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Imagine growing up in a little town in New Jersey, sharing Beatles albums with your older sister while your Mom is listening to Frank Sinatra and Herb Albert all the time. You find your place in the world being “the music guy” at school.
Fold that into time working at the College radio station and then an entry level job at an upstart indie label called IRS Records where your first day on the job the Go Go’s debut album hits #1 on the Album Chart. Later that week the Go Go’s play Madison Square Garden. If this sounds at all familiar, then you’re most likely this week’s guest, Keith Altomare.
Keith spent a good amount of time at IRS Records (owned by uber Manager Miles Copeland) in New York City working as the label’s College Rep. His efforts helped propel REM’s “Murmur” to being Number One on the College Radio charts.
When IRS opened an office in Chicago, Keith opened up that territory before moving on to Los Angeles working as IRS National Sales Director. It was in the aisles of the Sunset Store where he met his wife Betsy who was then the Night Manager at Tower Records Sunset.
In 1989 Keith Altomare moved over to Rhino Records where he started as National Sales Director and then eventually became the VP of Sales working with Tower Records as one of the primary accounts because “They were awesome people who were there because of the music.” Keith also tells us about working with Rhino Records legend Gary Stewart who passed away in 2019.
Join us for an informative conversation with a long time friend of Tower Records, Keith Altomare.
