Mike Pompei grew up in a big Italian family just outside of Buffalo NY. His family was very musical and it seemed to rub off on Mike, who currently plays wineries and breweries throughout Sacramento. At the age of 12, just as his generation of pop music was becoming a priority, the Pompei family moved to the sunny enviorns of Sacramento, California. Following in his older brother’s footsteps, Mike eventually went on to work at Tower Records Watt Avenue where Ken Sockolov was the Store Manager.
Alternating between working at Tower Records locations and Tower Posters, Mike found his niche. Running the Tower Posters store on the 3rd floor of the Westwood (L.A.) location, Mike received a call one day from Dick Harris, the Division Manager for Posters. Told to “shut it all down” and ship the posters product back to Sacramento, Mike wasn’t told what his future was. It was then that Westwood Store Manager Chris Hopson told Mike to stay and work with him. When Chris Hopson left Westwood to start up Tower Advertising in Sacramento he took Pompei with him, where Mike worked for 18 years.
On this episode Mike Pompei tells us the various roles he assumed in Tower Advertising, the stress of meeting deadlines, dealing with newspapers and radio stations, his travels visiting stores and media markets, meeting face to face with record label brass at NARM and a hilarous enccounter with a member of Aerosmith at one of the Tower Annual Conferences.
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