought joy to many he worked with.
